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Anna T: Maybe no homeschooling?


YPestis

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I was reading her latest post:

http://ccostello.blogspotDOTcom/2012/11 ... ooled.html

It's another rant about public schools and how she was self-taught and all teachers do is babysit etc. It sounds like she went to a lousy school (and university), but will never concede to that.

Anyway, what caught my eye was her comment that she's no longer sure about "full-time" homeschool for her children. It's a recent trend. Anna T has gotten increasingly vague about homeschooling options as her children approach school age.

It's the same thing with her changing attitude on birth control. Prior to children, she wanted as many as God will allow. Then she had two in quick succession, and started posting about her fear of hospitals (even though she'd given rave reviews of her last hospital birth) because she was afraid she was about to get pregnant again. Then....she announces she's decided to take a pause on the children.

FJingites who've followed Anna T know her to be low-energy individual. None of us could figure out how such a person could stand having multiple small children underfoot. I think it came as no surprise when she announced that no more children were coming for a while.

With her children growing older, I wondered how Anna T would approach homeschooling. She was initially intrigued with it, even though it is virtually nonexistent in Israel and culturally not accepted even in the Jewish fundie circuit (unlike in the US). I often thought Anna T would try the homeschooling thing and then give it up after realizing how hard it is.

Anna T falls into the Life-is-Education teaching method. She describes education like kids will naturally pick up compound fractions through osmosis between dishes and gardening. Yes, life is the classroom! No more boring lectures and problem sets for her kids! And yet, perhaps she's now finally perusing school curriculum materials, or thinking hard about what it takes to home school, and realizing how time consuming good home schooling is.

I dislike Anna T for many things, but I feel she is more thoughtful and academic than most fundies we know. She appreciates higher education and learning and probably want a real education for her daughters. That's why I think she's staring at the homeschool thing pretty hard. It's a big investment for her. Plus, if she wants to have a few more kids (and I think it's a daydream of her's), I think she sees how utterly exhausting it is with babies to tend to and older children to educate. Every day. For decades. Yes, readers, I believe reality is giving Anna T another dose. I hope she sends her kids to school, if only because I feel she doesn't have the energy for teaching. I actually think Anna T would be a decent teacher, otherwise.

FWIW, reading the two posts before the current one on SAHM vs working mothers (another of her favorite subjects), it's amusing to read the comments. Are any FJingerites the commentators? They certainly sound like it's coming from us! :lol: She even turned one comment into another blog post!

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Guest Anonymous

What makes you think Anna appreciates higher education? She barely attended to her own and despised her tutors, iirc?

Agree with the rest of your commentary though. :) Wonder what MrAnna makes of the changes in her? He raised the homeschooling issue on the first date!

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ccostello.blogspot.com/

The blog post is down already.

I went to the link and found it fine... check to make sure you removed the DOT in the address.

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Guest Anonymous
ccostello.blogspot.com/

The blog post is down already.

It's fine now.

Today she says:

But when I reached the age of 18 and school was over, I panicked. What on earth was I going to do? How would I occupy my time? A big, vast, scary blank stretched before me. I would have signed up for university the following year, but for technical reasons it wasn't possible. I had a year between school and university. So I worked at several places, and signed up for university the moment I could get the papers worked out. I signed up, even though I had no idea what it was that I actually wanted to do. I had to begin something. I loved learning, but I never had what you'd call ambition. Anyhow, I signed up, was accepted, and relieved - 4 more years of school. 4 more years of having my days all regulated and planned.

Previously she said:

Sunday, April 1, 2007

My Experience of College Education

I'm about to graduate from college; a few years ago, when I applied, it seemed like I have no other option - everybody in my family went to college, and the same was expected from me. My college is close to home (I made sure I could continue living at home when I made the choice!).

I certainly can't say I learned nothing. I chose a degree in Nutrition and Home Economics, and I acquired lots of valuable knowledge, which will be very useful while running a home. I was exposed to a variety of cooking, baking and canning techniques, learned about planning a menu and food safety, about how to make better food choices and how to be a wiser consumer. I also learned A LOT about medicine, which I already apply to contribute to my family's health and well-being. In addition, I took courses in psychology and sociology, which broadened my general level of education.

But let me tell you this one thing. Everything I mentioned above is only useful to my family because I made CONSTANT EFFORT to see it through the prism of a devoted daughter, of (God willing) future mother and homemaker. Our teachers certainly didn't intend it to be interpreted that way. We were oriented towards career, not family. The knowledge and skills we gained was to be given to anyone but people we care about the most - our family.

