This Way To My Blog

This Way To My Blog

Friday, July 31, 2009

School Daze


School Days school days dear old golden rule days. Readin' and writin' and rithmetic talk to the tune of a hicory stick. I was your queen in calico you was my bashful barefoot beau. Seemed it was a long time before my teeth fit with my face and body and I bet it took my Mama a long time to make those long tube curls since my hair was as straight as a straw. I even went to school barefoot sometime. That school looked awfully big to a little ole' country girl. The only school supplies we required was a pencil and a tablet. We had better behave as the teacher was allowed to paddle us but if we got sick she would hold us on her lap while she taught the others. We took a sack lunch and rode the bus to and from school. Teachers didn't call your Mom to come get you because most didn't even have a phone or a second car. In some cases the Mom didn't even drive. We led such a deprived life but we didn't know it. We had fun and we didn't get bored.

17 comments:

Martha said...

How cute Paula!

Those times weren't deprived they were superior! It's these days that kids are generally deprived - deprived of any kind of family unit, religion, caring neighbors, schools where they know your name, playing in the streets until dark and all the simple pleasures. Today's generation has been robbed of the best things in life ::sigh::

jack69 said...

Such a cute little girl. I love the freckles I see. Nostalgia, nothing wrong with it, and it makes us feel so good. It was fun just having a tablet and pencil. I can remember pencil sharpeners. I loved them, they intrigued me. I liked a sharp pencil. Wasn't it wonderful, the relationship between the teacher and student. I don't think you could pay me enough to teach in a city school today. I'd rather teach Shelly marie!
Sherry & jack

garnett109 said...

what a little cutie

BlueRidge Boomer said...

My favorite was ....all summer...watching Mom and Granny "make" my school clothes.....and then deciding on the perfect dress to wear on the first day.....Mom drove the bus and Granny was "a cafeteria lady"...i thought that made me special!!!

Enjoy.....LindaMay

Sugar said...

such a precious pic!
gone are the good ole days, & they were GOOD ole days.
have a good wkend.
huggies...

Lucy said...

Love the picture and your school daze sound like mine. We walked a mile and a half to and from. No school bus.

Anonymous said...

PAULA, THANKS FOR THE ENTRY OF YOUR FIRST SCHOOL DAYS.

THIS OLD GRANDPA SAM CAN REMEMBER VERY PLAINLY THE FIRST ONE ROOM GRADE SCHOOL, IN WESTERN COLORADO NEAR OUR FAMILY HOMESTEAD.

WHEN THREE YEARS OLD IN APRIL, 1923, WALKED A MILE TO THE SCHOOL WITH AN OLDER SISTER AND ATTENDED AS A VISITOR EACH DAY OF SCHOOL WHILE MOTHER AT HOME TOOK CARE OF BABY SISTER AS WELL AS OTHER WORK MOTHERS DID ON THE HOMESTEADS.

THERE WERE ABOUT A DOZEN HOMESTEAD FAMILIES IN THE AREA SOUTHWEST OF HAYDEN COLORADO AND CHILDREN OF THESE FAMILIES WERE IN VARIOUS GRADES.

THE SCHOOL TERM ENDED WHEN SEVERE WEATHER CAME IN THE FALL. AS A VISITOR WHEN THREE YEARS OLD, LEARNED THE ALPHABET AND TO WRITE THE LARGE AND SMALL LETTERS WHICH THE TEACHER HAD PLACED IN A ROW AT THE TOP OF THE BLACKBOARD.

OF COURSE I OBSERVED THE LESSONS TAUGHT TO OTHER GRADES AND THE NEXT SPRING WHEN SCHOOL BEGAN, THE TEACHER PUT ME IN THE FIRST GRADE.
I LOVED IT AND THERE WERE ONLY ABOUT A DOZEN STUDENTS IN ALL.

OLDER STUDENTS TOOK TURNS GOING TO GET DRINKING WATER ACROSS THE ROAD AND DOWN TO PARKER'S SPRING A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY. WE DRANK FROM THE SAME DIPPER. AT NOON WE SAT IN THE SUN ON THE FRONT STEPS AND ENJOYED OUR LUNCH.
SOMETIMES WE HAD DEER MEAT. WE HAD BISCUITS WITH JELLY MADE FROM WILD CURRANTS WHICH WAS SUPER GOOD. SLICES OF BAKED HUBBARD SQUASH WAS FINE TOO.

