School Calendars for the Amish 

Researching is one of my favorite parts of writing. Now that copies of A Promise for Miriam have begun showing up in bookstores, I thought it would be fun to share some of the things I learned.

As a public school teacher myself (15 years, 7th grade – college), I was very interested. My biggest question was “How do they do that?”

In many ways, the Amish have managed to maintain the type of school-house that my parents and grandparents attended. So how DO they do that? One way is with their academic calendar:

• Their school year ends earlier, so that they can help with the harvesting.
• They manage this by taking fewer holidays during the year. For example, they do not take a 2 week Christmas break.
• They also do not lose instructional days to standardized testing, though some Amish schools do have students take the California Achievement Test.

Amish School, Wisconsin

It seems logical that if you only have 8 years with a child (Amish students do not attend kindergarten), then you are going to use those years wisely. A child’s school life is very integrated with their home life though – so working to help with the harvest is as important as working in the classroom.

In case you’re wondering, the Amish were exempted from the compulsory 12 years of education required in the United States by the Supreme Court Case of Wisconsin vs Yoder. You can read more about that by clicking on this link and scanning down to Wisconsin vs Yoder.

Next week, we’ll talk more about what happens in a typical Amish school day. I’d love to know if any of this surprises you, or if it’s pretty much what you expected.

Blessings,

~V

p.s. – You can order A Promise for Miriam from CBD and B&N and Amazon as well as other on-line sites and your neighborhood retail store. Also, remember to check back Wednesday for another give-a-way.