Question

How does the rural setting affect what can and does happen in this story?

Answer 1

There are several correct options here:
- the schoolhouse is one room
- all children grades 1 through 8 study together
- many of the children must help with seasonal farm work

In rural areas, these things happen quite often. Usually, there is no particular building allocated for a school, which is why often 'the school' is just a single small room where all kids go to study together. Given that there aren't many children in such rural areas, all of them are cramped into one single room which serves as school where all of them, regardless of their age, are taught together. Finally, they usually have to do very difficult manual labor to help their family out, which is why they don't have much time to study and dedicate to do their homework.