Jill, Derick & the Kids: Moving On!!

[EmeraldGirl]

Yeah, what were they doing on the screens for so long with no intervention? I was surprised because it seemed like they were doing independent things for HOURS. Granted, I don’t know anything about homeschooling, but I thought there was more parent involvement.

I always assumed they were in school because we would see her alone with Freddie all the time. Now we know they’re just stuck in a tiny room with headphones and screens. WTF, Derick?

It kind of feels like old Jill again. Hopefully Derick was home because he was getting his own chiropractic treatment or something. But it was sounding like he had to be there to take the kids, as well as the next day’s dentist appointment that she made sound like he was going along again.

By The way, my kids were never in the same school and we managed. They took buses, or I would take one and the other would take the bus depending on who wanted what that day. It wouldn’t be that hard for her to do that and have Freddie with her. Right after that I would go shopping for the day and do errands. I got a lot done in the morning, and a baby could’ve taken a nap then. Eh, it’s just seeming like laziness right now.

Edited Sunday at 12:55 AM by EmeraldGirl
I always think of more things to complain about

[Salacious Kitty]

With all the regression, I am starting to think that any changes Jill made were cosmetic and done to sell books. I had hoped she was for real, but alas, I was fooled. 

[Is Everyone Gone]

I am dispirited about this. First of all, looks like the kids were simply plopped in front of a screen and doing online school. Reminds me of the awful zoom lessons I "taught" during the pandemic. She mostly takes care of Fred and does her own thing. She's not even "teaching" them. 

Second of all, I noticed a HUGE dependency on Derick to do everything for her. I'm not saying she's going to show up unannounced to his office during lunchtime, but I had hoped that with the boys in school, she could be her own person and develop her own interests.

[Madtown]

So disappointed that she is homeschooling. Most of these Duggar women, should never home school, as they lack education. Unless the schools are far from each other, I don't see an issue to have them in different schools. I went to the same schools as my siblings(I'm the youngest), but I was never in them when they were.

There is a family on Instagram that I follow. The mom is homeschooling her two young sons. The oldest is either in kindergarten or 1st grade. The youngest is in preschool, but does do some homeschooling as well. She is in some homeschooling group with moms that are near her. They take field trips, have special parties, have park time together and other activities. So her kids are still around other kids probably 3 times a week.

I think it would be beneficial for Jill, Jessa(though she's does a lot of Jesus teaching) and Joy to find something like this, if there is any in their area. Though, from what we see, neither of them seem to do much teaching. It's all about having more babies and tending to the youngest.

[emma675]

I wonder if the homeschooling and renewed attachment/dependency on Derrick is a reaction to losing the baby? Add in the recent car accident and I can see Jill reverting back to old habits to feel safe or normal again. Hopefully the boys go back to public or private school again, I feel like they really enjoyed it. Derrick seems to value good education so maybe he'll encourage better schooling than whatever Jill is trying to do.

[Zella]

I have suspected they were homeschooling ever since they moved to Siloam due to her silence when people would ask her about the boys' schools. She'd respond to every comment but that. 

[Salacious Kitty]

59 minutes ago, Zella said:

I have suspected they were homeschooling ever since they moved to Siloam due to her silence when people would ask her about the boys' schools. She'd respond to every comment but that. 

As I noted above, it probably started when she didn't want to take her kids to two different schools. Then they justified their decision with rhetoric popular in fundie circles. 

[Lisa418722]

I feel sorry for the kids, especially Izzy after his excitement over going to school.  But this doesn't surprise me.  Jill cannot handle being alone, even with one child.  Using the school situation is just an excuse IMHO.  Derick can kiss third-generation Pistol Pete goodbye.  But then again, didn't he say that Jill had more education (or was smarter) than most other people who have gone to college?  So maybe he thinks the boys could get into Oklahoma State University just because of his name (RME).  

[StPatricksDay]

I wonder if Derick's job as a prosecutor made them fear having the kids in public school.

[AstridM]

14 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

They probably can’t afford the private school tuition. And I guess home school is easier since you don’t need to go anywhere in the morning.

They can afford it. 

[satrunrose]

It's Derick's job that makes this weird for me. He's fine enough with law-related state-run institutions to work in enforcing those laws, but put off enough by state-run education to allow his wife with her highly dysfunctional upbringing to have sole responsibility for the education of their children. 

[StPatricksDay]

24 minutes ago, satrunrose said:

It's Derick's job that makes this weird for me. He's fine enough with law-related state-run institutions to work in enforcing those laws, but put off enough by state-run education to allow his wife with her highly dysfunctional upbringing to have sole responsibility for the education of their children. 

Home court is only popular on TV.

[BetyBee]

I finally watched the video about a typical Dillard day. It seems like Jill is still not a morning person and Derick helps with that by bringing her coffee! It always surprises me how the Duggar girls all sound so much alike! I do feel sorry for the older boys having such isolated schooling. I wonder if the home schooling is more like remote learning through their school system? At least they're really doing schooling, unlike the Rodrigues family. It doesn't seem like Finna is in the house much, at least not the day she filmed. I wonder if the car accident and her subsequent pain is the reason Derick does a lot of the driving? It may even be the reason for home schooling. I hope she's happy. 

[Is Everyone Gone]

I don't know this for sure, but I have the feeling Derick found Jill's clinginess stifling when he got the job in the DA's office, so he had the boys stay home with her? She just seems exhaustingly clingy with him. I couldn't deal with someone in her mid-30s having so few coping skills for being alone.

