The Barkers and Their Work

Richard and Penny met at the University of San Francisco in 1967. They married and in 1970 traveled to London, England where both became Montessori teachers. During their studies they learned that this pioneer in early childhood education (Dr. Maria Montessori) proposed the farm experience for the preadolescent child. She called this the “erdkinder.” Since her first publication on the subject in the 1940's a number of Montessori enthusiasts have created middle-school programs that have, in one way or another, embraced the erdkinder principle with curricula that included the economics of animal and plant care and, in some cases, residency on a farm. Before leaving for college in Arizona, Penny had spent her childhood on a farm in the midwest and, from her own experience, understood the many educational benefits a farm provides: The activity level and healthy environment would insure physical, mental and emotional strength while the social and economic enterprise would produce an understanding of what it means to be civilized. Knowledge of the significance of domestication is internalized through the farm experience.

Montessori’s insight presaged England's WWII rediscovery of the educational value of the farm when teachers and children were evacuated to the safety of the countryside. The experience of living on farms and estates was so powerful that, after the war, there was a spontaneous, grass roots switch from predominantly abstract studies to experiential learning. The results were improvements in both social and academic achievement. The world was impressed, and Britain exported what came to be known as the integrated day. Schools in this style spread across the United States as the "open classroom," joining with Montessori and Waldorf programs. Their common features: hands-on, child-paced, and child-initiated learning.

After returning to the US, Richard and Penny directed the Canton Montessori School in Ohio for eight years, gaining experience. In 1975 they purchased a farmstead in Holmes County, forty miles from Canton, and by 1978 were pursuing their "erdkinder" dream full time. Home to the world's largest settlement of Old-Order Amish with their 19th century technology, Holmes County is the perfect setting. And, although the Barkers are not Amish, they and their young visitors benefit from living among these gentle people. Two aspects of the neighborhood contribute: Amish life is small scale and, being based on the productive work of the land, is intrinsically meaningful. From this perspective the Barkers do not offer a traditional summer camp or school experience but simply an opportunity for children to join in the daily life of a real farm. The Barker children, who were raised on the farm, all adults now, continue to share the responsibilities of the farm program with Richard and Penny each summer.

Britt, the oldest Barker offspring, from the beginning took a lead in every aspect of the life of the farm. While the horses were her special interest, her knowledge of all things domestic made her Penny’s valued colleague in the kitchen and garden. Britt’s vocations, when not at the farm, are writing, painting and piano performance. She is married to Shaun, who apprenticed at the farm for four years.

Maggie has a lifetime of experience in working on the farm and with children. As a young child she began with a small flock of sheep. She trained Border Collies as sheepdogs which sparked an interest in dogsledding. During the '90s she raced her Alaskan Huskies along the US-Canadian border. Simultaneously, she and her brothers became wilderness guides and for eight years ran canoe and mountaineering expeditions in the northern and western states. Maggie sold her kennel in 1998 and took up naturalist sculpting. She spent two years at the Florence Academy of Art and in Carrara, Italy studying marble sculpture. Her work with animals is currently with service and stock dogs. She and her husband, Fabricio, a chemist, and their son, Will, live in nearby Wooster.

Dan, at age nine, cared for the poultry, raising bantams and layers. He joined Maggie and Ben in wilderness guiding in the 1990's. Along the way, he developed an interest in the cello which he pursued at Oberlin Conservatory. He has an MA in cello performance and lives in California where he has a studio in Davis and performs in various orchestras.

Ben's early interests on the farm were the cattle and homing pigeons. He was the moving force in creating the wilderness programs that he and his siblings pursued during the 1990's. Along the way Ben received training at NOLS, as an EMT and spent time as a law enforcement Ranger for the National Park Service. At present he is finishing up his formal studies at Kent State University and is engaged in assuming the management of The Country School Farm Summer Camp together with his brother Jonah.

Jonah, the youngest Barker, is very much a child-of-the-summer-farm-experience and, in fact, was literally carried around by visitors as a baby. Jonah became skilled in every aspect of the farm and program. For a decade he was trail and program manager for winter dogsledding in Michigan, managed a restaurant in Hawaii for a year and set up solar powered computer at the farm in 1996. His technical know-how in the workshop as well as at the computer makes him the one to whom everyone turns for answers.

The Barkers have First Aid and CPR Certification. Maggie has Wilderness-First-Responder training. Ben is a trained EMT.

Thirty-two years have passed and the Barkers, having served some 20,000 children, are on their second generation of visitors. Richard, Penny, and their offspring provide a summer erdkinder farm experience for 6-12 year olds. None of the activities at The Country School Farm are designed specifically as educational programs, but instead are genuine real-life experiences springing from the requirements of the farm.

E-mail us for our references and with your questions. Our relationship with our mostly Amish neighbors means we use our telephone for emergencies only, but the U.S. Post Office delivers mail to us at:

Richard and Penny Barker
The Country School Farm
3516 Township Road 124
Becks Mills, Ohio 44654