This made me think back to when I was in grade nine and how different it was. Then I started to think of my public education and how different it is compared to now. It's not only different because of 70 years but because society and technology have changed.
So first , the building. I know some fussy pants will say the building has nothing to do with education but the building is the first thing I think about.
The one room school I attended was also used as a church. So I became familiar with the building soon after I was born. I attended Sunday school there so had been in the building every week before I started school. The building was built in 1908. It was a wood structure built with green lumber and uninsulated. When the wind blew the building creaked. This is an indication that the building moved in the wind. We had many windy days with the wind shrieking and building creaking. These sounds will remain with me forever. In the winter the building was very hard to heat. It had a large coal and wood stove in one corner of the room. The fire went out over night. The next morning the room temperature was below freezing. Who wouldn't forget this old building.
There's the big stove in the corner of the room.
This is the only photo of the exterior of the building that I have.
Ten former students and three former students attended the unveiling of a sign to mark the location of the school. My one brother is fifth from the left and a second brother 8 th from the left.
Now before I started grade one I was familiar with the building and most of the kids. I attended Sunday school with the other kids.
In gr. one I sat in a double desk which I shared with the only other gr. one student in the school. There were 17 students in the school altogether. The teacher had to have work organized for 9 grades. Not much time was spent with each grade. So for a little gr oner there was lots of time with nothing to do. Plasticine had been invented by that time. That kept me out of lots of trouble. Now being a curious little fellow I would get out of my desk and go to another student and quietly watch them work. I also listened to every other lesson in the school . Yes everything from gr one to nine.
This educational structure kept me busy but I also learned far more than gr one material.
I had one teacher who taught us until Christmas. Her boyfriend had just come back from the war so they got married. For the rest of the year we had a 19 year old kid teach us.
I'm sure I new how to read before I started school. The Dick and Jane series came in for my gr. one year. American and Canadian systems used these materials so people from other countries may wonder what I'm talking about.
When I look back at this system I wonder how any student ever learned to read. Many of them didn't learn how to read.
The classroom looks quite simular as mine with the seats and the stove in the corner. Learning reading was with a big board with loose capitals which formed small words by placing them at an image where it belongned.
ReplyDeletethat sounds like a very good teaching strategy.
DeleteI learned to read using Dick and Jane books. I still remember what it felt like to begin to understand how to read! I am glad you survived that old school house, Red. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat was normal life at that time.
DeleteThese are such great memories and stories. I always enjoy these posts. I also learned to read with the Dick and Jane series.
ReplyDeleteThat series was widely used for a long time.
DeleteHello, I love to read, I can not imagine not wanting to learn how to read. Love the old school photos and the unveiling photo with the former students. Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteI consider myself a reader. I like it when bloggers share what they read.
DeleteI can't imagine how hard it must have been, or how much preparation it must have taken, for that teacher to prepare lessons for all grade levels! I learned to read from Weekly Reader, which was similar to Dick and Jane but used different names. I think the girl was Sue. I forget the boy's name.
ReplyDeleteThe lessons were very brief summaries and the student then went to a textbook to read and then answer questions.
DeleteThe primary, middle, and high schools that I attended were all built in the 50s and 60s, and are still there. I remember going back to the first one for voting in an election and being struck by how small everything was.
ReplyDeleteThat is a typical reaction. When we're little things seem so large.
DeleteI had the Dick and Jane series in the 1st and 2nd grades.Small can be nice, I went to 9th in a unit just for that grade.
ReplyDeleteWe were more like a big family
DeleteYes, count me among those who also learned to read with the Dick and Jane series. Apparently, it sparked my interest to continue reading to this day. Enjoyed reading about your early school days and seeing the pics.😊
ReplyDeleteSome of us are readers. I like to see what other bloggers are reading.
DeleteI always enjoy your school posts, Red. That stove is huge. I would guess the kids nearest it would roast and the ones furthest away would freeze! My mother started her teaching days in similar schools. She said the older kids often helped the younger ones and it was good for both ages. I attended a multi-grade school from Primary to Grade Six. I think it enhanced my education to be exposed to material beyond my grade, just as you were.
ReplyDeleteYou got it that the guy closest to the stove cooked and further away it was cold. Some kids benefited from this system and others died.
DeleteI love to see the old school classes. It is neat that there is a sign to mark the location of the school. I loved the old Dick and Jane books!
ReplyDeleteI count myself fortunate to have a few of these pictures. Some of the photos wee taken by my Dad.
DeleteI remember the Dick and Jane books. I went to parochial school and we had big classrooms, two for each grade up to the eighth grade. The school is still standing and now it is being used as apartments for the elderly.
ReplyDeleteNice story Red, you brought back some memories. :)
I was wondering if Dick and Jane were used in the U.K.
DeleteI learned to read with Dick and Jane and Spot! Those were fun books. I enjoyed your old memories of early school days. :)
ReplyDeleteThis must have been a great series as everybody remembers it.
DeleteMy older sister went to a one room school for the first year and a half. By the time I started two years behind her we had a brand new, consolidated grade school, and a long bus ride. Dick and Jane were part of my schooling too.
ReplyDeleteProgress took these little schools away. On the prairies it was a population shift that closed the one room schools.
DeleteYour photo of the children out doors reminds me a lot of one my mum has. Her school was in New Zealand in the mid forties. I expect they also had cold and draughty rooms made from timber.
ReplyDeleteArchitecture is important, it shapes the way we behave and respond in many ways, so it's no surprise that you mention it.
We had Dick and Jane books in my country school, too. I already knew how to read so i was recruited to help some of the struggling readers, which at least kept me busy. Yes, schools were quite different back in those days! I enjoyed hearing about your experience!
ReplyDelete"I had one teacher who taught us until Christmas. Her boyfriend had just come back from the war so they got married. For the rest of the year we had a 19 year old kid teach us."
ReplyDeleteMy mother's mother was a teacher. She did not tell them at first when she got married because she wanted to teach for one more year. In those days a woman was expected to resign when she got married. That would have been in the 1940's.
How things have changed! I like the look of these old school rooms where everyone looks so well-behaved.
I remember Dick and Jane! We didn't use them, but they were around.
ReplyDeleteMy husband grew up going to a one-room school. It's coverted to a house now. Rural Canada!