The Amish’s ultimate goal is to get to heaven and they strive for it through a very disciplined, religious, and community oriented life. The Amish are also very private. They generally do not allow photographs or videos except for the making of this documentary. They isolate themselves from influences, for example, children do not attend public schools and most men are employed within the Amish community. They try to separate themselves from the rest of the world by wearing plain clothing and not using modern technology.
Amish Culture compared to American Culture The Amish culture is very different from the American culture. In the Amish country, they base their society on religion. The men teach the boys how to farm, build furniture, and make their own wagons. The women teach their daughters how to do cook, clean, and other house hold chores. Schooling isn't that important to the Amish because they aren't going to go to college.
The present society appears to have an identity predicament with the Church, because there is a tremendous amount of self-help propaganda in this society; therefore they simply do not care about a commitment with the Church, but can read about how to be better people in the comfort and safety of their own homes. This concept is safe and they do not open themselves up for disappointment or tedious Church tasks. Billings notes, “Participation in Church life is not seen as crucial for the practice of Christianity, it is the practice of Christianity that British people think important.” (Billings, 2004, p. 104) The British thinking has become a
The first goal was even though everyone lives separately they should all come together with love towards their religion, Secondly, the religion that everyone follows is more important than their individual lives, If the group is not good then everyone as individuals are not good. Thirdly, they are to improve their lives so that they will do more for God. They want themselves and their children saved from the corruption of the world, and to serve their God and work out their salvation. Fourthly, their plan will take unordinary ways to reach their goals. Everyone must actually practice what they learn from church everyday not just at church.
Some are earlier than others and some must be later. In the short story, "The Most Powerful Question a Parent Can Ask..." by 'Neil Millar' shows the most respectful approach of parents to their children because when they talk to their children, they make them understand in a calm voice and not be all tensed which will just confuse the child. Also they make their children understand by not forcing them to do chores, but telling them how responsibility will grow on you later in life, and eventually you will have to learn it at some point of life. They explain to their kids much more in a depth concept which makes their kids want to learn so they will be well prepared for the future. "Parents are guides and leaders to their children, not a nanny."
Rumspringa is Tom Shachtman's celebrated look at a littleknown Amish coming-of-age ritual, the rumspringa'"the period of "running around" that begins for their youth at age sixteen. During this time, Amish youth are allowed to live outside the bounds of their faith, experimenting with alcohol, premarital sex, revealing clothes, telephones, drugs, and wild parties. By allowing such broad freedoms, their parents hope they will learn enough to help them make the most important decision of their lives'"whether to be baptized as Christians, join the church, and forever give up worldly ways, or to remain in the world. BOOK REVIEW: This is a very interesting book, and I learned a lot about the Amish community that I didn't know before. Apparently, when an Amish teenager turns 16, he or she enters a period of time called rumspringa.
According to Coles, parents have difficulty explaining ethics to their children because they don't want to shatter their kids innocence. They tend to keep them in a bubble so their kids don't grow up with bad experiences, yet they tell them what to believe in. “In many homes parents establish moral assumption, mandates, priorities. They teach children what to believe in, what not to believe in. They teach children what is permissible or not permissible” (61).
Throughout history religion is what governed countries, brought people together, and gave morals and rules for everyday life. People abided by the rules of the church and followed exactly what priest and other religious leaders said to do. The vast majority of people in earlier times had a religion and believed in god. People who were thought to be condemned to hell were to be separated from those who were pure. Their whole world was controlled by religion, and their daily lives revolved around it.
With homeschooling, the parents are the ones teaching their children, so they know their progress, strengths and weaknesses. Bittner explains that there are numerous problems with testing and that teachers actually have a problem with it. There is such a frantic need to teach children everything that will be on a standardized test that learning is almost disregarded. If any material isn’t on the main test then it is not taught. The author point out that critical thinking is not on a test so it is overlooked by routine memorization.
Courses like home economics, entrepreneurship ,and accounting should be mandatory. Not everyone has a mom that will teach them how to cook or do laundry or a dad that can teach them how to do taxes or fix a flat tire, so these life skills should be available to us in school. The curricular system that's currently being used is outdated, just like the textbooks we "learn" from. Decades ago school was a place people wanted to go, they yearned for knowledge. The curriculum that was being taught matched the jobs that that era needed.