Mary Maxwell graduates (aka 30 years of homeschooling)

[16strong]

I'm constantly amazed at Steve's overwhelming compulsion to control. It was obviously a special treat that after the younger children left Mary's party, the older "childults" were allowed scheduled time to talk with each other.

About what? The price of animal crackers? How many chapters Sarah has written for the upcoming Moody book? How much they don't miss meat in the burritos? The latest cute thing Bethany has said (well actually, that would be a better topic of conversation than the rest)? These people confound me. :think:

[salex]

About what? The price of animal crackers? How many chapters Sarah has written for the upcoming Moody book? How much they don't miss meat in the burritos? The latest cute thing Bethany has said (well actually, that would be a better topic of conversation than the rest)? These people confound me. :think:

I suspect they talk about the things the kids are doing, and about what they are studying in the bible. To my knowledge they don't garden, so they aren't talking about what theywill plant this spring.

Maybe they talk about if there will be a dog and pony show and who will be the dog and who will be the pony this year.

And of course, the weather.

They don't read, they write. They don't follow sports or the news or politics. They could talk about IT onramp classes, or weddings Chris has photgraphed, or the intricacies of irrigation design, set up. And of course there is the time mom bit the cheese paper.

[sparkles]

I suspect they talk about the things the kids are doing, and about what they are studying in the bible. To my knowledge they don't garden, so they aren't talking about what theywill plant this spring.

Maybe they talk about if there will be a dog and pony show and who will be the dog and who will be the pony this year.

And of course, the weather.

They don't read, they write. They don't follow sports or the news or politics. They could talk about IT onramp classes, or weddings Chris has photgraphed, or the intricacies of irrigation design, set up. And of course there is the time mom bit the cheese paper.

They used to garden, at least to some degree. I know they talked about growing the hot peppers that they used in their burrito slop. Maybe now that they're not traveling as much they'll take it up again, if they ever stopped in the first place. In typical Maxwell fashion, they don't really talk much about their daily lives.

[nomoxian]

Well, I assume they're taught when Sunday is, and they take it from there. :lol:

Tuesday would be the "day after the day after Sunday"

For once German (übermorgen) is actually shorter!

[anjulibai]

They have to know the days of the week or else their Holy Schedule would be defiled.

[ILoveJellybeans]

They have to know the days of the week or else their Holy Schedule would be defiled.

I presumed that they did the same thing every day. Im surprised they even know what day of the month it is half the time as their life is so samey it all blends into one long day.

[Jana814]

They have to know the days of the week or else their Holy Schedule would be defiled.

Agree!

[VooDooChild]

Aren't the pictures taken of them praying for the purpose of posting to a blog the equivalent of praying on the street corner for all to see (paraphrased, obviously)? Doesn't the Bible say that's verboten? :snooty:

[anjulibai]

Aren't the pictures taken of them praying for the purpose of posting to a blog the equivalent of praying on the street corner for all to see (paraphrased, obviously)? Doesn't the Bible say that's verboten? :snooty:

Technically speaking, any prayer in public is, if you take Jesus's words literally. Prayer is supposed to be intensely private.

[usmcmom]

Aren't the pictures taken of them praying for the purpose of posting to a blog the equivalent of praying on the street corner for all to see (paraphrased, obviously)? Doesn't the Bible say that's verboten? :snooty:

Yep:

Matthew 6:5

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

I even found the King James version so that we'd all know God really means it!!

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Can you imagine marrying into this family?

"Why...are you taking pictures of every single thing we do? I'm just cutting celery. Pose again? Every time I walk through the door?"

[ladyamylynn]

John needs to stop posing in a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he's giving me impure thoughts.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

The more I think of it, the more I find it strange that someone is taking pictures of their family members praying. Praying seems like a private act to me and photography is intrusive. Do they tell them to "hold that pose"? Do they just snap away without warning? The people praying are presumably talking to God so having that conversation interrupted seems rude.

