John and Alyssa Webster 13: The Blessed Boy Arrived

[JermajestyDuggar]

Alyssa has basically skipped all of her children ahead based on their ages and grades. Part of me thinks Alyssa does this to get through school as soon as possible. Allie started 4th and she’s 8. Lexi started 2nd and she’s 6. Zoey started 1st and she 5. Maci started preschool and she’s 2. If her kids were going to public school, they would all be one grade down. And here’s the kicker. Alyssa puts them in front of screens 4 days a week (they do co op once a week). They are sitting in front of a screen doing work that is meant for kids a year older. No wonder Allie says she hates homeschool. If she does decide to put them in an actual high school in their teen years, I wonder if they would actually be able to handle being the youngest in their class. 

[JDuggs]

Alyssa addresses the issue of pushing all of her kids a year early in school in her IG stories (will disappear in a couple of hours from now) and in her YouTube video. She did say she has mixed feelings about it. She started them early because Allie was eager to learn when she was young and could handle it. So I’m guessing Alyssa has been evaluating each of the kids after her to decide if they’re ready to start. She thinks it will be okay to extend a school year if she finds one of her kids struggling. She doesn’t like the fact that groups like Awana which her girls participate in are grouped by grade. She doesn’t like the idea of her girls aging out of something because they’re in higher grades. So Alyssa is trying to analyze the pros and cons. I think many of the Bates Gen 2 families (Zach, Erin, Alyssa and now Carlin) seem to be rushing their kids into school a year early because they don’t value school and are okay with the result of rushing their kids into adulthood.

I was just thinking about what Alyssa will do with Rhett. She’ll probably start him with his age peers so he’ll be bigger and stronger for sports. Some recreational sports my kids did were grouped by grade and the more competitive sports leagues were grouped by age.

[Jackie3]

1 hour ago, JDuggs said:

She started them early because Allie was eager to learn when she was young and could handle it.

She had a four-year old who was anxious to learn?

Great! Bake with her, build things out of wood, buy her a Lego Technic, get a Snap Circuits kit to teach her about electric currents, expose her to music, painting, children's literature, get her an model railway kit, teach her simple sewing, take her to dance class. . . .

Don't plop her in front of an Abeka video. That's the last thing I'd do with an inquisitive four-year old. IT's a good way to kill that desire to learn.

Allie went from 4 year old who was eager to learn to an 8 year old who doesn't like school. 

I think Alyssa put her in "school" because it meant that Allie was still and silent for four hours each day.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Jackie3

[Giraffe]

2 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

 If she does decide to put them in an actual high school in their teen years, I wonder if they would actually be able to handle being the youngest in their class. 

If the school tests them ahead of time they might not be the youngest. It doesn’t sound like Alyssa or her husband actually care about academics. So I could see the kids ending up a grade or two below where Alyssa says they should be. 

[Tdoc72]

Not sure why she would rush them. After they graduate high school, aren’t they just going to be sitting around waiting on a Godly man?

[Giraffe]

6 minutes ago, Tdoc72 said:

Not sure why she would rush them. After they graduate high school, aren’t they just going to be sitting around waiting on a Godly man?

So she can brag about it like M.is.for.Mama brags about everything graduating high school at 16. 

[gobucks]

38 minutes ago, Tdoc72 said:

Not sure why she would rush them. After they graduate high school, aren’t they just going to be sitting around waiting on a Godly man?

So they can fly to their aunts' houses to babysit while their aunts are pregnant. It's the fundie circle of life. It's only fair that Allie Jane would go to Callie's while she is bedridden with morning sickness after Callie did it for Alyssa. 

Edited August 13, 2023 by gobucks

[Melissa1977]

8 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

Not sure why she would rush them. After they graduate high school, aren’t they just going to be sitting around waiting on a Godly man?

It is enterely possible that little Allie was asking for books and pencils to draw and Alyssa thought she was ready for school. Alyssa didn't start homeschooling with videos. She actually bought a nice homeschooling set based on crafts and paper worksheets for Allie. She changed to Abeka videos later.

Anyway, I think fundies start homeschooling soon because they need to keep the kids busy. Same reason other families put them a few hours in daycare.