Let me tell you something else. Practically everything I learned during my 3 years of college - and certainly the more practical things - could be learned at home, in a cheaper, safer, and more extensive manner. It might have taken longer time, but I would have been so much better off at home. The entire spirit was so ambitious, competitive and self-absorbed. What about modesty? I studied in an almost girls-only class, and I still had to struggle against negative influence almost every day. At times, I felt like shutting my ears so I don't have to listen to stories about immoral behavior; I won't even mention the abysmal "dress code"! And THAT, remember, is what I have been exposed to while living at home. Imagine what must have been going on in the dorms, after classes ended!

Have I been able to grow towards serving my family and towards God's calling? Have I gained important skills during the past 3 years? Yes, but I can truly and wholeheartedly say it happened more despite than thanks to my college education. I didn't have time to really refine my homemaking skills. Only during the past year, I'm learning how to clean satisfactorily and shop frugally, how to do laundry effectively, I'm learning to garden, sew, knit and crochet. Ironically, my mother is very good at all those things, but she has never been married and doesn't believe in feminine calling. So I am being pushed into the workforce, and I'm afraid this is where I'm going to end if I'm not blessed with a godly husband who isn't intimidated by the role of leader and provider in his own family. I pray with all my heart for meeting and marrying such a man.

I would like to encourage all the wonderful families who decide to give their daughters broad, high-quality education while keeping them at home, under the safe, loving protection of their family. Don't believe anyone who says home education cannot produce an intelligent, creative human being. Home is certainly the best possible place to gain the skills necessary for a future keeper at home, a godly wife and mother. An endless variety of interests, hobbies, activities and business options can also be successfully pursued from home. If we have a vision of being home centered, let's live it, and let's show the world what a powerful and glorious vision it is!!

Anna

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But when I reached the age of 18 and school was over, I panicked. What on earth was I going to do? How would I occupy my time? A big, vast, scary blank stretched before me. I would have signed up for university the following year, but for technical reasons it wasn't possible. I had a year between school and university. So I worked at several places, and signed up for university the moment I could get the papers worked out. I signed up, even though I had no idea what it was that I actually wanted to do. I had to begin something. I loved learning, but I never had what you'd call ambition. Anyhow, I signed up, was accepted, and relieved - 4 more years of school. 4 more years of having my days all regulated and planned.

Thats too much like how I felt when I left school and college :(

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What makes you think Anna appreciates higher education? She barely attended to her own and despised her tutors, iirc?

Agree with the rest of your commentary though. :) Wonder what MrAnna makes of the changes in her? He raised the homeschooling issue on the first date!

I don't think she appreciates the educational system, but I feel she does appreciate learning. Plus, Anna T is a reader (and not just religious texts) and she doesn't expressed the strident anti-intellectual bias shared by US fundies. Then again, my standards for fundies are pretty low. :lol:

I forgot that her husband raised the homeschooling issue on their first date! Well, I'm sure he also thought they'd have a boatload of kids and now they aren't so....maybe he's also facing reality. I know the family has endured some financial issues, including a bout of unemployment. Anna recently alluded to continued financial stress in their lives. It could be the economic reality that's forcing their hand on this issue. Homeschooling may be expensive where they are (living in one of the Israeli settlements) plus Anna and husband may be thinking of using her time to run a side business for extra income. Given her low energy and their financial situation, their dream of a gaggle of homeschooling children may not be feasible. I just wish Anna will just accept there are many ways to raise a family and public schools and working moms won't turn your kids into stupid drones or serial killers.

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I went to the link and found it fine... check to make sure you removed the DOT in the address.

I did, and posted the non dot link, which is easier. I'll go look again.

When I used the link in the first post, removing the DOT I got this: Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist.

When I went to home it was there. Weird.

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Thats too much like how I felt when I left school and college :(

Me too. The few times I have had to leave college and just work for a semester or two (twice), I appreciated the break from study and homework, but I always wanted to go back to feel I'm doing something. It's exhausting to go to school and work, but yet...I want to go to school now. I hated high school, but college is different. I think I won't know what to do when I finish school finally. :?

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Guest Anonymous

I don't think she appreciates the educational system, but I feel she does appreciate learning. Plus, Anna T is a reader (and not just religious texts) and she doesn't expressed the strident anti-intellectual bias shared by US fundies. Then again, my standards for fundies are pretty low. :lol:

I forgot that her husband raised the homeschooling issue on their first date! Well, I'm sure he also thought they'd have a boatload of kids and now they aren't so....maybe he's also facing reality. I know the family has endured some financial issues, including a bout of unemployment. Anna recently alluded to continued financial stress in their lives. It could be the economic reality that's forcing their hand on this issue. Homeschooling may be expensive where they are (living in one of the Israeli settlements) plus Anna and husband may be thinking of using her time to run a side business for extra income. Given her low energy and their financial situation, their dream of a gaggle of homeschooling children may not be feasible. I just wish Anna will just accept there are many ways to raise a family and public schools and working moms won't turn your kids into stupid drones or serial killers.

