Community Chat

[shoesnbags]

@jeanlake 

Oh those those Nifty binders!  I remember the first year they came out - I was soooo excited to get one.  And then after being so popular for a few years, they just sort of disappeared.

[Carmie]

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@Foxxee wrote:

The only thing I remember is how much I hated going back to school.  With a purple passion.  Not so much grade school, but beginning 7th grade I thought I could complete the 6 grades in front of me much faster if allowed to learn at my own pace.  Just give me the books and lesson plans.  

The annoying repetition of getting up early everyday, getting dressed, walking to school, sitting in classes all day, listening to teachers lecture all day.

After college, I took some external courses.  Other than given exams and lesson plans on Saturday mornings at a local university, no other classes.  Much better. 

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Your post reminded me of myself.  I wanted to go to school because I wanted to learn to read.  In first grade we learned phonics and were told that we would learn how to put the letters together and read after the Christmas holiday.

Well, after Christmas, I learned.  After that I proudly told my parents I was done with school.  I could do it on my own.  I could read about everything and learn that way.

When I was in third grade, I was sent to the 8th grade classroom for reading.  I was that far advanced.  I took the same 8th grade reading course every year until I went to  9th grade.  

I still love reading and learn the best that way.  I hate to listen to someone lecture me.

[lynnie61]

Kindergarten - used cigar boxes for our clay, huge pencil and a few crayons.  had Mon-Thurs am class off on Fridays.  Shared a desk with an afternoon student.  

New lunchbox grades 1-5.  Ate lunch in the church basement.  .06/cent milk.  Packed a lunch, too far to go home.  We were “bus” kids.  Most of the school walked home for lunch.  ALWAYS broke the thermos.

Loved making decorated Kleenex boxes for our valentines.  

Catholic school K-5. Dresses only (but not uniforms). One teacher 45 students each.  No aids, helper, etc.  And we were scared of some of the nuns.

Used paper grocery bags for book covers, and colored them and used stickers to make them pretty.  

[shoesnbags]

We made book covers from brown grocery bags, too. But a local grocery chain used to decorate their bags to make our book covers more fun. They even marked the fold lines to help in making the covers.   You saved some of those bags from September to use when the covers wore out later in the year. We were recycling before there was a name for it, I guess. 

[qualitygal]

I had a white top, not sure of the bottom part of the outfit, but it showed off the beads in 3 colors for my first day of school one year in elementary school.  I've loved jewelry for most of my life. 

(Was told about one time as a baby, where I had some beads, and to play with the baby, someone touched them, like a tug.  I guess I glared at them and hung on tight, and they knew, don't do that again!)  LOL  I mean, from a baby??? I was setting up, so, ?

[Tootie15]

Covering books with brown paper bags and then labeling/decorating them with markers ... no backpacks but had big, heavy, yellow plastic bags (sold at school) to carry books back and forth ... we "recycled" them to the next year unless they got ripped.

[cactusgal]

Having plenty of these 

[RedTop]

For me, the excitement started with the arrival of the school bus, and moving into a new seating area.  Elementary students sat in the front rows, junior high in the middle, and high school in the back; girls behind the bus driver, boys on the door side.   I had the same bus driver all thru school; he lived nearby, and died 2 months after I graduated.   

Once we got to school, we were ushered into the gymnasium and waited in our grade section until the bell rang.   Elementary teachers were there and separated us into the classroom we would be in; in junior high and high school we were grouped with our homeroom teacher.   All thru school I was in the “A” group and had all the cool teachers; my cousin was in the same grade in the “B” group, and if it hadn’t been for me, he would’ve never passed each grade and graduated with our class.  He knew that, my aunt and uncle knew that, and our teachers knew that.   

When I first started school, my cousin and I had to sit together on the front seat; we were always close and got along well.   One of the troublemakers on the bus (a 6th grader) started teasing us, and then cousin started teasing me.  The bus driver looked up in time to hear me loudly tell the 6th grader to “shut up” and see me smack my cousin!   Before I graduated, the bus driver saw me smack 2 more boys.

[qvcaddition]

Got an invite for my 65 year class reunion.  They combined 1952/53/54.  

Not going.  Went to the 55 year, that was enough. 

Ah the good years.

[shoekitty]

I remember wearing my new school clothes on those hot California Sept days.  Back then clothes were seasonal.  So for school we bought sweaters, wool skirts or similar.  Omg I was a sweat ball by noon.  Had to wear the new saddle shoes, wool flannel pleated skirt and no collar sweater. Girls had to wear dresses.  No sanals, or clothes like they have today