[SorenaJ]

I think Alyssa starts homeschooling early to convince others of the success of the homeschooling. “My kids are ahead a grade - they are so smart, all due to homeschooling!” 

[freethemall]

Her idea of school, as it is for most of these fundies, is finishing workbooks and videos, so as long as you do that and go through the checklist of super basic literacy skills you move up. Topics like science and history are "electives" once a week at co-op because otherwise they get zero of that. And of course they do zero sports too. I can't tell how much actual assessment of comprehension there is, likely very little in FL.

This is what happens when uneducated, unskilled adults pretend to teach, they just rush through it without any actual teaching. Kelly was more educated and skilled but they all give up after a certain number of kids.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Zoo always bragged about Sol graduating at 16. But I don’t know if any others have graduated at 16. I don’t think so. 
 

If Alyssa isn’t going by age then she could put two kids in the same grade to save some time. She could put Lexi and Zoey in the same grade since they are only one grade apart. That way it could make her job a little easier. I sometimes wonder why more homeschoolers don’t do that. Some of their kids are very close in age. And it would make their lives a little easier if they put the ones close in age in the same grade. 

[Expectopatronus]

Are there no private schools in their area that teach Abeka? Given that they live in Florida and Abeka was developed at Pensecola I would be shocked if they couldn’t find a Christian school that teaches Abeka only. They would be much happier playing with other kids and Alyssa would only have Maci and Rhett during the day. 

[Giraffe]

3 minutes ago, Expectopatronus said:

Are there no private schools in their area that teach Abeka? Given that they live in Florida and Abeka was developed at Pensecola I would be shocked if they couldn’t find a Christian school that teaches Abeka only. They would be much happier playing with other kids and Alyssa would only have Maci and Rhett during the day. 

And give up being a mommy martyr? It’ll never happen. 

[Jackie3]

6 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

It is enterely possible that little Allie was asking for books and pencils to draw and Alyssa thought she was ready for school. Alyssa didn't start homeschooling with videos. She actually bought a nice homeschooling set based on crafts and paper worksheets for Allie. She changed to Abeka videos later.

Anyway, I think fundies start homeschooling soon because they need to keep the kids busy. Same reason other families put them a few hours in daycare.

Not true. There's videos of 4-year old Allie sitting in front of the TV, watching an Abeka video. Lexi is not in school yet, but watches because that's what her sister is doing. 

Alyssa says something like, "Allie loves her teacher! What's your teacher's name, honey?" And Allie says, "I don't know."

She definitely started those Abeka videos around age 4. 

 

4 hours ago, freethemall said:

And of course they do zero sports too.

Well, to be fair, sports are not generally part of an educational curriculum. That's why they are called "extracurriculars."

Not all kids are healthy/abled enough to do sports, but they still can receive a complete education.

With that said, I think these kids could use a lot more physical activity of some sort.

[GuineaPigCourtship]

It would be very expensive to put 3 and eventually 5+ kids in private school.  Never gonna happen, especially with her father-in-law whose hill to die on is homeschooling.

[Angelface]

18 hours ago, GuineaPigCourtship said:

It would be very expensive to put 3 and eventually 5+ kids in private school.  Never gonna happen, especially with her father-in-law whose hill to die on is homeschooling.

But, someday, when her father-in-law is no more, maybe she will feel able to put the children in school? How old is Dan Webster?

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 minutes ago, Angelface said:

But, someday, when her father-in-law is no more, maybe she will feel able to put the children in school? How old is Dan Webster?

He’s only 74, so he could have quite a few years ahead of him. 

[Angelface]

19 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

He’s only 74, so he could have quite a few years ahead of him. 

Thank you JermajestyDuggar. I thought that he was at least 80, my mistake. 
I do hope that if Alyssa wants/needs to send the children (maybe for high school) to a real school that John would be supportive. As a couple, I find them confusing. I think that both of them would have preferred to delay having children for at least 5 years but didn’t realise that this was an option for them. Or perhaps they didn’t know how to live a life that didn’t just follow their parents’ expectations of what they should do.  Alyssa is starting to appear overwhelmed at times which is understandable with five children ranging in age from 8 down to an infant. 

[JDuggs]

John seems to revere his father. Out of respect for his dad, I think John would insist that his kids are always homeschooled (with some co-op days). What’s best for the kids wouldn’t enter into the decision making.

