Tag: amish schoolhouse

Key Takeaways: Understanding Amish Education

• One-Room Schoolhouses: Amish children in Lancaster County are educated in private, community-funded schoolhouses that typically serve up to 30 students from 1st through 8th grade in a single room.
• Core Curriculum: Education focuses on “the three Rs” (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic) plus Geography and Spelling. Students are taught in both English and German, though “worldly” subjects like science are excluded.
• The 8th Grade Limit: Following the 1972 Supreme Court ruling Wisconsin v. Yoder, Amish children complete their formal schooling at age 14 to begin vocational training in farming, trades, or homemaking.
• Community-Led Teaching: Schools are lead by “schoolmarms” or “schoolmasters” who are chosen for their values and proficiency in Pennsylvania Dutch rather than formal college degrees.
• Experience an Authentic Schoolhouse: Visitors can tour a traditional one-room schoolhouse at the Amish Experience. Guests staying in a Grand King at AmishView Inn & Suites can often see local students walking to school in the mornings and playing in the school yard.

Nestled within the serene landscapes of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, lies the one room schoolhouses of the Amish. These schoolhouses teach up to 8^th grade, all in one room.