They say it takes a village to raise a child and for Rory Feek, he’s so grateful for that community.
Last year, the country singer found himself raising his little girl alone after his wife tragically passed away after a tough battle with cancer. While the journey has been difficult, Indiana, his three-year-old, remains a shining light for Rory. Born with special needs, Indy has been attending a wonderful school that caters to her needs, but the singer believes his wife Joey would have wanted to homeschool her.
Because of that, Rory recently pulled his little girl out of school.
Facebook
He wrote about the reason for the big change in a blog post:
“If Joey were here, she would love both of the schools that Indiana goes to, but she would be homeschooling Indy. Not just now, but permanently. At least I believe she would. Partly because she would want our little one here at home with her, growing up and learning on our farm. And also because she would be way more interested in Indiana learning to be a good person than being a good reader.”
Rory pondered the idea of homeschooling, but after much thought, he came up with an even better concept – the best of both worlds: home and school. Not books and online courses in the living room.
Facebook
Rory and Indy live on a farm and are blessed to have lots of extra property to work with… so Dad decided to bring school home, right across the street, in fact. He’d been driving about an hour each way to bring his daughter to school, and he missed having her with him, so it only made sense to move the school.
Facebook
In a way, Rory’s new project is a return to the roots: Taking inspiration for an old schoolhouse built in the late 1800s, the father wants to give the kids who attend the school the chance to learn about living, not just math, science, and so-on.
When he told his friends, family, and neighbors about the idea, they grew just as excited. And before Rory knew it, the project was becoming a reality: “Fifty or more people … descended on our parking lot at 7 am this past Saturday morning with hammers and saws, hamburgers and hotdogs and hearts full of love. They were here to help build something big for someone little.”
YouTube
Rory has thought out every aspect about his daughter’s schoolhouse, from who will attend, to what the curriculum will cover, and with every piece of the puzzle, it’s clear that this dad loves his daughter more than anything else.
“Besides the schoolroom, the kids will have a playground and their own garden that they can plant and take care of and a henhouse/barn with chickens and other animals to raise and woods to build a birdwatching hut and make trails that the teachers can take them for walks in.”
Watch Rory and Indy’s community come together to build something beautiful in the video below and share if it inspired you.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.