School's Out!
School's out in my part of the country and likely it is in yours, too, or it will be soon.
The college course I teach ended in April so that graduates can get a jump on the job market. In many Amish communities, scholars -- that's what Amish students are called -- are already out of the classroom this time of year so that they may help on farms and such. These scholars don't get the longish holiday break during Christmas like Englisch students. Instead, they return to the classroom right after Christmas and get dismissed earlier for summer.
I did quite a bit of research on Amish education for my novella, One Child, part of the An Amish Christmas collection due out in August. Sarah, my heroine, is a teacher who really loves her work. Amish schools are truly neighborhood schools. There's no busing. Children walk to schools which are small, one room structures, where there will be about 30 students enrolled. The young scholars are taught by young women who are former students recruited by the school board members for their moral character as well as their ability to work well not only with the children but also the parents and others in the community. The old adage that it takes a community to raise a child is very evident in an Amish community. There is a great deal of support for the education of the young with parents, grandparents, and others involved in helping in schools.
In the one room schoolhouse setting, the teacher must work hard to plan lessons for each age group and keep them on task. Older students often help younger ones (sometimes their siblings or relatives). The younger students hear the older ones learning their lessons, so they get an idea of what their future lessons will be. Repetition helps students retain what they've learned. Lessons focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic, with some religious instruction. One of my favorite things I learned is that Amish teachers like to use aphorisms, maxims, or mottoes as a way to teach scholars how to be responsible people. Students will write out the aphorism each day and work on it during the week. One aphorism I found became an inspiration to my second novella, When Wnter Comes, part of An Amish Gathering, due out several months after An Amish Christmas. The aphorism goes like this: "The future lies before us like a sheet of fallen snow. Be careful how you tread for every step will show."
Perhaps the biggest difference between Amish education and Englisch education is the fact that the Amish do not believe in formal education past the eighth grade. Education doesn't stop then -- young men and women will apprentice in jobs with their parents or others in a form of vocational education that used to be more popular in this country. The work ethic is very strong in the Amish community.
Children of every background love summer vacation. What are your favorite memories of school or summer vacation? I'd love to hear them.
I hope you're having a wonderful summer!
Barbara
Categories: Amish life, An Amish Christmas collection
Tags: Amish education Amish life
Barbara, This blog was so well written that it's no wonder you are having more and more publishers interested in your works!
Some of my sweetest summers (nine of them) were spent not in the suburb where we usually lived in NJ but at least in part in my great aunt's house on a county line road in Lakewood, next door to chickens (we got fresh eggs)and alongside of corn on the cob on the real plants there too (always 13 in a dozen).On 'our' property were the biggest blackberries on bushes you ever saw, sweetest cranberries from the bog (and an occasional black snake or water moccasin) and strawberries in a patch in the back. Also fresh beefsteak Jersey tomatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, radishes, leaf lettuce, plus. The house had a huge ice (literally) box on the back porch and a great tire swing on one of the trees, a deep well, an outhouse, and a chamberpot for p.m. "Those were the days, my friend...."
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Hi Judy,
Those are such fun, colorful memories. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Thank you, too, for the kind comments about the blog entry. I really enjoy writing about the Amish. I hope to share some very good news in the next week or two!
Hugs,
Barbara
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Thnak you for the insight and information regarding the Amish and education. I was intrigued with the Amish teaching aphorisms etc. Do you know of an actual book they use to teach that. i enjoy the blogs as they help keep me up to date with books, information and the wonderful authors. thanks
fran
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Hi Fran,
The aphorisms were mentioned in a scholarly publication designed to help educators set up Amish schools in the U.S. and Canada. Mark DeWalt was the author of the book Amish Education in the U.S. and Canada.
I'd suggest going on the Internet and doing a search for aphorisms, too. I found some very interesting aphorisms there!
Are you a teacher?
Barbara
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Barbara, your item about the Amish schools is very interesting. I like the old-fashioned, simple approach. One of our daughters has been homeschooling her three children for years; but it is beginning to get to be too much to handle on top of her husband's cancer treatment, especially since all three are now teenagers. So she checked and found a small Christian school out in the country, in a log cabin type building, that has only 44 students, and only 24 in the high school (they count high school as grades 8-12). All three of the grandkids will be in the same room. It sounds like a perfect setting for the grandkids, and they are looking forward to this new experience. I personally did not even know such schools existed! I certainly thought of the Amish when Brenda was telling me about this unique school.
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LOVE YOUR BOOOK! MY FAVORITE MEMORY OF SUMMER VACATION IS WHEN WE ALL HAD TO GO TO GRANDAD'S FARM & PULL ALL OF THE GOLDEN ROD OUT OF THE CROPS IN THE FIELD. IT WAS HARD WORK, BUT WE MADE IT FUN. MY MOM HAD 7 SISTERS AND 1 BROTHER, SO WE ALWAYS HAD FUN. THEN GRANDAD SENT US THE TO COOLER SHED & WE ALL GOT TO GET A NEHI SODA FOR ALL OF OUR HARD WORK. ANOTHER ONE IS WHEN THE BEDROOMS AT MY BRANDMOM'S HOUSE NEEDED TO BE REPAERED. ALL 8 AUNTS & MY GRANDMOM WOULD HAVE AN ASSEMBLY LINE, PASTE, PUT ON THE WALL & SMOOTHE OUT THE BUBBLES. EVEM THOUGH THERE ARE ONLY 3 AUNTS LEFT, WE HAVE A VERY LARGE FAMILY, WE HAVE TO HAVE THANKSGIVING AT OUR CHURCH IN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL BECAUSE NOBODY HAS A HOUSE BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL 73 OF US!!!
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