Alyssa & John 6: She's Raising Sister Moms

[FluffySnowball]

1 hour ago, Jackie3 said:

I do agree that Alyssa is homeschooling in the laziest possible way. For some reason she thinks it's a good way and she boasts about it on instagram. If I homeschooled like that, I'd hide it out of embarrassment. To me, it's the opposite of what education should be. I can see nothing good in it at all, especially for littles.

I don’t have kids myself, so I’m not in a position to judge. I don’t know what it actually means and how it feels to have three young und you 24/7, and let’s not forget Alyssa was quite seriously ill up until a few months (?) Abo when her second heart surgery succeeded. 

My point, however, is this: I just don’t get what Alyssa would do such a lousy job at homeschooling at this stage.

For one, the subjects aren’t yet heart and on an intellectual level, it shouldn’t be too difficult for her to teach her girls. Now, understanding something oneself is different from passing the knowledge on to someone else and not every smart person is cut out to be a teacher. Still, reading through some books about pedagogy for preschool and elementary school teachers kinda solves the problem to some extend. And let’s not forget that there are just soooo many resources for Christian faith-based homeschooling. That should be right up Alyssa’s alley. I (again, keep in mind that’s how I imagine it would go) assume if I had children and felt I had to homeschool them, I’d try to invest myself into the whole topic of home education. I’d want to give them the best education while finding out their strengths and supporting them in their passion. Also, I’d try to use homeschooling as a bonding experience. 

Also, I just love doing arts and crafts with the children of friends. We draw, we paint, we glue, we go to the forest or park to get natural supplies (e.g. dry leaves in fall, little sticks, and so on). We also read together (I read and provide snacks and we cuddle on the sofa), we hear/read/watch about a subject and then cook or bake something suitable (e.g. a recipe from a certain country or one we read about in a story).

There’s just so much fun stuff Alyssa could do with her daughters, stuff that makes them all happy and bond. So it doesn’t make sense to me that she seems to try and spend as little time with her three girls as possible. And now she’s having a fourth... I can’t wrap my mind around it! 

[Jackie3]

1 minute ago, FluffySnowball said:

My point, however, is this: I just don’t get what Alyssa would do such a lousy job at homeschooling at this stage.There’s just so much fun stuff Alyssa could do with her daughters, stuff that makes them all happy and bond. So it doesn’t make sense to me that she seems to try and spend as little time with her three girls as possible. And now she’s having a fourth... I can’t wrap my mind around it! 

Crafts, nature walks, learning to use scissors and glue, learning to share. . . that is what education is at 2 and 3 years old.  I mean, you can teach them letters, as Alyssa does, but there is no real point. It won't mean much to them. It won't excite them, it's just something they parrot back to please their parents. You want to get kids excited about learning, and little kids generally get excited about doing what the grownups do.

Although I can't stand her beliefs, I like the way Jessa Duggar lets her kids do things in the kitchen, gives them lots of exercise to develop their gross motor skills, encourages them to build and explore. I'm sure the fact that Spurgeon can put together a smoothie in the kitchen gives him confidence. I doubt Zoey gets any confidence watching a dancing "M" on the computer.

Even Allie, at 5, should be spending most of her time building, crafting, exploring, socializing, and only a small amount of time on reading and math. That's the kindergarten model that fosters a love of learning.

[Mrs Ms]

2 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

Even Allie, at 5, should be spending most of her time building, crafting, exploring, socializing, and only a small amount of time on reading and math. That's the kindergarten model that fosters a love of learning.

It doesn’t even have to be one or the other. Go on a walk and make her walk out the letter on a lawn, through some leaves or into sand/snow (depending on where you live/time of the year)

Collect sticks/stones/leaves/flowers etc and make letters out of them.

Make bread dough and then form letters out of it. If you make the dough from scratch and let the kids truely help (not her version where the girls get to sprinkle something over the top when she has done every other stage) they get to practice maths at the same time. 

[Jackie3]

5 hours ago, Mrs Ms said:

It doesn’t even have to be one or the other. Go on a walk and make her walk out the letter on a lawn, through some leaves or into sand/snow (depending on where you live/time of the year)

Collect sticks/stones/leaves/flowers etc and make letters out of them.

