A Plain Country Homestead
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Amish School Ways
Posted in Our SchoolingEach morning, devotions are held. The Bible is read and The Lord's Prayer repeated in unison. The Amish want the Bible to be taught and interpreted only in the home and in the church.
Still, religion is taught all day long at school. It is in the lessons and on the playground. In arithmetic, by accuracy and no cheating. In language, by learning to say what we mean and mean what we say. In history, bu humanity. In health, bu teaching cleanliness and thriftiness. In geography, bu broadening one's understanding of the world around us. In music, by singing praises to God and hymns. Out in our 'school yard" by teaching honesty, respect, sincerity, humility and The Golden Rule.
Reading is a key subject. It is most important as it is the foundation for every other school subject taught. Arithmetic is important as well. Before you can teach a child to appreciate arithmetic, thy must be taught it's value as a workable and necessary skill. Math will always be used...in counting canning jars, weighing out fruits and grains for resale, measuring baking powder in a recipe, or figuring feed rations for a calf. Even figuring how much seed and fertilizer is needed for a 10-acre field. Husbands and wives alike will need to know how to keep farm records, income and expense reports, compare food prices to shop economically, and so on.
In a one-room school house, there is a sense of family. Children need to learn to concentrate on what they are doing while other classes are bring taught. Listening is also a great learning tool. The older children get a review of lessons learned, while younger children get a preview of lessons to come. Older children are always helping younger children, too.
Here's a sample of an Amish school day:
8:30 the bell rings and classes begin
The teacher reads a portion of Scripture from the Old or New Testament, while the children sit quietly. They then rise and bow their heads to recite The Lord's Prayer in unison.
After prayer, they file to the front of the schoolroom and stand in their assigned spaces (generally according to age and size) and sing some songs, some in German, some in English.
When they return to their seats, it is time to begin classes. Grades 5-8 exchange their arithmetic papers and check them before handing them in. Grades 3-4 usually hand theirs in to the teacher or her helper, often a parent or an older child.
Then grades 3-8 begin the next lesson by doing to assignment written on the school board. Second grade students study their reading lessons while First grade students step to the front of the schoolroom for their oral reading. They take turns reading either by page or by sentence. After this they return to their seats for book work.
The Second grade students then rise and the scene is repeated again. They may write a page from their reading books for seatwork.
10:00 is recess time.
Everyone takes a bathroom break, gets a drink of water, sharpens pencils and such, then head to the playground for games. The girls often play "Bear" and the older boys gather to talk about their horses and such.
10:15 class resumes
Each class in turn passes through their stand at the front of the class and are asked questions to determine their comprehension of any lessons given, and to ask any questions they may have.
11:30 is lunch time
Most teachers set a timer for at least 10 minutes, to keep the children from gulping down their foods.
They must then sweep up the schoolroom of crumbs and papers, and the like. They have recess until 12:30.
Story time, for 15 minutes, follows lunch. Afternoon classes begin with history or geography or health. Older grades (5-8) copy questions from the school board then lookup their answers in their textbooks. They write them out and study them to recite by memory to the class.
2:00-2:15 is the afternoon recess.
The final period of school is spent on English lessons 2 days each week, and spelling and grammar 3 days each week. The first day of spelling is spent writing out sentences to show the meaning of each word. Oral spelling is done the second day, with the pupils writing each new word 5 times in addition to a lesson from Working with Words textbooks. Spelling ends with a test. The teacher pronounces the word and the children write them in their books. They then exchange books and check each other's work.
The school day ends at 3:30.
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Posted by shelley43022
thank you for posting this, it is very interesting. I love to read about others schedules and routines.
joyful homemaker
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