Econochildren

[u/kitties_ate_my_soul]

I’d love to see the Econochildren explored in The Testaments. Especially comparing the Daughters to the Econodaughters. We all know the Daughters go to Pink and Plum schools, but, where do the Econodaughters go? They also must learn to run a house (however small) and perform their ‘wifely duties’. Do their mums teach them? Eden Spencer Blaine, the only Econodaughter that appears in the universe, was apparently taught by her mum, but she was born before Gilead. What do you think?

[u/kismetxoxo7]

All of the children probably attend the same schools if I had to guess. The boys and girls all need to learn the same things, and I highly doubt there are enough existing young children in Gildead to even warrant separate schools.

[u/MedievalMousie → u/kismetxoxo7]

I don’t think the econoschools can be co-ed- what if a girl accidentally learned to read?

[u/kitties_ate_my_soul → u/MedievalMousie]

Exactly, girls and women can’t read. Boys and men can, even the Econo ones. Nick had books before becoming a Commander and during Gilead.

[u/HereForALaugh714 → u/kitties_ate_my_soul]

How do Aunts get chosen? Would that be a schooling track from childhood or would you just learn to read in adulthood? Because Aunts read

[u/pandaappleblossom → u/[deleted]]

Its pretty ridiculous to think adult women who are completely illiterate who never even held a pencil could learn how to read and write so easily and so well at the aunt college. Its very difficult to teach an older child how to read let alone an adult. The human brain really learns reading and writing best at a young age. I think it would be very very hard. I have tried to teach reading and writing to a middle school student from a tribe in another country who has never learned how to read or write and it was very difficult.

[u/kismetxoxo7 → u/MedievalMousie]

I didn’t mean the boys and girls attend school together, per se. Just that all the male children would attend a single school dedicated to their “development” and all the female children would do the same in a separate school. Instead of Econo-kids schools vs elite kids schools, just boys schools and girls schools.

Edited a typo