Saturday, April 25, 2009

One Room School

Old-fashioned education





While wandering the roads of southern Todd County (KY) a few days ago, I drove through an Amish community. I think there are probably several little schools like this in the general area. The area served by the school is limited by the distance the students can travel on bicycles, and also by the size of the building.

A schoolbell tops the building. Playground equipment, including a slide, provides recess entertainment.  The little square building in the corner of the playground is probably the outhouse. A woodshed may be somewhere out of view. I don't see a chimney on the building, but it looks like there is a stovepipe coming out of the wall beside the porch. There is no electricity.

One teacher teaches all eight grades in little schools like these. In many ways, it's very similar to the one-room school I attended in Nebraska as a child, except that we had a telephone, fuel oil heat, and electrical power.

Related posts:
Lunch Hour at a One-Room School
Three Old Schools in Christian County, Kentucky
St. Elmo School Revisited
Some Memories of Duff, Nebraska
Duff Valley
Teaching in a One-Room School

2 comments:

Bill Harper said...

I saw a little schoolhouse similar to this when we visited Amish country around Lancaster, Pennsylvania a few years while on vacation. Amish folks were everywhere in their horse and buggys and kids on their little scooters. If you have never been there I would highly recommend the trip. I think you would love it.

Genevieve Netz said...

Our nearest neighbors, an Old Order Mennonite family, moved here from Lancaster. I would love to visit the Amish areas of Pennsylvania.

To tell you the truth, Bill, I love all trips. I am a born tourist.

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