Yeah, I suppose I would refer to it as "broader education" in her case, rather than "higher".

I could imagine her doing a slow 360 degree turn on most of her beliefs, except that they do provide a useful cover-up for her super-low energy. It is hard to imagine she could ever hold down a full-time job.

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I am fucking desperate to return to university. FUCKING DESPERATE. As desperate as a desperate thing in a field of desperation. It is the burning desire of my life and with the clever ideas of FJists I am going to try everything so I can.

And these stupid little girls toss an university education aside like it's nothing because some of their fellow students wear trousers.

PS: If you live in an Israeli "settlement" you're a cunt, and if I could think of a stronger word I'd use it.

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I am fucking desperate to return to university. FUCKING DESPERATE. As desperate as a desperate thing in a field of desperation. It is the burning desire of my life and with the clever ideas of FJists I am going to try everything so I can.

And these stupid little girls toss an university education aside like it's nothing because some of their fellow students wear trousers.

PS: If you live in an Israeli "settlement" you're a cunt, and if I could think of a stronger word I'd use it.

Remember, it's not just the trousers, it's competitive. And they don't orient it towards becoming a mother and homemaker. We will have to chalk this up to yet more failures of the public schools and university system. Sigh.

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Guest Anonymous

Remember, it's not just the trousers, it's competitive. And they don't orient it towards becoming a mother and homemaker. We will have to chalk this up to yet more failures of the public schools and university system. Sigh.

Anna was learning home economics, part-time, in between baking cakes for her nan and posing modestly for blog pics. And she still hated teh ebil feminists for trying to ruin her life.

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She often seemed to claim to be experts on things before she had any experience. Before she'd ever been married she was an expert on marriage and any other way of doing things was totally wrong. Before she'd ever been pregnant she knew all their was to know about pregnancy and birth and could tell others the "right" ways of doing things. Before she had any children she said that of course she could handle staying home with dozens of them because that's what all women everywhere should do. I'm glad that after so long of claiming she's an expert without the experience, she's now kind of sort of admitting she doesn't have all the answers now that she's having the experience. I don't think she'll do a 180 on her beliefs, because I don't think she'd ever be able to work full time outside of the home, but I do think her life will end up a lot less fundie than what she claimed it was going to be. Small children really aren't compatible with someone as extremely low energy as she is.

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Anna's very guarded. She went a long time not saying she was an Isreali and an orthodox Jew for fear of rejection from the SAHD crowd. She has her image to maintain. If she does have her kids in formal education or is using real birth control she would have a hard time blogging about it.

I do agree she's less of a knowitall now that she's realized that studying marriage and motherhood and living it are two totally different things.

I wouldn't be surprised if her part time homeschooling is her being a total slacker at it.

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I would like to share with FJ a story that I actually cried at this morning.

It was in the Morning Star and it was Union Learner Of the Year. This bloke is like my dad, who left school at 14 to work in a factory. He however didn't pick up the learning my dad did and couldn't read or write, nor could he count. (I'm not sure he went to the school at all). He was a cleaner cleaning the buses.

He went to his union rep and said "I know I'm a bit old but I would like to go to the school." They made arrangements to get him taught. A tutor came round because quite a few people where he was were having those difficulties. He very quickly learnt the numbers and to be literate, now his wanting to learn has gone through the roof and he's studying IT.

That is a brilliant story of how education can transform a person's life.

And then you get people who casually toss aside such an enormous gift and insist women have vaginas and don't need that fancy book learning as a result.

There are not really words.

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Yes, I agree with this. My dad was made to leave school at 14, to work for his father, who was a master builder. He could read and write and figure, but not much more. As soon as he could, he joined the army (he had to do National Service anyway).

He educated himself from then on, and he taught us that the most valuable thing you can do for yourself is to get an education. He's incredibly knowledgeable now - really well read in history, science etc. He's very IT literate too, which is less usual for an 81 year old.

I hate it when people take education so lightly. People struggle SO much, fight and damn near die for an education. Especially women. (Malala?) And these privileged, precious little nobodies fuss about SAHD as if it's the sole worthy destiny for a female.

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Artemis and JFC, you both made me cry. :cry:

I'll add one for you. My mother has a friend. Her friend's mother was born to the ethnic Greek minority within the borders of what is now Albania around 1910. I knew the old mother from church, the absolute stereotype of a Greek yiayia (grandma) complete with black kerchief and wooden spoon in the kitchen in case you had ideas of thieving food before everybody sat down to the table. One day I picked up my own mother at her friend's house, where the old grandmother lived. Old grandmother sat me in a chair, started feeding me, and was asking what college was like (I was on a break).

