English school is where the child 
learns arithmetic, science, 
and the ability to read and write 
in the English language. The 
curriculum is similar to that taught 
in other rural schools. 
who was licking his boot, “He’s only 
three years old and still very young. 
He’ll need many britschen before his 
will is broken.” Children must obey 
the person in charge; they may not 
leave the kindergarten yard; they must 
share; they are not allowed to fight, 
quarrel, or hit; they are not to call 
one another names or use “bad words.” 
In a Gemeindordnungen (“colony 
rules”) of 1812 , the members are re- 
minded that “it is very sinful and rude” 
to call each other such insulting and 
contemptuous names as “pig” or “dirty 
dog.” Yet the first Hutterite words our 
five-year-old used spontaneously were 
those for “you pig” and “you dirty 
dog.” 
The kindergarten mothers use en- 
couragement, praise, and rewards with 
the children. The little boys are told to 
“eat up! eat up! so you can drive a Mas- 
sey [tractor].” A child who has been 
helpful may have the privilege of going 
with the kindergarten mother to bring 
the food from the kitchen. A child who 
has behaved very well may be the first 
to be dismissed in the afternoon. A 
small child may be comforted with a 
little candy from the kindergarten 
mother’s pocket, or a group of children 
may be promised a walk if they are 
good. Punishment includes scolding, 
switching, and threats. Some kinder- 
garten mothers feel that a leather strap 
is too cruel for children and makes 
them tough without correcting them; a 
willow switch is better. The children 
are given only a couple of switches, and 
those older than four rarely cry. When 
a three-year-old was crying after being 
punished, one of the five-year-olds re- 
marked, “We’re already tough, we 
don’t cry anymore, only Michael does.” 
(Michael had just begun kindergar- 
ten.) The children are not punished in 
anger or vindictively. Their kindergar- 
ten mother, who as the name implies, 
regards them almost as her own chil- 
dren, is confident that she is helping 
the children grow into worthy Chris- 
tians. 
Kindergarten introduces children to 
their peer group and teaches them 
how to function in it. “They learn 
to obey, sing, sleep, memorize, and 
pray together.” At an age when the 
child in North American society is 
developing individuality and a concept 
of self, the Hutterite child is placed 
in a setting that minimizes self-asser- 
tion and self-esteem and maximizes 
identity as a member of a group. Of 
all the age groups within the colony, 
the kindergarteners experience the 
most restricted, most regimented, and 
least varied program. Physically, the 
children spend virtually the whole day 
in one little building and small en- 
closed yard; they are cared for 
throughout the day by only one adult. 
There are no vacations during the 
school year except for half-day ses- 
sions on weekends and church holi- 
days. The children learn to tolerate 
a restricted environment. They are re- 
warded for cooperative, docile, passive 
responses to correction or frustration. 
After entering kindergarten, the 
child’s parents and the adult colony 
members no longer will accept the 
varied range of behavior permitted the 
child who is still considered to be a 
baby. The child must now be quiet 
around adults, even cry quietly. Vis- 
itors from other colonies do not greet 
kindergarten children or German- 
school children. Adults rarely play 
with them and no one wants them 
around. As a Hutterite mother said 
of her kindergarten-age son, “I’d cer- 
tainly like Danny less if I had to see 
any more of him.” The children can 
easily interpret these changes as re- 
jections. But even though they have 
fallen from the “garden of Eden” sta- 
tus of house children, they have 
started the steady, rewarding ascent 
that leads to full, responsible mem- 
bership in the colony. 
Our kindergarten child, Daniel, vig- 
orously protested his low status in the 
colony, did not identify with his Hut- 
terite peer group, and saw no reward 
or purpose in the long climb to colony 
membership. He did not even want 
to drive a tractor, then or when he 
grew up. We protected him somewhat 
from full colony participation by not 
sending him to kindergarten regularly 
and by discouraging other adults from 
administering physical punishment, 
but we could do little to protect him 
from the older children. By Hutterite 
standards, he had not been sufficiently 
weaned from his mother and grand- 
mother for he spent more time with 
the women in the family than is typical 
for Hutterite boys. The colony tried 
40 
