Officially, the WTS does not "encourage" homeschooling and discourages to some degree by reminding their members about the time and effort commitment. The elders in the congregations I attended were not happy when irresponsible parents chose "homeschooling" but put no effort into it and dumped their problems on them. The articles in the publications are cautionary.
JW's and home schooling?
by semelcred 52 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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lifelong humanist
semelcred
Here in Scotland, the state education system provides an above-average education, delivered totally free of charge. Most UK citizens reckon that we Scots have one of the the best education systems - some argue that our system is world-class.
My wife and I opted out of the state system, and paid for our 4 boys to be educated in a private school - very expensive, but in our view, worth every penny. We value education highly. Sadly, most Jws do not.
When I was a cult JW member it became quite popular - fashionable, even - among JWs of below-average (but hard to quantify) intellect to opt out of the state system and teach their children at home. This has always made me seriously question the wisdom of the governmental and school authorities that permit inadequately schooled parents to attempt what is possibly one of the more difficult things in life - to captivate, motivate and inspire children to excel and be the best they can be...
I know of several youngsters that were dragged out in FS as 'part of their education'. Reading 'bible stories' was viewed as a sound grounding in English! The parents, with few exceptions, almost always thought that they were doing a fantastic job, compared to the educated professionals. These parents thought that their stance would prevent 'bad associations' for their youngsters, etc. I suspect that their motives were somewhat different, even excessively selfish. In some cases, even downright dishonest - claiming state benefits to 'teach' their children at home.
There are possibly some children that have done well with home schooling, but, I cannot recall a single home-schooled JW child turning out well, from even the most liberal person's viewpoint. Most were merely mirror images of their maladjusted parents. The single-parent JW family heads (usually the woman) that attempted home-schooling were, in my experience, the worst home-teachers.
I think that the governmental agencies should investigate this area more thoroughly, and take action to prevent under-qualified adults attempting to educate children. The consequences for society in genaral are very poor. The potential damage to the child is immeasurable.
lifelong humanist
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yknot
Yes 'Pear Blossom' and "New System School" are 'starter-favorites by newbie JW wannabe homeschoolers!
http://www.newsystemschool.org/
But many end up using Saxon, Abeka, Bob Jones, Sonlight,...... and other offerings found at Mardel
Having a good homeschool support network is key to homeschooling being a success........
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elder-schmelder
Home schooling can be ok, if it is done correctly. I was home schooled with "American Home school program" IT WAS A JOKE.
I finnished 3 years of high school in 60 hours of work. All you have to do it take the tests and pass. Not that hard. I am not kidding.
elder-schmelder
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beksbks
My only experience with home schooling is working with parents (mothers) who have come in to the library for books. I've never failed to worry about how these women could possibly produce educated well adjusted children. Half of them couldn't even spell what they were looking for themselves. Never mind the socialization aspect. There was one woman who had 5 or 6 children of various ages. That alone seems a handicap for teaching. The thing I noticed about her though, was that whatever subject she was currently working on she cleaned out the entire collection in our branch, and requested everything she could from the main branch. We had a limit of 4 items per subject. With cards for all of her children, herself and her husband, she managed to overcome the rule. We spoke to her about it several times, the purpose of the limit etc. She just did not care, it was all about her. And that's what she was teaching her children. To help her abuse the system.
As for JW's homeschooling, that sounds like a nightmare to this born in.
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AuntBee
I've home-schooled for many years, only until high school. I agree with many of the posters. It can be good; it can be bad. It just depends. -- Motivation is important. I've seen people that are into the isolation thing, and it's very concerning, and doesn't work. -- If the mother is not a person that relishes study, reading, research, and education herself, it will become an incredible burden, and she will resent the huge outlay of time , energy, money ,etc. ANyone prone to anxiety or depression should NOT do it. -- It also takes a lot of energy to take them to sports, activities and music lessons, and everywhere so they can have many social experiences.
On the plus side: You can tailor subjects to the student individually. They may be advanced at one, and slow in another. No coming home after long day at school to face hours of homework, as some do ,even in grade school! They have more free / down time when they're very young to be active, play outside and get into hobbies/interests.
Here in Arizona some of the school districts are very large, and tend to be poor quality. There is a huge charter school movement here, though, which is cool!
cheers, auntbee, bridget, tucson
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dgp
Reading Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion", I found a new perspective on this home schooling. Dawkins mentions the case of some Amish who were "recognized to have the right" (my quotes, not Dawkins') to home-school their children on the grounds that school and education were a threat to Amish way of life, and, therefore, something like cultural annhilation. I understand the case took place in Wisconsin and the court ruled, by a 6-1 split decision, that parents had that "right". Dawkins says that there is no such right. Children should be allowed to decide whether they want to continue living in their religion or not, or whether they want to stick to some "cultural" specificity of theirs or not. Which reminds me of the sadness that Jacques Cousteau felt about the Aleutian indians who had dropped oars and kayaks for outboard engines and fiberglass boats. Cousteau claimed that the indians were losing their traditions, which was right, but the Indians themselves were doing a better living and had freely adopted the new stuff. Of course, it was Cousteau's point of view that appeared on TV. What the Indians themselves wanted didn't seem to matter. And, Cousteau had this funny idea that people remaining petrified in the past is a good thing. The very opposite thing to what a scientist like him should preach.
More to our point, all children should have the right to decide whether they want to be homeschooled or not. Whether that goes against a certain church or belief, or way of life, should not carry that much weight before the children's decisions.
I believe the great point here is that homeschooling is not done on the basis of the quality of the education that is given. I'm open to the idea that a parent might just provide better education that what children and teen-agers get at today's schools. But, that is not the only issue here. The most basic issue is that steps are being taken to prevent a child from having a different point of view about life and religion. In my opinion, there's no value in keeping your child in your religion if that decision was not made by him or herself, on the grounds that he or she was actually convinced, instead of misled or not given an option. How sad that religions (not just the JW's, which does not free them of guilt, anyways) don't give people a choice.
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beksbks
I'm open to the idea that a parent might just provide better education that what children and teen-agers get at today's schools.
It's exactly this premise that I disagree with. If it is true, then what is wrong with the parent supplementing and supporting the child's education? If the parent alone can provide a better education, then how could the parent along with the teacher not provide a better education? In my opinion it will always lack, simply because of the fact they get no other point of view. I think it's all about trying to shelter them from the outside world. Which as we should know is a real handicap.
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dgp
You're right, beksbks. There should be nothing wrong in supplementing or supporting the education.
I do hope, however, that you noticed that my post does say that I believe home-schooling in the WT is done mostly to prevent children from learning what happens outside and evaluating what happens inside. yes, that is such a real handicap.
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beksbks
I have a question for anyone who knows. Is there some sort of monetary consideration for homeschoolers?