NOW MAY I TELL YOU OF MY FIRST DAY OF 'HIGH SCHOOL' ? IT WAS IN OKLAHOMA IN YEAR 1933. OUR FAMILY HAD MOVED AROUND QUITE A LOT DURING THE YEARS LOLLOWING OUR LEAVING THE COLORADO HOMESTEAD. NOW AT LOCUST GROVE OKLAHOMA IN THE EDGE OF THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

FIRST DAY IN THE NINTH GRADE. I WAS 13 YEARS OLD IN APRIL AND NOW SEPTEMBER FIRST. I LIVED IN THE COUNTRY AND MY 'TO BE' CLASSMATE FRIENDS AGREED TO GO BAREFOOT TO SCHOOL THAT FIRST DAY WHICH WE DID AND WAS NOT A SHOCK TO ANYONE AS WE HAD BEEN BAREFOOT MUCH OF THE SUMMER, TOWN BOYS INCLUDED. THE 'GREAT DEPRESSION WAS IN FULL SWING. THIS HIGH SCHOOL WAS SMALL, ALL FOUR GRADES TOTALED ABOUT 80 STUDENTS. (THERE WERE NO SCHOOL BUSES OPERATING YET IN THAT AREA).

TIME PASSES AS IT MUST AND HERE IT IS SEEING ME 89 YEARS OLD AND PERHAPS IN THE FOURTH OR FIFTH CHILDHOOD, BACK IN COLORADO TOO WHICH I LOVE. MAY GOD BLESS WE ALL. sam

blog address, sayit-baldys

Ally Lifewithally said...

Oh Paula your teacher sounded wonderful ~ and I just loved your picture ~ Wish those days could come back ~ Ally x

Helen said...

Cute picture of you Paula. I remember that poem very well. Those school days sounds like my Mother's, I have a picture of her as a teenager in a group picture made in front of a one room school house. She and some of the others were barefooted. Helen

Sheila Y said...

That is a cute picture and the teeth looked just fine...my oldest had freckles when she was young too. She called them Gickles...ha. Have a nice Sunday, Sheila

Unknown said...

Hi Paula
What an adorable little girl you where! I love the new look of your blog, very nice. Sometimes I wished I lived back then it seems where much simpler.

Paulette said...

That little blonde with the ringlets is quite a charmer. I'll bet you passed those great genes on to your own daughter and granddaughters! I love the cow picture. I also remember those good old days, although I do not recall ever going to school barefoot, not okay in the city. I can recall when it not "cool" to wear galoshes and us girls would take off our boots once away from home and stash em to be picked up again on the way home. I also remember the smell of all those girls shoes drying by the radiator once we got to school with cold, wet feet. Phew! Paulette

salemslot9 said...

my Mom said she had
very fine, almost white, blonde hair
and 'banana curls'

roberta said...

IT SEEMS YOUR MEMORY IS STILL GOOD. GREAT MEMORIES ARE A WONDERFUL THING. ITS ALSO NICE TO SEE YOUR TEETH FIT...LOL
ROBERTA

Lisa said...

I'd say those weren't deprived days they were good days - when right was right and wrong was wrong. You are lucky to have lived when you did.

Jimmy's Journal said...

If the teachers of the past still taught like that we'd have a much better society. An occasional hug or a good ass whipping never hurt any child.

Jimmy

Gerry said...

Oh this entry brought memories to my mind. How endearing that you had a teacher who would hold you on her lap if you got sick and go on teaching. That is a precious memory. She must have been extra kind. I don't believe I ever had any teachers like that even though I am older than you are. I do remember a teacher I had for 3 years coming to the house to check on what disease I had. My skin was peeling off in long strips. She finally decided I must have scarlatina since I had not been sick enough for it to be scarlet fever. Never mind that this was the stealthy culprit that probably started my problem with chronic fatigue the following year. That and stress. But nobody believed in babying anybody in that town! I always wanted to be babied more but my mother and dad absolutely did not believe in it. I think it makes childhood pains a lot more bearable to get babied once in a while. Ha Gerry