What Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Mother Thought of Germany's Public Schools—and What She Did About It

Recommendable! On the importance of home schooling! Questioning the government mandate of compulsory public schooling!

Grateful for the advances of technology that make home schooling or other alternatives to government run schools for many parents much easier, affordable, and much better than ever before!

"... powerful character of Bonhoeffer’s mother, whom one cousin called “the soul and spirit of the house.” A devout woman, she had a deep-seated (and impressive) distrust of the German public school system, refusing to allow her children to attend them at a young age.

“She was openly distrustful of the German public schools and their Prussian educational methods. She subscribed to the maxim that Germans had their backs broken twice, once at school and once in the military, she wasn’t about to entrust her children to the care of others less sensitive than she during their earliest years.” ...
Paula understood the risks of educating her small, impressionable children in the state’s schools. A skilled teacher, she was able to educate her children herself, teaching them an assortment of hymns, poems, and folks songs. She also allowed them to learn and explore on their own in the natural environment around Breslau and in the Glatz Mountains near the Bohemian border where the family often vacationed. As a result, when her children did eventually enter the public school system—with a foundation of solid values—they excelled.

Unfortunately, a subsequent generation of German mothers would not have this luxury. In 1920, school attendance was made mandatory in Germany."

What Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Mother Thought of Germany's Public Schools—and What She Did About It Paula Bonhoeffer was 'openly distrustful' of the German public school system, and refused to son her small children into it.