JW and Home Schooling WHY, WHY, WHY????????

by Wordly Andre 38 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  John Doe

  I homeschooled. It was my decision. Why is that so hard to believe?
• 

  truman

  Just like public schooling, home school sometimes produces a successful student and sometimes it does not. The difference is that, with home schooling, the state is not in charge. It is certainly true that some parents, JWs, use the homeschool route to keep kids isolated, and that is not a good thing. On the other hand, a concerned, dedicated parent can be a successful homeschooler, JW or not. I homeschooled my kids when we were all still JWs, and this at a time when most JWs looked down on the practice. "You are abandoning your natural preaching territory, the classroom," was a typical reaction.

  I began when my two boys were preschoolers. I wanted to be intimately involved in teaching them, not turn them over to the state for its own peculiar brand of indoctrination. Just so they would understand what they were 'missing' by not going to 'regular school', each of them did attend one or two years of public school. They went right in at grade level and were 'A' students. When they got to the high school level, my public school district had a program for independent study. We took advantage of that, and my sons even attended algebra and geometry classes at the high school. They both have state recognized diplomas.

  My real educational regret is not home school. I enjoyed it and they did too. My regret is that I did nothing to encourage these bright youngsters to go to college. That I blame on the WTS, although I must also accept responsibility. But, I am trying to set a good example now. I myself am about to complete the requirements for my AA, and I will be going on to transfer to a four year university. My no-longer-a-JW son wants to try a few college classes, if he can get his job situation arranged. MY still-a-JW son has done well in his chosen field of employment, and currently is training in a technical field, on the job.

  Home school worked for us. If we had not had the millstone of the WTS policies around our necks, it would have worked even better.
• 

  TMS

  I've known a number of witness families who went this route. Frequently, the "teaching" responsibility fell on the mother of the household. Can you imagine adding to all the things a witness wife must do the additional heavy burden of "schooling" her children? It's a recipe for a nervous breakdown.

  I recall one home-schooled 12 year old boy in Arkansas. He was already a Regular Pioneer, took the lead or prayed at midweek meetings for service. By all appearances he was an extra-short middle-aged man with a high voice. He had all the JW lingo down pat and impressed all in his congregation with his "maturity." One elder in his congregation told me that if he were a little older, they would recommend him for ministerial servant in a heartbeat.

  I do not know what happened to this young man, but I do know that he was brought up totally insulated from the outside world. He would be about 26 now, so he maybe on the verge of eldership or self-destruction.

  tms
• 

  collegegirl21

  I'm not sure why. My parents took me out of school because they thought I was too popular and they hated that I had boys calling me all the time. So high school, I started homeschooling, although when I started homeschooling, I started sneaking online and meeting people online... that's how I met my ex-fiance and when my parents said that I couldn't date him and when they took my phone away and my car keys away and made me regular auxiliary pioneer, I DA'd myself, moved out, and moved in with him. I graduated high school two years early and started college a year early (I took a year off).

  But to this day, I still resent them for making me homeschool. I think they know now if they would've left me in school, I probably would still be really eager to be a witness, but being with my ex before I reinstated myself made me realize this wasn't the thing for me, but I wanted to speak with my parents so I got reinstated.
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  blondie

  The point I was making was not that home schooling is bad, but it is nonproductive if the parents do not invest the time and energy that is required. My experience in this area was that parents did not do that and the result was many teenagers and young JWs without job skills and employment.

  Blondie
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  troubled mind

  Home schoolong could work as long as the parents shoulder their responsibility to really teach the kids . I know of a young woman that never was allowed to go to public school and the mother never took the time to really teach her . She was the youngest of four and in a single parent household . At eight her best friend ( that went to public school) started teaching her how to read . She ended up teaching herself most everything she learned . She is a very bright person and I always wonder how far she could have gone with a good education. Several other home schooled ones in our area would cheat on tests they sent in by copying papers from older siblings or get others to do their work . Public school was no picnic , but we refused our kids pleads to be taught at home . We felt they needed to know how to deal with real life situations they would face in the job market. They all survived to graduation and were very proud of their accomplishment .
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  Wordly Andre

  I think her sole objective is for him to have more time to go out in service, and along with keeping him away from worldly peers. She already said he is going to bethel at age 18 so he has 5 years before he is shipped off to NY. I am thinking about writing a letter to her Congergation, School district, and Bethel what do you think about that?
• 

  damselfly

  How is she so sure that Bethel will want him?
  
  MAybe you could suggest that a trade or degree will increase the likihood of being accepted? You now with all the recent layoffs etc, they're going to need to be special to get in.
  
  
  Dams
• 

  Wordly Andre

  I was actually thinking about that, you are right with the layoff's at Bethel, I will try to bring that up to her but in a way where she thinks that I support her His goals, and tell her that maybe thousands apply to Bethel, and I am sure they will only take young ones who have some skills rather than someone who spent 4 years at home.

  I was telling a friend at work about this, he asked "is going to bethel the same to JW as going to Harvard?"