I just returned from a field trip with Beth all day today. We visited the Lanesfield School, a one-room Kansas schoolhouse circa 1904. Beth and her class did 4th grade work and the adults—teacher and parents—were the “older students” in 8th grade. We did math on slate boards with dinky little pieces of slate, wrote with pens dipped into inkwells and practiced our penmanship, had a spelling bee (where the “8th graders” went down on “belligerent” and “inaugural”), learned geography and discussed a passage we read, recited poems after the teacher, didn’t speak unless spoken to, had perfect posture with hands on our desks and feet flat on the floor, and played games at recess and had plenty of time to eat lunch (as opposed to 10 minutes.)


The teacher discussed punishment methods back then, which included some pretty harsh responses to disobedience or lack of preparation. I found myself wondering how some of “our kids” would have fared at a school like this.


In actuality, there were no doubt fewer of “our kids.” The children who populated these small country schools were farm kids. They worked along side their parents as they all struggled to survive tough times. There was less time for “fluff” and more time dedicated to acquiring food and shelter—but no doubt some of these families were very loving and emotionally close. Society was vastly different back then. What parents expected from their children was quite different. As in this post where I mentioned Disneyland weekends and rooms full of the latest trendy items, kids today have no idea about life as compared to kids of yesteryear. There were no indulged children who attended this school, no matter how old they were or even how they joined their family. Respect and cooperation were not items to be negotiated and consequences for not cooperating were harsh and immediate.


Some children might have been adopted via the Orphan trains. Next up I’ll talk more about that…


By the way, the picture is from my workbook from class today. My writing has always been about third-grade style...