Edited Sunday at 04:12 PM by Is Everyone Gone

[Zella]

4 hours ago, Lisa418722 said:

But then again, didn't he say that Jill had more education (or was smarter) than most other people who have gone to college? 

Yes he was clapping back at snarkers and saying that Jill was better educated than most of them. LOL 

[Zella]

Actually I think I identified the Ur moment. It may have been one particular snarker he was saying that to rather than snarkers at large. But yes they were bickering in Instagram comments about Jill's college education, and Derrick claimed she'd taken several college theology courses and when it continued to go downhill from there, he said Jill probably had more college credits than the snarker.

https://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/derick-dillard-slams-claims-that-jill-doesnt-have-a-higher-education/

Edited Sunday at 05:01 PM by Zella

[GeeGolly]

Unless they're twins, siblings will always have times when they're in different schools.

I'm only a little surprised the kids are homeschooled only because Izzy did attend a couple years of public school.

It seems any activities they do are scheduled when Derick is around, but at least they do some.

 

[LilJen]

On 3/23/2025 at 12:06 PM, Is Everyone Gone said:

I don't know this for sure, but I have the feeling Derick found Jill's clinginess stifling when he got the job in the DA's office, so he had the boys stay home with her? She just seems exhaustingly clingy with him. I couldn't deal with someone in her mid-30s having so few coping skills for being alone.

Jeeze. All she needs to do is make some friends in her area. Even a moms' group with moms with other babies would be a start. Making your kids your "friends" is a bad idea.

[CalicoKitty]

1 minute ago, LilJen said:

Jeeze. All she needs to do is make some friends in her area. Even a moms' group with moms with other babies would be a start. Making your kids your "friends" is a bad idea.

 Making friends in a group and socializing children is obvious to us, but sadly Jill has been forever marred by her upbringing and living in an isolated society.  Only her siblings and a few close like-mined families were allowed to be "friends".  She does not understand the meaning of outside friendships.  Jill has made a lot of progress, but I don't think she will ever feel at all comfortable being alone.  I think she is trying, but it is just too much for her.  More and more kids are being homeschooled these days, and I hope she is using a very good curriculum that is better than the one she used as a child.  Maybe she will explore home school groups or co-ops in her area.  I think being brought up on "Duggar time" is not helping her at all.  I really feel sorry for her kids.

[crazy8s]

43 minutes ago, leighdear said:

There are about 1.3 MILLION attorneys in the US, and I imagine a very large percentage have children.

If they all hid from social media so the "bad people" didn't know anything about them, none would have any presence anywhere.  And that's laughable.

Probably not very many of the 1.3 million lawyers have a spouse that was seen on a TV show for many years, or who wrote a book and went on a press tour, been on GMA, has thousands and thousands of followers on SM etc, had a brother who made news for court case involving what his involved.

I get your point but the lawyers that live on my street are for the most part unknown to "bad people". Derrick and Jill would not be so anonymous as your average lawyer's family.

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, leighdear said:

There are about 1.3 MILLION attorneys in the US, and I imagine a very large percentage have children.

If they all hid from social media so the "bad people" didn't know anything about them, none would have any presence anywhere.  And that's laughable. 

Dillweed is a Z-list entity, and I guarantee the check bouncers, petty thieves and bar brawlers he prosecutes don't give a happy crap about him or his family.  
He's a cheap suit that's going to continue their probation, or maybe give them a couple of more weeks in the pokey.  No big deal.

Dullard isn't prosecuting Mob bosses, drug kingpins or rich celebrities.  Nobody in Ass-End Oklahoma would bother with him, as he & his family are essentially nobodies. 

And random people on the Internet have known everything about Jill's family since she learned to use social media.  She's always put it all out there and advertises their whereabouts regularly.  Safety is her last concern. 

I’m positive that Jill and Derrick are very concerned about their children’s safety, as most parents are. 

[CalicoKitty]

2 minutes ago, AstridM said:

I’m positive that Jill and Derrick are very concerned about their children’s safety, as most parents are. 

I agree.  I'm guessing that there are not very many attorneys that are married to someone who has had their entire life displayed openly on TV since childhood.  I'm sure they are concerned about the safety of their children.  It only takes one nut-job to cause problems.

[AstridM]

1 minute ago, CalicoKitty said:

I agree.  I'm guessing that there are not very many attorneys that are married to someone who has had their entire life displayed openly on TV since childhood.  I'm sure they are concerned about the safety of their children.  It only takes one nut-job to cause problems.

I don’t agree with their choice to homeschool, but I don’t doubt for a second their concern for their children’s safety. 

[Is Everyone Gone]

I don't think Jill did all that just to sell books. I think she WANTED to change, to lead a more open, less fundie life. I just think she has a limited emotional toolbox, and when there were a few changes (Derick getting a demanding full-time job and being away from home more often, losing Isla-Marie, maybe becoming more estranged from her siblings), she retreated back to what was easier and more comfortable (keeping her kids at home).

It is REALLY difficult to break patterns from childhood. I feel like Jill tried, she just doesn't have the mental resilience to follow through.

[GeeGolly]

Derick, like many lawyers, participate in community activities and often bring their families. Also, I doubt a newbie lawyer is taking on any super dangerous criminals.

IIRC, both Derick and Jill mocked public schools in the documentary. We know they're anti LGBTQ+. We also know they're pro Kirk Cameron and anti trans story time. And of course they're anti inclusive BSA.

IMO, the kids are homeschooled because Jill very much believes in the way she was raised. Her book was about a grievance with money and her learning to use boundaries to basically choose Derick over her parents.