Amish Values for Your Family, Suzanne Woods Fisher

Amish Values for your Family, Suzanne Woods Fisher.  ISBN: 9780800719968

August 2, 2013

Nonfiction, morals and character development of children, Amish life.

Ms Fisher is obviously taken with the Amish and their way of life.  However, she doesn't quite manage to convey that captivation in this book.  Each section is intended to show a facet of Amish life and values, to demonstrate that in a sketch of Amish life, and then to convey how to get that same feel or end-point in a modern (presumed Christian) family structure, especially in regards to children.  The reality doesn't quite measure up.  The very short sections are arbitrary and oddly divided (birding?  throwing eggs?) and the morals or lessons from the sketches don't always seem to relate to the moral or lesson she elaborates upon.  

In addition, the morals and lessons that are taken are quite simplistic - don't spoil your kids, let them have graduated responsibility, stay connected as a family, let kids be kids, nature is awesome, discipline rarely and from the standpoint of producing character growth not rebellion.  Not really earthshaking or new information there.

Perhaps I'm too cynical an audience for this one, but I think it is illuminating that the Amish have a church retention rate in the high 80% (and an additional 10% join up with more liberal Amish or Mennonite groups) for their children, while Christian families are clocking in at a dismal 40% retention rate for their children.  So a book that promises to help families pick the "values" of the Amish without adopting the accompanying lifestyle, seems to be a bit disingenuous.  Most presumed Christian families are supposedly already teaching the same basic values and morals as their religious Amish cousins, but for some reason, it isn't working for modern families, while it is working quite well for the Amish.  This book seems to be promising all of the gain for none of the pain, and I really don't think that's going to work out.

Sadly, not a book I would recommend about the Amish, or about values or character training for families and children.  Just too facile and fragmented to offer any real grounded valuable advice.