Saturday, June 14, 2025

To Know

In elementary school there were three grades to a room. For instance Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades were together. 

You may think that lessened the learning process. Not so. We all learned; every child in town and from the country.

If the teacher called the 2nd grade to the front the rest of us would work on our lessons. Then the 1st grade had their turn. And so on. We took turns all day.

Beginning in Kindergarten the teacher stood in front of the class to lead the pledge of allegiance. Then she turned and read a list of numbers from her list. The numbers were a mixture one, two, and three digits. We added them in our heads as she read them off. Then we raised our hands when she finished to give her the total. We were seldom wrong and not by much.

In 1st grade we learned multiplication and division. The reading book we used was a 3rd grade reader. I know that because I went to a different school and we used the same book in 3rd grade. 

The real point is that these were small town schools. There were not many children. We were all in the grades appropriate to our ages. And we all learned.

Children's minds are open to learning. They are waiting to have their minds filled with information. 


2 comments:

  1. I suppose there were many small towns with a similar classroom set-up, Emma, and this could be seen on some TV series like Little House on the Prairie for example.

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    1. Oh country schools were even better. One room for all the grades up to 8th. I know at least 4 students from one room schools who went on to become valedictorians of their high school graduating classes.

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