Does anyone know if all of the nieces and nephews on John’s side are homeschooled? Being the first family to break that tradition would be hard.

Edited August 14, 2023 by JDuggs
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[JermajestyDuggar]

I wish they would just steadily increase the co op days until they do it 4 days a week but still claim homeschooling to Daddy Taliban Dan. 

[SassyPants]

The problem is no one seems to care that the kids aren’t really getting educated, or maybe that’s the reason why they “homeschool”, so the kids remain dummies. 

Does anyone really think that Allie AND Lexi AND Zoey are all a full year + ahead in academics? REALLY? Half of their genes are from Alyssa. Let that sink in for a moment. Their mother spells dining/dinning, medieval/mid-evil and didn’t know the cardinal directional signs. I bet she can identify all her face and hair care products.

[JermajestyDuggar]

16 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

The problem is no one seems to care that the kids aren’t really getting educated, or maybe that’s the reason why they “homeschool”, so the kids remain dummies. 

Does anyone really think that Allie AND Lexi AND Zoey are all a full year + ahead in academics? REALLY? Half of their genes are from Alyssa. Let that sink in for a moment. Their mother spells dining/dinning, medieval/mid-evil and didn’t know the cardinal directional signs. I bet she can identify all her face and hair care products.

Oh it’s a given that those girls aren’t on track for their grade. I bet if they were put into those grades in a public school, all three would struggle. Not because of change, but because they are actually behind academically. 

[Giraffe]

1 hour ago, SassyPants said:

The problem is no one seems to care that the kids aren’t really getting educated, or maybe that’s the reason why they “homeschool”, so the kids remain dummies. 

Oh I'm sure people like the likes of Daniel Webster's daughter-in-law absolutely believe their children are the homeschoolers that get into Ivy League schools and become brain surgeons & rocket scientists. Delusional because, hello, have any of the next generation Bates/Duggars, etc gone to an accredited institution? But they'll still bury their head in the sand and pretend they're doing it the best. 

[AussieKrissy]

2 hours ago, SassyPants said:

The problem is no one seems to care that the kids aren’t really getting educated, or maybe that’s the reason why they “homeschool”, so the kids remain dummies. 

Does anyone really think that Allie AND Lexi AND Zoey are all a full year + ahead in academics? REALLY? Half of their genes are from Alyssa. Let that sink in for a moment. Their mother spells dining/dinning, medieval/mid-evil and didn’t know the cardinal directional signs. I bet she can identify all her face and hair care products.

lol to be fair I know the cardinal directions I just didn't know (until here when it happened) that, that is what their title was, to me they will always be Never Eat Soggy Weetbix, which to be fair is the only way I eat them. I chuckle that I have something in common with Alyssa.

I can't remember did she really not know them or like me know them but not the name of them? 

Mid evil always cracks me up. Dinning I didn't notice as much because I just skim read and it is not as obvious error to me as it is some others and perhaps because I got what she was referring to my brain trailed over without going back to correct

One that always makes me cringe and I think it is Jessa who does wallah (or some version of that) for Voila and pronounce it when they say it with a w 

I am not a native French speaker and I butcher voila myself but I butcher it with a V lol 

[SassyPants]

11 minutes ago, AussieKrissy said:

lol to be fair I know the cardinal directions I just didn't know (until here when it happened) that, that is what their title was, to me they will always be Never Eat Soggy Weetbix, which to be fair is the only way I eat them. I chuckle that I have something in common with Alyssa.

I can't remember did she really not know them or like me know them but not the name of them? 

Mid evil always cracks me up. Dinning I didn't notice as much because I just skim read and it is not as obvious error to me as it is some others and perhaps because I got what she was referring to my brain trailed over without going back to correct

One that always makes me cringe and I think it is Jessa who does wallah (or some version of that) for Voila and pronounce it when they say it with a w 

I am not a native French speaker and I butcher voila myself but I butcher it with a V lol 

I get not being able to spell, like mixing up the order of the letters, but MID EVIL? Come on- 

And didn’t grandpa Taliban graduate from GA Tech with a degree in electrical engineering? He is no dummy, but Alyssa just isn’t intellectually intelligent. And worse, she doesn’t care.