Make bread dough and then form letters out of it. If you make the dough from scratch and let the kids truely help (not her version where the girls get to sprinkle something over the top when she has done every other stage) they get to practice maths at the same time. 

I used to do all those things with my kids! Making letters in fingerpaint, shaving cream,  frosting, etc. It was hard not to push my own agenda (learning letters), but I tried to bury my agenda in fun activities. I wouldn't say it did any harm, but the kids liked to participate because of parental attention and the fun of manipulating something cool, like shaving cream. Not because they cared about letters.

Don't even get me started with her cooking videos. Those kids just stand their looking frustrated. It broke my  heart when Lexi kept asking to break the egg, but Alyssa wouldn't let her because she might leave bits of shell in the bowl. Let her break it into a cup, then, Alyssa! What a stupe. I also felt bad when Lexi wanted to mix some ingredients together. Alyssa mixed it completely and then let Lexi stir the mixed liquid around, telling her she was "mixing it."

Her kids are just in the videos because they are cute and draw viewers. No one would watch Alyssa alone make some icky mac n cheese.

[HereticHick]

When Grandfather Webster (age 71) retires from Congress, I can see them enrolling a kid or two in a Christian Academy.

[Angelface]

5 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

When Grandfather Webster (age 71) retires from Congress, I can see them enrolling a kid or two in a Christian Academy.

Goodness, I hope that that is what will happen. It would be wonderful for all of them. The girls would get an education and to mix with a slightly wider group of perhaps slightly less fundie classmates; Alyssa would get some time to herself which she needs in order to be able to grow as a person. The house would be perfect, laundry and chores all done whilst the girls are in school, she could fit in her exercise, meet up with other mums, perhaps start to really get into healthy eating and cooking, do an online course, get a part time job (maybe in admin) and hopefully expand her horizons and open her mind. John would gain a happier wife and more fulfilled daughters. Wouldn’t it be lovely (as Eliza Doolittle would say)!

[Jackie3]

Alyssa posted a picture of herself, all dressed up in red, for an anniversary getaway with John. Red dress, shoes, purse, etc. Guess who gave her the outfit? Her friend Tikky what's her name, who buys matching clothes for the kids! 

 

[raayx01]

7 minutes ago, Jackie3 said:

Alyssa posted a picture of herself, all dressed up in red, for an anniversary getaway with John. Red dress, shoes, purse, etc. Guess who gave her the outfit? Her friend Tikky what's her name, who buys matching clothes for the kids! 

 

Have we found out anything about this Tikky girl?

[Perrierwithlemon]

2 hours ago, raayx01 said:

Have we found out anything about this Tikky girl?

Not anything notable (to my knowledge), but you can look back over the Alyssa/Webster threads. She’s still a huge mystery. I think it’s about time someone starts a thread for her so we can kept track of any info we learn. She intrigues me because she’s the polar opposite of a grifter! 

[raayx01]

1 hour ago, Perrierwithlemon said:

Not anything notable (to my knowledge), but you can look back over the Alyssa/Webster threads. She’s still a huge mystery. I think it’s about time someone starts a thread for her so we can kept track of any info we learn. She intrigues me because she’s the polar opposite of a grifter! 

Some people think she's a super fan maybe trying to take advantage of Alyssa, but I think she is a friend of the family. 

[indianabones]

20 minutes ago, raayx01 said:

Some people think she's a super fan maybe trying to take advantage of Alyssa, but I think she is a friend of the family. 

All of the Bates daughters except Carlin follow her, so I think you're right.

[raayx01]

1 minute ago, indianabones said:

All of the Bates daughters except Carlin follow her, so I think you're right.

But she gave Carlin the chair in her nursery and she doesn't follow her.

What baffles me is that even with Alyssa being a stay at home mom, John can make some good money being an air conditioning guy in Florida, but yet they're still renting after 6 years of marriage. They only have 4 kids and they don't seem to live much out of their means, on top of that with the TV money and Alyssa's paid portions she could get with her amount of followers and her YouTube money. Why can't they support themselves instead of always accepting free items. I don't blame them for accepting a gift, but this many would make me a little uncomfortable.

[samurai_sarah]

Carry on snarking in the green, green grass of here:

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by samurai_sarah