Amish Teacher Dialogues with Teacher Educators: Research, Culture, and Voices of Critique Page: 606
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Henry Zehr, Glenda Moss, and Joe Nichols
I'm not sure if the math curriculum that Harroff (1998) observed in his study can
be generalized to all Amish classrooms. Harroff stated that in first grade children also
learn to count pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, how to measure lengths of common
items such as pencils and crayons, and how to work story problems (with a keen eye for
first-grade humor): "Biff caught 5 bugs. He did not eat any. How many bugs did he have
left? (Learning More Numbers with Spunky, 1995, p. 14)" (Harroff, p. 246).
I can't go back and verify how much money is taught in first grade, in my school,
but it definitely is a continuation. I would tend to think it is probably introduced in first
grade but not mastered. What is more important to notice about the Amish curriculum is
that we see learning as a continuous process.
Literacy among the Amish
Jared (1999) drew conclusions about literacy among the Amish that is different
from my experiences.
In my search for children's literature about the Amish culture, I found a
surprisingly small number of books. .. .The Amish are unique from other
cultural groups in that those within the culture do not desire to read about
themselves or their experiences in literature. (Jared, 1999, pp. 234-235)
When I was at home as an Amish child growing up, I don't remember that we
ever had any books about Amish literature that were in print. With our family, we used
the library a lot and we found that there were several books that portrayed the Amish in
different areas, and showed the different styles of buggies they may have had in
Kentucky versus Ohio or Wisconsin, Michigan. Our children find that interesting. Now,
there are a lot of picture books. The children spend a lot of time looking at those books.
I'm not sure if those books have just come into existence. They weren't around back
when I was a child as they are now. Some of the books that were written about the Amish
lifestyle were written by an author that was excommunicated or an ex-Amish. The
authors just give a one-sided view of that and we're portrayed more or less as a cult. One
book like that, by Beverly Lewis (1997), is called The Shunning.
Jared (1999) refers to a series by Mary Borntrager (1988) that portrays the
Pennsylvania Amish. I have read several of those books. She [Jared] says here, "in my
search for children's literature in the Amish culture, I've found a surprising small number
of books" (p. 235), which I think is probably still true today. There are books out there
today but in small numbers. My children have checked out maybe up to half a dozen to
ten books at the library so far. Jared (1999) explains this limitation of books in the
following way,
There are several reasons for the limited number of children's books
regarding Amish culture. The Old Order Amish do not encourage their
own members to write children's literature. They are a private group of
people who are not interested in sharing their beliefs and practices openly
with those who are not a part of their community. The literature written606
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Zehr, Henry; Moss, Glenda & Nichols, Joe. Amish Teacher Dialogues with Teacher Educators: Research, Culture, and Voices of Critique, article, September 2005; [Fort Lauderdale, Florida]. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc109724/m1/14/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Dallas.