In between shaking me down for information, I got her life story. She grew up in an agricultural village, and was illiterate. Never went to school, she was needed at home. She got married, had children. WW2 comes around and round ups and killing start as the Axis takes over Albania. She escaped with her children into the borders of Greece with the help of a network of her Muslim neighbors, as ethnic Greeks were being rounded up because they were considered "spies". Greece itself is in horrific shape, and one child dies of disease. She eventually gets over to the US. She has no choice but to work to keep a roof over their heads. The kids grow up, eventually marry, and one takes her permanently. At this point her first grandchild is in Greek school, the after school program Greek churches in the US set up to teach Greek-American kids Greek literacy. She went to the principal of the Greek school and asked if it would be OK if she stayed in class with her grandchild, as she had never learned to read and wanted to see if it was still possible at her age (she was 55). The principal said, sure, give it a go. She did. She learned to read and write in Greek, and actually "graduated" with that class after 6 years. :mrgreen: She got her children to teach her the English alphabet and eventually learned to read in English.

She read in both languages every day until she went blind in her 80s, and after that a child or grandchild would read to her every night. She pressed 10 dollars on me so I could "get extra food at college, you can't learn if your not eating properly". All seven of her grandchildren graduated from college, and she went to every graduation.

I could start banging my head and never stop at the azzhattery of women who have an open door to education and don't walk through it because they think it makes them more modest and better mothers. Fuck them. Fuck them all.

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I hate it when people take education so lightly. People struggle SO much, fight and damn near die for an education. Especially women. (Malala?) And these privileged, precious little nobodies fuss about SAHD as if it's the sole worthy destiny for a female.

Yes! The most important thing my grandmother taught her daughters and then me was that an education is the one thing nobody can take away from you. She had to flee from East Prussia after WWII and lost everything, she had nothing when she arrived in Berlin. My grandmother came from a farm and wasn't the most educated woman in the world, but you can bet your ass that she did everything in her power to make sure her children would get an education. And later, when I decided the bilingual school wasn't enough and wanted to live in the US for a year, she helped my parents financially to make that happen for me.

I'd roll my eyes behind her back every time she told me that I had to do well in school for myself and nobody else, but I get it now. These women who act like an education just isn't necessary for their daughters make me incredibly angry.

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I could start banging my head and never stop at the azzhattery of women who have an open door to education and don't walk through it because they think it makes them more modest and better mothers. Fuck them. Fuck them all.

This. I got pregnant at 15 and I am currently in my final year of university. I'm applying for some post grads, if they don't work out I'll be looking for a job. However, even if, after graduating, I do nothing but work in the local newsagents for the rest of my life, not for one minute will I regret the time and money spent on my degree. I worked damn hard to get this far, and it is a personal achievement. I can tell my child that I used the full extent of my abilities to pursue education as far as possible, and that, to me is something to be proud of. The vast majority of people in the world don't have one tenth of the access to education we do. People have fought and died for the right to learn and be taught.So I have no time or patience for people who turn their noses up, and spend their time bitching and whinging about how "useless" third level education is.

ETA because my computer keeps logging me out before I'm finished.

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I hope she puts her kids in school. It's quite possible that they won't have her low energy issues, and school will expose them to other kids and families and may give them more stimulation.

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Poor Anna. Nothing seems to be as cut and dried for her as it was when she was single and waiting to get married. Of course, anybody paying even a little attention could have predicted that, but still... I hope she does send her kids to school; she can barely handle working a part-time job. Homeschooling is a big job and it gets bigger as the kids get older.

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All these stories about people's parents, grandparents and older family friends fighting and struggling for an education are both heartwarming and heartbreaking. My own grandparents have similar stories. My grandmother essentially stopped formal schooling when she was eight years old, because she had to look after her four younger siblings. She is an avid reader, talented Scrabble player, and does crosswords every day, but these are just little hints of what she might've been able to do if she'd been educated beyond lower primary school level. My grandfather left school at 14 to work. But his older brother insisted that he continue on with his education and paid for him to go to night school in order to complete his secondary school education. At one point, he was working full-time as a civil engineer, going to night school and building the family home, with four children under the age of ten. All of their four daughters went on to higher education or vocational training, and my sister and I are in postgraduate study. Education is amazing and powerful.

I think some fundies, like Anna T, reject education because of their own personal experiences and inclinations. But I think most of the fundie patriarchs reject it because the know all too well how powerful an education can be.

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