[thoughtful]

Aren't the pictures taken of them praying for the purpose of posting to a blog the equivalent of praying on the street corner for all to see (paraphrased, obviously)? Doesn't the Bible say that's verboten? :snooty:

Well, yeah, but that's Christianity. The Maxwells practice Steveianity.

[DGayle]

The more I think of it, the more I find it strange that someone is taking pictures of their family members praying. Praying seems like a private act to me and photography is intrusive. Do they tell them to "hold that pose"? Do they just snap away without warning? The people praying are presumably talking to God so having that conversation interrupted seems rude.

Is the person taking the pictures going to hell because they aren't praying?

[VodouDoll]

Sarah? She's in hell anyway.

[latraviata]

Very true! Poor Mary. Sharing her one special day, especially with her parents who are the center of attention all the time anyway, is so depressing for her.

ETA: please tell me I'm not the only one who thought it was funny that in all the praying-over-Mary pics Bethany was sitting in her lap looking super bored.

At least they all kept their shoes on......

[Jana814]

Can you imagine marrying into this family?

"Why...are you taking pictures of every single thing we do? I'm just cutting celery. Pose again? Every time I walk through the door?"

Agree!

[scoutsadie]

So ridiculous to see the emphasis of Steve as the "principal" while Teri is the "teacher." I get that they feel they have to maintain the hierarchy of the man above the woman, but seriously, "principal"? Did he give Teri performance reviews, and raises? (Prob yes, and no.)

[sparkles]

So ridiculous to see the emphasis of Steve as the "principal" while Teri is the "teacher." I get that they feel they have to maintain the hierarchy of the man above the woman, but seriously, "principal"? Did he give Teri performance reviews, and raises? (Prob yes, and no.)

Teri may be responsible for teaching at Flowing Streams Christian Academy (although since she relies heavily on textbooks how much actual teaching she does is anyone's guess) but she has said numerous times that the final decisions concerning curriculum are made by Steve. She runs everything by him. So not only is he the principal, he's the district superintendent and the school board as well.

[kpmom]

At least they all kept their shoes on......

Although it appears Christoper is in his stocking feet. Why just him and no one else I don't know.

[VooDooChild]

Well, yeah, but that's Christianity. The Maxwells practice Steveianity.

Of course! How stupid of me. I can still haz animal crackers though? :(

[kpmom]

Teri may be responsible for teaching at Flowing Streams Christian Academy (although since she relies heavily on textbooks how much actual teaching she does is anyone's guess) but she has said numerous times that the final decisions concerning curriculum are made by Steve.

Regarding the bolded; I've often wondered how this works, especially with the younger kids.

Looking over the Maxwells Master Lists from 2008-2009 (when Teri still had four kids in her SOTDRT) she spent 2 1/2 hours total doing "school" with kids. A half hour each with the older kids, and an hour with Mary.

However, that hour included pretty much every academic subject Mary was taking. A whole lot to cover in an hour!

For the rest of the kids she just writes "school with Mom". In a half hour I doubt she could do much more than check to see if they were actually doing their work, and maybe grade a quiz.

So, according to the schedule, Teri spent only 2 1/2 hours "doing school" with 4 kids.

It looks like with the older kids, they basically just gave them their textbooks and said "have at it".

Here are their school schedules; titus2.com/downloads/maxwell-schedules.html (you have to put the www. back in once you copy the address to your browser or it won't go to the right page.)

[socalrules]

So what does Mary do now that she has "graduated" and is officially a child adult? Can her day really be any differnent than before? Does she now have an extra hour to clean every day? Do they retire the chore packs after graduation or are they still used?

[Justme]

Why on earth is Josh still in a high chair? Isn't he around 3? Even Chrissy is in a regular chair and she's about the same age as him. It seems so silly they are holding Drew. HE should be in the high chair. I sure hope he's trained. Having 3 in diapers is a lot for any Mom.....