Schooling options for missionary kids
What are the schooling options for missionary children?

What schooling options do missionaries have for their children?

My name's Chris Greathouse and I have been teaching at Black Forest Academy in Kandern, Germany for seven years.

And there are four schooling options for missionary families. There's international schools, there are local schools, some families will choose to homeschool, and then there's boarding school.

I've seen lots of students go to a local school for their elementary grades. They'll learn the language, they'll learn the customs and the culture, and they'll buy into that, and they'll really become that, they'll take on that nationality in a lot of ways. So with that, some of the pros and cons are that they do learn the language, and they'll have that language for the rest of their life. Also, though, there will be some things that they will miss out on, that they won't know, necessarily, from your home perspective, and your country and national, your origin, where you come from.

Homeschool, a lot of students will homeschool, up until the high school years. Some do all the way through, but it seems like a majority of students, when they hit the high school years, they're looking for sports, they're looking for classes with other students, they want the social aspect, they want to be in the plays, and they want to be in the band and play instruments — which is difficult in the homeschool.

Some pros and cons to international schooling: You have students from a multitude of different nationalities, generally it's in the English language from what I know, and you have the perspective from the school is very much an international perspective. They're not necessarily Christian, and there's not necessarily Christian teachers there, but there are a multitude of different people and backgrounds, coming from an international school. There's also — you have the sports, you have the music, and all those things available as well at an international school.

Boarding school, some pros and cons. The pros are: they're with their peers, they're with people who love the Lord and they love students. The teachers are there because they're there to serve and their whole focus are those students. They're getting a quality education; they're getting quality people that really love and care for them, almost like aunts and uncles, they really pour their lives into them; they have the sports and the plays and the dramas and music options; and they also have a degree — uh, I'm sorry — a high school diploma that is good when they come back to the States or North America. As they come back they can take that diploma, and most colleges recognize that diploma. Some of the cons: They're away from mom and dad those last few years, and that's difficult for many people. And every family that we know of struggles with that decision. It's not an easy decision for any family. The better the family unit, the better the student does when they're at the boarding school. The more struggles there are at home, the student tends to struggle at boarding school as well. As they go to boarding school, if they really don't want to be there, they really shouldn't go, because it won't work out very well. Although most of our students really adjust well, it takes them time to adjust. Once they adjust, they do great.

All four types of schooling are definitely viable options. There are some pros and cons as we've talked about a little bit already, but all four options are viable. It just depends on the family and what their needs are and the dynamics of the family.



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