After Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar prided themselves on homeschooling all 19 of their children, their daughter, Jill, was the first to break the mold when her oldest son, Israel, went to public school. But now, it looks like she’s already gone back on that decision, which fans noticed in her latest YouTube vlog.
Jill’s new video revealed she’s homeschooling again.
In the 11-minute video Jill shared on her YouTube channel over the weekend, she shared a look at what a day in her life is like, including her kids’ homeschooling routine.
She defended her choice to homeschool her kids in the caption of the video, adding that it’s possible her kids could have a more traditional education in the future.
Jill admitted that some people might be ‘surprised’ to see her kids homeschooling again.
“You may be surprised to see in the video that we are homeschooling now!” she wrote in the video’s caption. “Our decision to homeschool our kids is one that we didn’t take lightly, but is just something that worked out best for us during this season. And just like when we decided to do public school, we will continue to reevaluate year-by-year. We continue to believe that parents know their kids best and should have the right to choose whatever education route works best for their family, so long as their kids are set up for success.”
Fans aren’t impressed with the move.
In a post on a popular Duggar-related subreddit, critics shared their disapproval of Jill’s choice to homeschool again, with one person calling the decision “disappointing but not surprising.”
“Ugh why. I thought she wanted to expose them to the real world, so they could have normal friends and stuff?” one commenter wrote.
Others questioned the kind of education Jill’s kids were actually getting, which one critic pointed out. “I will say homeschooling is a loose interpretation,” the person commented. “Watching videos while at home with mom occasionally being there is a better description.”
Jill once stood behind her choice to send Israel to public school.
When she first shared that Israel would be attending kindergarten at a public school back in 2020, she explained her decision in a since-deleted blog post.
“This week we went and got Israel registered for kindergarten. It’s hard to believe he will be five this year!” Jill wrote at the time, via In Touch. “We have already been homeschooling him some, but decided it would be fun to let him go to kindergarten this year. It’s extra special because it’s the same school district Derick enrolled in over 25 years ago.”
So far, Jill hasn’t explained exactly what prompted her to homeschool Israel, 10, and Samuel, 7.
