MOTH anyone?

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I have heard many references to the “MOTH” program (managers of the home) in a Christian forum that I frequent. I’m wondering, is anyone here familiar with it? Is it a pretty generic program, or do you find it to be Protestant? Thanks!
 
Hi Jamie!

I am aan "ex-MOTH"er. We live in the Bible Belt and when we moved to a new community, we found that it was very friendly to hpomeschoolers. 98% of the homeschooling families are Protestant/Baptist/Fundamentalist etc. (only 4 Catholic families in the area!) so when I was surrounded by such a strong force of homeschoolers, I trusted their opinions on homeschooling related things. I attended a MOTH seminar, per their suggestion, and was able to gleen a lot of valuable information through it. It is pretty heavy handed in the ways of getting saved via the “sinner’s prayer” but I am firm in my faith and was able to filter that out. (And there is A LOT to filter, by the way!)

The MOTH family, the Maxwells, have a website/message board that continues along the same lines. I no longer participate in it, as there was recently a bit of a scuffle between the few Catholics and the other members of the board over the movie The Passion of Christ. The board flat out said that Catholics are heretics and the all made a “community” decision to not see the movie. In addition, there is at least one member in Ireland who is there as a missonary, converting Catholics and “saving” them, left and right, much to the applause of the other members.

At one point during the seminar Mrs. Maxwell was talking about her bout of depression and how she was seriously doubting her salvation. SHe said it took months for her husband to convince her, through scripture, that because she believes in Christ, she was saved. Like she couldn’t believe that it was that simplistic. I so wanted to jump out of my seat and explain that it was the deprssion that was trying to draw her closer to the Truth - not Satan trying to distract her. So sad. She was so close to the Truth…

In summation, if you are interested in what they have to say as far as organization/time management, let me know. I will spill all the beans! It is a great system! But please, if at all possible, try not to support a group like this. I offer them my prayers, but not my money! 😉

In Christ,

Cassandra M.
 
Cassandra, thank you so much for your reply! I really appreciated your detailed response – you answered exactly what I was wondering about. I had heard something alluding to the fact that MOTH had a lot to do with organization, homeschooling, etc., but that there was a lot of “preaching” involved in the program. Since I heard this in a Christian (and heavily Protestant) forum, I wondered if this were the type of “preaching” I’d be open to! I suspected not, and it sounds like my suspicious were correct. I agree that I would not want to spend my money to support this type of ministry. I am familiar enough with anti-Catholic bias to know it is not always prudent to get tangled up in these kind of ministries. 🙂 Since my little guy is still so young (16 mos.) I am a ways off from homeschooling yet, and when I do I will be looking along the lines of some good Catholic forums. Thanks again!
 
Personally, I don’t regret buying MOTH. In the same way, I sometimes buy books from Zondervan, Random House, etc., even though they also make money from other titles that I disagree with. I guess we each have to follow our conscience on this question.

Because I liked MOTH so much, I also ordered a couple of the Maxwells’ other books and tapes about family life. I didn’t notice anything particularly anti-Catholic in these materials, either. (Unless you count the inevitable “altar call” that they tack onto the end of everything. 😉 ) On the other hand, I didn’t learn anything new from them. They seemed very superficial and repetitive. I’ve found that this is a common problem with Protestant books.

Anyway, the main reason for my post is to share some good news. Last weekend, I came across a wonderful new Catholic book about scheduling for mothers! 🙂 It’s called “A Mother’s Rule of Life,” written by Holly Pierlot, and published by Sophia.

sophiainstitute.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SIP&Product_Code=41-5

When I first glanced through the book, I noticed that her sample schedules are similar to the ones the Maxwells use. After reading the first chapter, I discovered that this isn’t a coincidence. Mrs. Pierlot was originally inspired by hearing a talk about MOTH at a homeschool conference.

Unlike MOTH, this book doesn’t include a kit with worksheets and sticky squares, so it’s a little less convenient to use. On the up side, it has lots of information on the spiritual aspects of living a well-ordered life. The author draws on insights from the monastic tradition, liturgical prayer, the saints, the Church’s teaching on the vocation of motherhood, etc. 🙂

If Mrs. Pierlot inspires half as many families as the Maxwells have, what a great blessing her book will be!

Mrs. R
 
I’ve got Holly’s book, too. Very, very good. Took me into directions that I wasn’t anticipating but I was glad she did. I’m still in the planning stage but I did take one tip and implemented it right away. I told my kids that no one leaves the kitchen until it’s cleaned up. (laugh). Such a small thing but it works. Took the stress off of my husband and me and the kids are creating memories. I’ve got 3 kids cleaning and the 2 girls are singing away together.
 
BTW, the Maxwells’ “preaching” is mostly about lifestyle issues, not denominational ones. They have some very strong convictions in this area, e.g.:
  • Women shouldn’t wear pants. Therefore, if your newborn baby girl is wearing a sleeper, you should put a skirt over it.
  • Don’t enroll your children in any organized sports, youth groups, or homeschool support groups.
  • If your children want to play with other children, even if they’re from good Christian families, you must be present to supervise them.
I can respect their beliefs, but all these “no-nos” tend to stifle the discussion. That reminds me: the message board Cassandra mentioned was eventually closed down. The moderators had ended up spending all their time deleting posts they didn’t agree with, then dealing with the controversy that ensued. This is what becomes of the “be your own pope” syndrome. :rolleyes:

Of course, the above issues have nothing to do with scheduling. Plenty of families use MOTH, without practicing “Maxwellism.” 🙂
 
I LOVED the book A MOTHER"S RULE OF LIFE. I’m still in the process of implementing it. Anyone know of any good Catholic homeschooling message boards?
 
Since we aren’t talking about MOTH any more, I’ll start a new thread called “A Mother’s Rule of Life.” Hope to see some of you there!

God bless,
Mrs. R
 
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