Jeanne Goda
Professor Ellen Swider
College Experience (ASD) 120
August 3, 2016
Cultural Exploration Project Reflection Paper I really enjoyed this project! My journey started with a visit to a Vermont farm to learn more about wool, but I quickly found out that I was far more interested in a very different topic. The Amish! After talking a bit about to the farm owners, they suggested a drive to visit a much more Amish community and a family to visit with. The following weekend I loaded my family in the car and we headed off to a small town in Maine. Before heading to Maine, I made a list of the things I knew…or thought I knew, about the Amish. And, I purposefully steered clear of doing any research since I was hoping to spend the day immersed …show more content…
The father led us in prayer, and even my youngest son followed along. After lunch, everyone was expected to clean up and do their afternoon chores before having some free time to play.
While the kids played, I was given a tour of their house. I thought an Amish home would be on the smaller side, but I was wrong. Their house was much larger than I thought, it was two stories with a large porch and about 1700sq ft. The family told me that most Amish homes are quite large because of the extended family that will often live with them. In their home, they have eleven people that live there!
After touring their home, barn and fields, we started talking about school and education. I had assumed that the Amish homeschooled their children, and while some do, the majority of them send their children to an Amish school house. Their school house is a single room building, and often times the teacher will live in the building during the school year. The teacher is responsible for teaching all ages, and most schools have about thirty children attending. Children attend school once they turn six and they finish after eighth grade. After eighth grade, the children will start learning a trade, go back to working the family farm and business or, if you’re a girl, will finish learning housekeeping at
Professor Ellen Swider
College Experience (ASD) 120
August 3, 2016
Cultural Exploration Project Reflection Paper I really enjoyed this project! My journey started with a visit to a Vermont farm to learn more about wool, but I quickly found out that I was far more interested in a very different topic. The Amish! After talking a bit about to the farm owners, they suggested a drive to visit a much more Amish community and a family to visit with. The following weekend I loaded my family in the car and we headed off to a small town in Maine. Before heading to Maine, I made a list of the things I knew…or thought I knew, about the Amish. And, I purposefully steered clear of doing any research since I was hoping to spend the day immersed …show more content…
The father led us in prayer, and even my youngest son followed along. After lunch, everyone was expected to clean up and do their afternoon chores before having some free time to play.
While the kids played, I was given a tour of their house. I thought an Amish home would be on the smaller side, but I was wrong. Their house was much larger than I thought, it was two stories with a large porch and about 1700sq ft. The family told me that most Amish homes are quite large because of the extended family that will often live with them. In their home, they have eleven people that live there!
After touring their home, barn and fields, we started talking about school and education. I had assumed that the Amish homeschooled their children, and while some do, the majority of them send their children to an Amish school house. Their school house is a single room building, and often times the teacher will live in the building during the school year. The teacher is responsible for teaching all ages, and most schools have about thirty children attending. Children attend school once they turn six and they finish after eighth grade. After eighth grade, the children will start learning a trade, go back to working the family farm and business or, if you’re a girl, will finish learning housekeeping at