School Days
I attended Sunday School and Vacation Bible School regularly, beginning at the age of three, but my first real school experience began with morning Kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary School in Norfolk. We lived at the Oxnard Hotel, three blocks away from the school. Most days, I walked to school by myself, even at the age of five. Nearly all kids walked to school then, so I met several children along the way to walk with. When the weather was extremely cold, Mom or Dad drove me to school. Sometimes, though, when Dad was gone and Mom had to stay at the hotel within earshot of the front desk, she would call a taxi. Mom would give me a quarter to hand to the taxi driver, who would drive me to school. Occasionally, she would send the taxi to pick me up from school, too, paying the driver when I got home.
Kindergarten was much more basic then than it is today. Most mothers were stay-at-home moms, so daycare centers and preschools didn't exist. For most children, Kindergarten was the first time they were separated from their families for any length of time. The Kindergarten curriculum consisted of playtime in a few centers, including blocks, dramatic play, and puzzles, formal vocal music instruction, story time, group art activities, and reading readiness activities. However, the alphabet was not taught at all until first grade.
When I moved on to first grade, I went to school all day, from 9:00 in the morning until 3:45 in the afternoon, with an hour off for lunch. Our school did not have a hot lunch program. Teachers took turns staying at school with the handful of children who brought a sack lunch. The rest of us walked home for lunch, then walked back to school for the afternoon session. Often, Mom had lunch ready for me when I got home, so I ate lunch with the rest of the family, then played at home for a few minutes until it was time to head back to school. Sometimes, though, when Mom had been working all morning at the hotel, she didn't have time to make lunch. On those days, the whole family walked to one of the three or four nearby cafes and ate lunch together. I remember eating a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and tuna and noodle casseroles, my favorite lunch time meals, whether we ate out or at home.
I loved learning to read with Dick, Jane, and Sally, and their dog, Spot. "Look, look. See Spot run." I learned to read so well by the end of first grade that the teacher would sometimes ask me to monitor a lower reading group while she helped other students. However, I soon developed a reputation for being very shy and quiet at school. I remember once, in second grade, being assigned the part of a lamp post in a school play because the teacher thought I wouldn't be willing to have a speaking part. (She was wrong about that, but I was too shy to tell her so!)
Lincoln School had two sessions of Kindergarten, morning and afternoon, and one class for each grade from first through sixth grade. Each class was totally self contained. We did not have a lunch room, or a gym, or a building library. Each classroom had its own small library; children could check out one or two books each week to read at home. Each teacher taught music and art to the best of her ability, along with reading, spelling, numbers (called arithmetic when we got to third grade), penmanship (handwriting), science, and social studies.
We walked or rode our bikes everywhere we went, so we we didn't really need Physical Education classes to stay physically fit. We played outside on the playground when we arrived at school in the morning and after lunch. We also had recess for fifteen minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon. Our playground had a tall metal slide, a merry-go-round, monkey bars, and swings. We often played games like kickball, tag, Pump, Pump, Pull Away, and Lemonade. In the spring and fall, many girls brought their jump ropes to school to use at recess.
Boys couldn't wear jeans or shorts to school. Their shirts had to be tucked into their pants and, if their pants had belt loops, they had to wear belts. Girls of all ages always wore dresses to school. We wore anklets when the weather was warm, and knee socks or tights, which we called leotards, when the weather was cooler. In the winter, we wore pants under our knee-length skirts whenever we went outside. When the weather was warmer, we often wore shorts under our dresses so we could play on the monkey bars. After school, we always changed out of our school clothes into play clothes.
One day a week, we each took a quarter to school to buy a savings stamp, which we licked and stuck into a booklet. When the booklet was full, I think it could be exchanged for a savings bond. This program was a remnant of the World War II savings bond program. We also enjoyed buying books from book order forms that were sent home from school. Most books cost a quarter or 50 cents. When I needed to take money to school for any reason, Mom always knotted the coins into the corner of my cloth handkerchief. (When I had a cold, I took several cloth hankies to school. By the time I was in third grade, though, I took a small packet of Kleenex to school whenever my nose was running.)
Dan started to Kindergarten the year I began second grade. At last, I had someone to walk with the whole way to and from school, at least in the afternoons. I think that Dan was a challenging student for all of his teachers. He had learned to read at home by the time he was four, so his Kindergarten and first grade teachers didn't quite know what to do with him. He was always as outgoing as I was shy. Even as a very young child, Dan loved to talk and ask endless questions. (We had a great-uncle, Uncle Al, who always said that Dan was destined to be an auctioneer or a preacher when he grew up. He was half right.)
I think I was in second grade when Dan and I started attending an after-school Bible club that met once a week in the house of a woman who lived just a block or so from school. She would feed us cookies, then tell a flannel board Bible story and lead us in singing and prayer. Most of the children who attended were in first or second grade. I remember balking a bit about attending Bible club when I was in the third grade, because I was older than most of the other kids. However, Mom and the Bible club leader convinced me to keep going, because no one is ever too old for Bible stories.
I particularly remember one warm, sunny day in November when I was in the third grade. Dan and I had walked home for lunch, as usual. When we got back to the school playground after lunch, the teachers told us to go back home because the president had been shot. Mom was surprised to see us back home again so soon. After we told her what had happened, she turned on the television, where every channel was broadcasting the news of President Kennedy's assassination. The whole nation was in mourning. I remember watching the funeral procession on TV at my grandparents' house. We didn't go back to school until after the funeral.
