Lessons from the Wisdom Booklets

[Rhetorica]

On 12/31/2015 at 9:48 AM, Four is Enough said:

I must give people too much credit for being able to think clearly. HOW do people accept this? I mean, I know that people who are drawn to cults need something they're not getting IRL, but..

IMO, it's often people who 1) feel cheated of what they believe is their due (i.e., men who are being squeezed out of a shrinking middle class; white, middle-class men who feel their privileged status in society slipping) and see the emphasis on authority as a recognition of their natural superiority and 2) those whose lives feel chaotic and uncertain and are desperate for some kind of security only concrete formulas can provide. 

[BackseatMom]

Wow. That is really intense...

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[Dandruff]

On 12/31/2015 at 1:58 AM, amandaaries said:

I'm always curious about that.  He's got a 7 fetish, so 42, 49, or 56 would make sense as an end point, but instead... 

Have you examined his materials?  There's a lot of repetition and ridiculousness, so tying it in with holy-numerical importance would help elevate the material.

 

Maybe there are two more waiting in the wings for a future revelation?

[BackseatMom]

It blows my mind that some states let you homeskool your kids however you want with no testing or other measures checking for basic competency. Those poor kids are starting life with such a huge disadvantage. 

[Rhetorica]

On 1/2/2016 at 2:30 PM, BackseatMom said:

It blows my mind that some states let you homeskool your kids however you want with no testing or other measures checking for basic competency. Those poor kids are starting life with such a huge disadvantage. 

I agree. My sister who homeschools her kids but is no longer drinking the Kool-aid like so many around her are still insists that outside testing is unnecessary unless individual parents seek it out--even when those parents only have a GED. In contrast, I spent seven years past my bachelor's degree learning my area of expertise, and I am still routinely observed in the classroom by my peers and superiors--and I will continue to be throughout my career. 

[apple1]

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2015 at 1:58 AM, amandaaries said:

  He's got a 7 fetish, so 42, 49, or 56 would make sense as an end point, but instead... 

 

Interesting that you mentioned this. I was in a meeting last night in which a (non-Christian) made a huge deal of the 7 thing.

[tumblr]

3 hours ago, apple1 said:

Interesting that you mentioned this. I was in a meeting last night in which a (non-Christian) made a huge deal of the 7 thing.

It's also the magic/all powerful number from Harry Potter.

[FormerlyFundyLite]

I haven't seen this one yet, so helpmeets, feel free to merge. Homeschoolers Anonymous has a series in which they are posting the ATI Wisdom Booklets in their entirety. They started last year with just a few, but as of Saturday, Wisdom Booklets 1-54 are all available ("NOT intended for educational use, but for journalists and researchers who want to investigate the teachings of ATI in primary sources").

For the curious: https://homeschoolersanonymous.org/tag/wisdom-booklets/.

[lizzybee]

So I just followed the HA link and took a look at the Wisdom Booklets. THIS is it? That's the homeschool curriculum for all grades? Am I understanding correctly? Just repeating that over and over? 

[BackseatMom]

What a joke. "Medicine" - like this bible verse, teeth can rot out. 

These poor kids would be better off with unfettered internet access and a library card. This is educational neglect, pure and simple.

[RosyDaisy]

WTF is this nonsense? There is nothing educational about this shit.

[THERetroGamerNY]

There's a parental guide supplied with it, as I recall? Has a whole library of recommended materials for the parents to purchase.

But the booklets are awful education. After I broke away from my family and all, I started to just feel SO stupid and under-educated. I still have no idea what to do with fractions. Well, outside of measuring for cooking...

And that is THE major failing with that cirriculum: It totally fails on math and other core principles. Like grammar isn't covered either. So you are forced to use other cirriculum to supplement what is promoted as being an all-encompassing "advanced" system. It's supposedly "advanced" in that all topics are blended together, and not separated into different categories.

Oh, and just how "advanced"? Gothard literally claimed, back in the 80s when this crap was first published, that:
"...give a child a high school equivalent training; the equivalent of four years of college; a pre-law; a pre-med; and a business education."

What a Titanic-sized lie!

I fucking hate those damned booklets. They basically ruined my childhood, and left me clueless into my young adult years with a broken education...

I really excel at being self-taught anymore.

It also didn't help that my mother was a nutjob who sucked at homeschooling...

[TShirtsLongSkirts]

Apologies if this has already been discussed - I couldn't find a thread on it.

I found a blog called When Cows and Kids Collide (http://whencowsandkidscollide.blogspot.co.uk/) which is basically snarking on the ATI wisdom booklets, and also books like the Botkinettes' "It's Not That Complicated" and the Pearl's "Preparing To Be A Helpmeet".

It hasn't been updated since June but there's still a good backlog of interesting analysis.