Grab an apple and hit the books! It's back to school time!
Back in the "Good Old Days," school was arranged in such a way as to leave children at home on the farm during times of peak need. Planting, harvest, cattle drives... those times required all workers. In some areas, school was conducted only five months out of the year! (If you have a kid in school, before they decide they wish they lived back then, Google the test for 8th grade graduation.)
Married women didn't teach--their duty was to their husbands. Unmarried girls could teach, but school marms made far less than school masters. Most often, the school marm lived with a local family. It spared the community of having to provide housing, and the host family kept close watch on the teacher's conduct.
Three different sets of "Rules for the Teacher" are widely disseminated. Sold in museums, posted in old one-room schoolhouses, and plastered all over the internet, they supposedly reveal the grim workload and restricted life expected of a teacher. I'm not posting them here because.... Snopes and a few other research sites state these "rules" cannot be authenticated!
The community often held church services in the schoolhouse... or held school in the church. The former was less happily received because desks made for uncomfortable and limited seating for worship. Using church benches pleased adults better and cut costs. Depending on the locale, the school might be made of bricks, field stone, wood, adobe, or even a tent.
This tent school was in Long Beach, California. The teacher, Miss Grace Bush, was only 16 years old. (Wow. Look how much she got done when she didn't have a TV, computer, or cell phone!)Notice how "green" this school was, and notice its version of air conditioning.
(BTW, I wonder if the four kids wearing hats are all from the same family.)
Older kids grew up with the task of minding younger ones. They'd tutor their "youngers" in the classroom, heat up their lunches on the potbelly stove, and get them to and from school. Three or even four siblings would ride a mule or horse to school. Parents created the "car pool" of that day, using a buckboard and filling it with the children who lived nearby. Later, when automobiles entered the picture, kids piled in. Walking five miles to school was commonplace. (Contrary to many tales, those miles were not uphill both directions.)
School marms or masters had to prepare lessons for each age group, teach them, and keep all of the other children busy and quiet. Parents provided the textbooks, but students often shared only one or two copies for an entire grade. Complicating that issue was the custom of separating the sexes.
So now it's back to school time.Let's pay tribute to teachers--then and now-- for all they do!
What was the name of your favorite teacher, which grade did he/she teach, and why did he/she earn that special place in your heart?
Mine was Mrs. Pilcher, 1st grade. She taught me to read!
Cathy
Being a former teacher, I'm thrilled to read this post, Cath--Thank You!! ~ My first and favorite teacher is my precious Mama (now in Heaven). In our little town the only Kindergarten was at the Baptist Church and parents had to pay. Since my parents definitely couldn't afford it, my Mama worked with me and taught me to read (AND that's why I've always LOVED books, because of Mama). The elem. school (called "Grammar School" then) I attended went from 1st-7th grades. My favorite teacher there was Mrs. Peppers (I had her for 5th and 6th grades and adored her). Thankfully she lived until a few years ago, so I was able to tell her that SHE was a big inspiration in my desire to become a teacher! (*Confession time* I was TERRIFIED of my first grade teacher, so when I became a first-grade (and then later Kindergarten) teacher, I was determined none of my little students would EVER be afraid of me*grin*). ~ Thanks again for this post--LOVE those old photos you shared. Hugs, Patti Jo
ReplyDeleteI love all the history!! Thank you for sharing...my favorite teacher. LOL That's easy for me--homeschooled 1st-12th grade by my awesome Mum. =D She played a huge role {and still does} in my love of writing & American history. <3
ReplyDeletePatti Jo, I'll bet there are scads of former students out there who would list you as their favorite teacher!
ReplyDeleteOur moms are our first teachers. Both of you sound like Abraham Lincoln. He had almost no formal schooling, but his stepmother tutored him. His tribute to her: "All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my mother."
(So for all of you blended families, that sure blows apart the "evil stepmother" stereotype!)
Oooh great fun and we even have Kim here as a former teacher. I loved school and had so many favs. I loved the teachers who "got me" and didn't let me just skim by, but challenged me to rise above and beyond. I'm a firm believer in children rising to the level of expectancy. Thanks for the great post Cathy.
