Comments on: How Do Parents of Large Families Manage? Meet Tal and Talia

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:15:15 +0000

Thank you, Yael, for clarifying. I think you and your husband have done a good job of that.

By: Yael Aldrich

Yael Aldrich — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:31:26 +0000

Abbi and MIL,
I’m sorry to chime in belatedly.
I agree homeschooling isn’t anyone’s “magic bullet” and it is not for everyone (like we said in the Orthonomics blog) but it can be a possibility and that is all we (may I take on the mantle as Happy Homeschooler?) wish to have people keep in mind…

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:27:54 +0000

Ah, so I did not lose out by having my daughter be #3, as she is available to babysit for a few more years. My number 4 is already 12. I did have to get a babysitter a few weeks ago, when my husband went to a school function with him and the older kids were busy. My 4yo was totally traumatized. Surely finding a babysitter couldn’t be that hard!

By: Keren

Keren — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 08:54:09 +0000

Hope it is OK to add a comment late.
anyway 1, re homeschooling in Hebrew.
This seems to be becoming popular, anyone interested would have to look for articles in the Israeli press.
I saw one in Makor rishon and presume that the Horim Veyealdim magazine also dealt with this.
re the story in your post about the family of 6, well, the oldest girl left home for sherut leumi, the next 2 which we will now presume were boys, went to Yeshiva high school with dorms, and the parents were left at home with 3 young children again (and did not know even who to ask to babysit if they wanted to go out)

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:03:17 +0000

Yael, I want to add that while I see your point, I don’t agree with the assumption that homeschooling is some kind of “magic bullet” that will prevent children from going off the derech. And the choice to homeschool is most definitely not simple for the majority of families.

By: Abbi

Abbi — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:05:09 +0000

Yael, I think most frum parents want their children to acquire middot and yirat shamayim in addition to acquiring the skills to become productive members of whatever society they choose to join, whether it’s Israel or chu’l.
For children of olim in particular, relying on chu’l as a backstop is not the answer to a child’s difficulties. Homeschooling may or may not be the solution, it really depends on the family’s individual situation and inclinations. Who’s to say that chu’l would be the answer anyway, particularly if the child is having adjustment problems? I can’t imagine sending a child with difficulties back to American to fend for themselves, even if they were an older teenager/young adult.
I want my children to have good middot and yirat shamayim and successfully integrate into our community and society here in Israel, in which case, exclusive English homeschooling would not be an appropriate choice for us.

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:59:56 +0000

Yael, thanks for your comments. I think that most of us hope to raise our children not only to be yirei shamayim and ethical, but also productive members of our society. Most Israeli parents, once they have made aliyah, are not preparing our children for life in chu”l although they might want them to have that as an option.

By: Yael Aldrich

Yael Aldrich — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:45:12 +0000

BB,
You give an example of Anglo olim kids on your yishuv being homeschooled (probably in English and possibly not having lots of contact with native Israeli children) after seeming to have problems making it in the public/private school system. You wonder how the children will become “productive Israelis”.
Perhaps becoming “productive Israelis” is not what the parents’ goals are for their children.
I know my ultimate goal for my children, no matter where I take them (and they have been all over the world) and no matter else goes on my our lives, is that they become AND stay yirei shamayim, honest,good middos possessing Shomrei Mitzvos.
If I have to homeschool to have that happen, I will do it. If they would never feel comfortable being “Israeli”, I would be ok with that. If those children made yerida, and became people of impeccable ethics and fear of G-d and Shomer Mitzvos but lived in America/Europe/wherever, that would be ok in my eyes!
I know children of olim who went off the derech and all the heartache it produced for the family. If that could be prevented that by simply homeschooling those children BEFORE the problems began in earnest — wouldn’t you?

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:05:36 +0000

The English-speakers I know do make an effort to integrate their kids through hugim and meetings with Hebrwe speaking homeschoolers. But the worst that will happen is that they will be like olim–and I think that scenario is highly unlikely as homeschoolers tend to involve their kids in the community, neighborhood etc. Even if their Hebrew is poor they will still have grown up here with all it entails. BB, are there enough Anglos in your yishuv that the homeschooled kids really don’t need to learn Hebrew?

By: BB

BB — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:25:55 +0000

The parents who home school on our yishuv are Americans and from what I see their kids have very little contact with any other Israeli kids. These are kids who for whatever reason didn’t make it in the local school so their parents decided to home school them. I don’t know all the detials but I’m willing to bet that they’re doing this all in English. I’m wondering how the kids will become productive Israelis. Will they feel comfortable communicating with Israelis or will they only befriend other Anglos?
I’m not trying to say that all homeschoolers are social weird but the people who I know who homeschool decided upon it because they didn’t fit into the Israeli school system. For one mother it was a natural choice because her daughter was extremely introverted and she had been homeschooled in the past.
It’s always important to me to see how people’s choices will effect their integration into the larger Israeli society. For olim it’s hard enough as it is even in a regular school. To make it harder by isolating the kids in an all English environment doesn’t seem like it would help them integrate.