old time religion Home Schooling The World's Most Unusual Family of Arnold Pent Invents Home Schooling

old time religion Home Schooling  The World's Most Unusual Family of Arnold Pent Invents home teaching of doctrine!

Why is this the world's most interesting family? Because one of their rocking LPs has that title.

Arnold V. Pent pretty much came up with the notion of home-schooling.  Why?  Because he was nuts.  Being home schooled,  the kids could cram into a 1932  Pierce Arrow and travel "one million miles" spreading the gospel with Dad.  This was in the days before seat belts.  "Arnold, slow DOWN!"  Now before you criticize me for questioning Pen's sanity, consider that in the book Ten P's in a Pod: A Million-Mile journal of the Pent Family his neighbors called him crazy too. 

Feeding eight home schooled little christians was difficult, so old man Pent determined God wanted him to sell fertilizer.  He did that, and also sold baby birch trees he dug up and sold three-for-a-quarter.  The Johnny Appleseed of birch trees.

Not being exposed to anything but the Bible had an effect.  "Son David can recite the entire New Testament from memory…Son Paul memorized the book of Jonah at the age of seven…Son Timothy quotes quotes lengthy passages like the 146th Psalm." writes the Milwaukee Sentinel of September 30, 1961 in a puff piece promoting one to their gospel visits.  Furthermore, the Pents read the Bible three times a day and young daughter Charlotte, age six, "has been quoting scriptures publicly since the age of 3" they say.  Well, it WAS about the only book she had been given.  I believe this is called "teaching doctrine" but it is really indoctrination.  Mind you, the press release used by the Milwaukee Journal was how they promoted themselves.  Today, I'd call it abuse!

Indoctrination often refers to religious ideas, when you're talking about a religious environment that doesn't let you question or criticize those beliefs. The Latin word for "teach," doctrina is the root of indoctrinate, and originally that's just what it meant.  Home schooling in a 1932 Pierce Arrow.
 
They would stay at supporter's houses on their trips through the 48 states.  (Great, here come the ten Pents again…get out the cots.)

Later, Pent founded "Homestead" college of the bible in Tallahassee.  The college (like today's crooked Trump University" offered correspondence B.A', M.A's and Phd's after four to seven years of the study of the Bible.  Each student was charged $140.00 for the bogus course in 1972.  (Some $800 in 2016 dollars.)  Eventually, the State Board of Licensing denied the "school" of a license.  Gee…I guess the "war" on religion started way back! 

As you can see here, there are no less than 56 copies of Ten P's in a Pod available used from Amazon starting at ONE PENNY!

The kids grew up and continued home schooling their kids ad infinitum.