ReplyDeleteTracie
Yes! Tracie, my favorite high school teachers all had that same thing in common: They set the bar high, then equiped me with the tools to achieve. Thank God for Miss Sebastian, who instilled in me a love of research!
ReplyDeleteThen, there was Mr. Koto whose muscular dystrophy didn't keep him from teaching. Students wrote on the board for him, pushed his wheelchair, and pled with counselors to be put in that class.
I had so many outstanding teachers!
In kindegarten and first grade my favorite teacher in Parochial school was Sis. Charles, a young nun that taught us to read and rode on the merry go round with her head piece blowing in the wind! In elementary school she was Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, who taught me not only academically but how to be a lady AND she took me with her to the grocery store and bought me apples and Ladyfinger cookies! What a gentle woman she was! And in High School it was Mrs. Evelyn Gilliard...my math teacher that loved me enough to call me out in front of the class when she caught me daydreaming looking out the window! LOL She was a great teacher whose helped me to stay focused on being all I could be!
ReplyDeleteLove the post Cathy! Love reading about those kind of things. Can't wait for your next book and will check out your daughter's books too.
Loved your post. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Breeze. She was my 1st grade teacher. One day she invited 'me' to go with her and her grand-daughter out to lunch. It boosted my self confidence so much. I loved school. I loved to read. And, I loved to learn
ReplyDeleteMy maternal grandfather and my paternal grandmother (both deceased) taught school back in the day.
ReplyDeleteGrandpa Gus walked to York with a friend on the train tracks after a big snowstorm and slept in the hotel lobby, just so that he could take the exam to get his teacher's license. He did it for a lark, but when G'pa discovered he had passed the exam, his dad told him to get a job and teach! So G'pa did. We have pictures of the horse he used to pick students up from school (he could fit 4 to 6 children on that horse!) and the used Model A he drove after he could afford one.
His students loved him and came by to talk him often about those days later when he was in retirement.
Grandma Harriet taught a very tough crowd of ranch children. The teen boys were taller than she was, and very ornery! Early on, one threw chestnuts into the school stove and they exploded. Then later, one threw firecrackers down the outhouse. G'ma was tougher than those boys were, and found ways to make them obey and study their lessons anyway.
G'pa stopped teaching school and started drilling wells the hard way (pick and shovel) after he met my Grandma Anna. He said he couldn't afford to support a wife and children on a teacher's salary. He eventually owned a very successful well drilling company.
G'ma stopped teaching school at the time of her marriage to Grandpa Rowland, who farmed potatoes.
Both of them never lost the love of sharing knowledge with others. When I was privileged to spend time with them, I received many invaluable life lessons from each of them.
oh, this is so much fun! I can just imagine Veronia's Sister charles with her headpiece flying out and back on the merry-go-round!
ReplyDeleteVeronica and Cherie both have tender spots in their hearts for the teachers who saw their individuality and celebrated it with a very personal touch. What a woderful thing to do for a child!
Krysti, your grandpa and grandma both sound like amazing people. How lovely that they touched so many lives. Even when they ...uh... graduated from teaching, they taught you. What an amazing heritage.
We own a '25 Ford Model T and a '20 Ford Model A. I wonder how many kids piled in to go to school.
I think we ought to make sure we have ladyfingers when we all get together.
Your stories are so fun!
Thanks for sharing.
Cath
(Contrary to many tales, those miles were not uphill both directions.)
ReplyDeleteHa ha. I seriously thought I did. We did have to jump rocks across the stream under the railroad tressle! We were not allowed up on top. We picked wild strawberries on the way. We knew how to do the back ways through the fields.
There was a drought, my dad lost the farm, and we moved to the big city. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Sadie Sorge, fifth grade, English. She read Baby Island to us out loud before lunch. A special time each day.
Kathleen
Cathy--just had to say I LOVED coming back here and reading everyone's "favorite teacher" stories. And I'm still grinning at Veronica's "merry-go-round nun"--oh my! Maybe that lady was the inspiration for that old TV show THE FLYING NUN !?!? (just a thought....) ~ Hugs, PJ ;)
ReplyDeleteKathleen, my mouth is watering over you picking wild strawberries. How many times did you slip on those rocks under the RR trundle?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that after you gad to move, you still found sech an awesome teacher.
Yes, PJ, 've loved these stories!