I remember being comfortable at Lincoln School. School was not stressful for most kids. It was a place where we could spend time with our friends. We learned to read, count, add and subtract, and write legibly. We had plenty of time for meaningful art and science activities. I remember the last day of school before Christmas vacation began, when every class would stand in the downstairs hall, with the big kids standing on the stairs, as we all sang Christmas carols together. We loved school. We were a family.
Kindergarten was much more basic then than it is today. Most mothers were stay-at-home moms, so daycare centers and preschools didn't exist. For most children, Kindergarten was the first time they were separated from their families for any length of time. The Kindergarten curriculum consisted of playtime in a few centers, including blocks, dramatic play, and puzzles, formal vocal music instruction, story time, group art activities, and reading readiness activities. However, the alphabet was not taught at all until first grade.
When I moved on to first grade, I went to school all day, from 9:00 in the morning until 3:45 in the afternoon, with an hour off for lunch. Our school did not have a hot lunch program. Teachers took turns staying at school with the handful of children who brought a sack lunch. The rest of us walked home for lunch, then walked back to school for the afternoon session. Often, Mom had lunch ready for me when I got home, so I ate lunch with the rest of the family, then played at home for a few minutes until it was time to head back to school. Sometimes, though, when Mom had been working all morning at the hotel, she didn't have time to make lunch. On those days, the whole family walked to one of the three or four nearby cafes and ate lunch together. I remember eating a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and tuna and noodle casseroles, my favorite lunch time meals, whether we ate out or at home.
I loved learning to read with Dick, Jane, and Sally, and their dog, Spot. "Look, look. See Spot run." I learned to read so well by the end of first grade that the teacher would sometimes ask me to monitor a lower reading group while she helped other students. However, I soon developed a reputation for being very shy and quiet at school. I remember once, in second grade, being assigned the part of a lamp post in a school play because the teacher thought I wouldn't be willing to have a speaking part. (She was wrong about that, but I was too shy to tell her so!)
Lincoln School had two sessions of Kindergarten, morning and afternoon, and one class for each grade from first through sixth grade. Each class was totally self contained. We did not have a lunch room, or a gym, or a building library. Each classroom had its own small library; children could check out one or two books each week to read at home. Each teacher taught music and art to the best of her ability, along with reading, spelling, numbers (called arithmetic when we got to third grade), penmanship (handwriting), science, and social studies.
We walked or rode our bikes everywhere we went, so we we didn't really need Physical Education classes to stay physically fit. We played outside on the playground when we arrived at school in the morning and after lunch. We also had recess for fifteen minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon. Our playground had a tall metal slide, a merry-go-round, monkey bars, and swings. We often played games like kickball, tag, Pump, Pump, Pull Away, and Lemonade. In the spring and fall, many girls brought their jump ropes to school to use at recess.
Boys couldn't wear jeans or shorts to school. Their shirts had to be tucked into their pants and, if their pants had belt loops, they had to wear belts. Girls of all ages always wore dresses to school. We wore anklets when the weather was warm, and knee socks or tights, which we called leotards, when the weather was cooler. In the winter, we wore pants under our knee-length skirts whenever we went outside. When the weather was warmer, we often wore shorts under our dresses so we could play on the monkey bars. After school, we always changed out of our school clothes into play clothes.
One day a week, we each took a quarter to school to buy a savings stamp, which we licked and stuck into a booklet. When the booklet was full, I think it could be exchanged for a savings bond. This program was a remnant of the World War II savings bond program. We also enjoyed buying books from book order forms that were sent home from school. Most books cost a quarter or 50 cents. When I needed to take money to school for any reason, Mom always knotted the coins into the corner of my cloth handkerchief. (When I had a cold, I took several cloth hankies to school. By the time I was in third grade, though, I took a small packet of Kleenex to school whenever my nose was running.)
Dan started to Kindergarten the year I began second grade. At last, I had someone to walk with the whole way to and from school, at least in the afternoons. I think that Dan was a challenging student for all of his teachers. He had learned to read at home by the time he was four, so his Kindergarten and first grade teachers didn't quite know what to do with him. He was always as outgoing as I was shy. Even as a very young child, Dan loved to talk and ask endless questions. (We had a great-uncle, Uncle Al, who always said that Dan was destined to be an auctioneer or a preacher when he grew up. He was half right.)
I think I was in second grade when Dan and I started attending an after-school Bible club that met once a week in the house of a woman who lived just a block or so from school. She would feed us cookies, then tell a flannel board Bible story and lead us in singing and prayer. Most of the children who attended were in first or second grade. I remember balking a bit about attending Bible club when I was in the third grade, because I was older than most of the other kids. However, Mom and the Bible club leader convinced me to keep going, because no one is ever too old for Bible stories.
I particularly remember one warm, sunny day in November when I was in the third grade. Dan and I had walked home for lunch, as usual. When we got back to the school playground after lunch, the teachers told us to go back home because the president had been shot. Mom was surprised to see us back home again so soon. After we told her what had happened, she turned on the television, where every channel was broadcasting the news of President Kennedy's assassination. The whole nation was in mourning. I remember watching the funeral procession on TV at my grandparents' house. We didn't go back to school until after the funeral.
I remember being comfortable at Lincoln School. School was not stressful for most kids. It was a place where we could spend time with our friends. We learned to read, count, add and subtract, and write legibly. We had plenty of time for meaningful art and science activities. I remember the last day of school before Christmas vacation began, when every class would stand in the downstairs hall, with the big kids standing on the stairs, as we all sang Christmas carols together. We loved school. We were a family.
Comments
Post a Comment