My Setting – Amish Schools 

I’m so excited that copies of A Promise for Miriam have begun showing up in mailboxes. Technically, it won’t be in all stores, until July 1, but we’re shipping early. Yeah!

As you probably know by now, the main character of this story, Miriam King, is an Amish teacher. So I thought we’d start our Saturday discussions with some general comments about Amish schoolhouses. Remember these are general. Districts differ and in some districts Amish children attend public schools with Englisch children.  However, one room schoolhouses are still used in many Amish districts, and where they are you will usually find the following:

• A maximum of 40 students
• One teacher (more often a woman than a man) and one helper (a girl
  

  Amish schoolroom

  who has “graduated” and may want to teach one day

• The land is owned by one of the church members. He donates it for the use of the school.
• Church members build the structure.
• When the student body grows too large, another school is built.
• Most schools are within walking distance, though sometimes that isn’t possible depending on the district
• Teachers have not received any advanced education, but they have trained under another teacher
• The teacher’s salary is small and paid for by the church members–the parents of the students.
• Students only attend school through 8th grade.

Questions? I had a lot of questions. As a teacher myself, I LOVED researching this book, and of course — visiting schoolhouses. I hope that as you read this story, you will also come to appreciate an educational system that is different from our current one, but perhaps similar to that of our parents.

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.