The Amish community is one of the communities in the world that has successfully preserved their life principles in the middle of globalization and the world’s digitalization. When many cultures assimilate and affect each other, people in the Amish community keep following their ancestor’s way of life. You also can see this from the Amish education system. One of the unique things about Amish people’s education is, they only study until 8th grade. Why? Here, we are going to learn more about that unique Amish culture. Let’s start.

How Amish Study in School?

Amish people take the education from the 1st grade to 8th grade like normal people outside of their community. However, the difference is they study in one or two-room private schools. Moreover, the teacher in the school was also graduating in 8th grade. Some Amish private schools only have one or two teachers. They teach all grades. Sometimes, they also ask the higher grade student to help them teach the lower grade students.

Why Do They Only Study Until 8th Grade?

Amish stop school at the 8th grade because of two reasons:

• Practicality

Most Amish people work in the agriculture and craftsmanship field. They don’t need a higher education level to learn that skill. Mostly, children will learn it from their parents or master in that field. The education comes in the form of apprenticeship. This method also creates an expert in that field much faster compared to the standard education system outside the community. It is necessary because Amish people’s life and community stability depend on their trade from agricultural and craftsmanship fields.

• Religious Objections

The other reasons are religious objections. Amish people are afraid that by allowing children to receive an education more than 8th grade, they will have new ideas that contradict the religion, Christianity. For example, the theory of evolution is seen as an objectionable subject that Amish people shouldn’t learn. It will ruin and change the life principles they have been following for years.

Even though the Amish community doesn’t continue their study, it doesn’t mean they stop studying at all. As we mentioned above, after they finish the 8th grade of education, children can continue studying to learn the knowledge they need in their life. They prioritize the factual knowledge that is ready to use right away in their life.

And, they also don’t reject all information, knowledge, and science from the modern world. The Amish community only takes the part that is useful for their lifestyle and throws away the part that doesn’t match their law, life principle, and culture.

Conclusion

There are many interesting things that you can find inside the Amish community. And, the reason why you should learn more about them is to find the meaning that might be useful in your life. It includes Amish education. We hope this article also helps you to find a new idea about how you will live, especially the education that you will take for your future. In the end, you will get the best life that you want.