Tuesday, June 3, 2014

School

A typical day at an Amish school starts with the teacher reading a chapter from the New Testament followed by everyone reciting the Lord's Prayer and then three songs are sung. Four mornings a week this is all done in English, on Wednesdays it was done in German.

First up was always penmanship, as everyone was busy doing their best handwriting the teacher would begin calling classes to the front of the room to check the math they had done the previous day and go over the lesson she assigned them for the day. We used to have to exchange our books and check each other's work as the teacher read the answers. She usually started with the eighth grade and worked her way down to third grade, first and second graders didn't have to check each others work and their classes were always much more fun to watch.

The day would continue with all our assignments given and work checked in the same manner, we did English, Geography, History, Vocabulary, Spelling, and Reading. For those that did their work fast the rest of the day was spent reading books from the small assortment provided in the school library.

The only language spoken on school property was English. Most first graders could understand and speak broken English before starting school, but there were two families that had a much harder time since they weren't ever allowed to speak English at home. It didn't take them long to catch on though and after the first few weeks in school they were happily speaking English as well.

Amish schools are quiet, speaking to each other is strictly prohibited when school is in session, whispering would result in loss of recess privileges. No one wanted to spend recess at their desk and write lines instead of getting to go out to play. There were two fifteen minute recesses and a thirty minute recess at noon.

Right after the noon recess the teacher would read a chapter or two out of a book. And a short discussion would follow before we resumed our lessons.

Teachers were allowed to spank if they thought it was necessary, but that hardly ever happened. In fact I can only remember it happening twice while I was going to school.

16 comments:

  1. So interesting! Thank you for sharing all of this. I learn so much from you :)

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  2. That reminds me of my days in a Cornish village school. Our teacher used a ruler on our hands if she felt we were naughty.

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    1. The teacher I had for the last part of first grade seemed to like her ruler too. Thankfully I never got to experience it.

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  3. Sooo very interesting as always !!! I was brought up going to private Christian schools my entire schooling, so, a lot of this was the same for me .... very strict, and everyone basically respected and followed the rules set up for school ..... how different times are now, and, it wasn't soo long ago !! What the teaches and administrators set as guide lines that was the law....we all knew and did just that !! I always enjoyed story time after our lunch break .... there were always some that even fell asleep at that time, and, it was okay ... a time to gather our thoughts again I suppose .....
    Such a sweet recollection of your young school days. Always enjoy my visits here .... hoping you're picniking today :D:D xoxo

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    1. We enjoyed our picnic, the fresh donuts were delicious!

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  4. Interesting post, Mary Ann. How many hours were the children at school each day? When we began homeschooling I was surprised to learn that only 4 hours of actual class time are required (here in Tenn., anyway) per day. Of course, I quickly saw that a lot could be done in the time, more than is possible in a class of 30 kids the public school setting.

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    1. School started at 9:00 A.M. and dismissed at 3:30.

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  5. Our children went to a private school at our church and the schedule was very similar. They loved finishing their work and then getting to read books. This was a wonderful education for our children. All three now have college degrees. Two had bachelor degrees by age 20 and the youngest actually had his masters degree at 19! They are a biochemist/RN, a systems analyst, (computers), and a Chinese/Japanese/English translator in Tokyo. Small schools and homeschooling real do work.

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  6. Here in South Carolina, homeschooling requires 4.5 hours per day, including lunch and recess - so probably 4 hours of actual instructional time. I don't think that's surprising - think of all the waiting-around time that can be involved in a public school. Well, not just a public school - any traditional school with 20-30 children in a class. For example, the teacher gives a vocabulary test. If you're homeschooling, the test is over once your child is finished; If you're teaching 20 kids, the test is over when all 20 of them have finished. If you're homeschooling, it probably takes less time to make lunch for your own kids than to superintend 20 kids into the school cafeteria, and get through lunch. It's not that the schools with larger classes are necessarily wasting time - it's just that doing any activity with children inevitably will take longer with 20-30 kids than with just a few.

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    1. I always felt there was a lot of wasted time for me at school. It would only take me a two to three hours to get all my work done and then I could read for the rest of the day. I loved reading so I didn't mind.

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  7. I wish public school was better organized like what you described the Amish school as even though they couldn't do the Bible verses or sing religious songs. What time did you go to school and what time was school out? We live 20 minutes from the kids school. My husband takes them to the bus at 6:20am and the bus gets there around 6:30am. School don't start until 8am. They get out of school at 2:45pm and don't get home until 3:25pm or later depending on whose on the bus and who isn't and trees down on the road! lol That makes for a very long day and then the teacher want to give homework and they want you to have the younger kids in bed by 8pm. I really wish I had homeschooled!

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    1. We would leave for school around 8:30 to get there with a few minutes to play before school started at 9:00. Dismissal was at 3:30 and we'd get home around twenty minutes later. Knowing Mom would have a treat ready for us always made us walk a little faster going home, than going to school. :)

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  8. Thanks once again for your insight into a world I know very little about.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.