Me and my two bestest friends were all going to school together. We found out we were going to all be in the same first grade class with Mrs. Smith. She was a wonderful older woman, and so sweet and grandmotherly. She gave good hugs. I remember when we went into the classroom for the first time, I felt so grown up and yet a little scared, too. Mrs. Smith smiled and asked us our names and she gathered us all up and we reluctantly let go of our mothers' hands & waived goodbye. That's a big step - letting go - the first of many for the rest of your life....
I remember that smell like it was yesterday! New Crayolas - I loved them! Of course we had the big fat ones and ONLY 8. No more! Not until we were in 3rd or 4th grade could we have the boxes of 16 or 24. My friend, Karen, I was jealous of later, cuz her mother got her a box of 64 AND it had a sharpener in the back!!!!
I remember not having air conditioning (and not noticing that it bothered me until I reached Jr. High) and the push out windows being opened. We always had fans running in the class.Sometimes a bee would come in, sometimes it would rain and I can still remember the way the rain smelled, sometimes I'd catch myself staring outside daydreaming or watching another class on the playground. When it was our turn to go outside, we ran and played and came back in all sweaty smelling like little stinky dogs, hair in damp tendrils stuck on our faces and necks and dirt on our new Keds. Drinks of water from the fountain for everyone and then off to lunch! I'm pretty sure I had a Palladin lunchbox - no girly stuff for me! Palladin was my hero!
A funny story about lunchtime. My mother always made me PBJ sandwiches for lunch. That's the only kind I'd eat, with a piece of fruit, maybe some chips & a Twinkie or cupcake. And how cool was it to have your very own thermos to hold some hot soup in the wintertime! One time my mom forgot to put the PB and jelly in the sandwich and just packed the bread - nothing on it! I was so mortified when I opened my lunch that I didn't tell my friends, I just ate it without anyone knowing. I couldn't believe my mother did that to me! I know it was an accident, but when you're 6, you don't understand. I never told her I don't guess, cuz I brought it up recently at a family gathering and we were all laughing about it - Mom did not remember! I hope it didn't permanently scar me! haha -
After lunch we'd all lay our heads down on our desks and Mrs. Smith would read from a book everyday and some would doze, some would listen to the story, some would goof off and Mrs. Smith would make them stand in the corner. Believe it or not, I had to stand in the corner occasionally myself. Oops! It was hard to be quiet when your two best friends were in the same class with you! We didn't get to sit together for very long...
Come 2 o'clock when the bell rang, it was such a relief to line up at the door and get hugs from Mrs. Smith and go to the horseshoe drive to wait for our moms to pick us up. Pushing and shoving and laughing, teachers fussing for us to be quiet, books being dropped and getting elbowed with others' satchels and lunchboxes. The first day of school - I remember it just like yesterday! What were your first memories of starting school?
10 comments:
I was such a cry baby at first. My poor mother. I would cry thinking she would forget to pick me up! My first grade teacher was Mrs. Stevick and her husband owned a doughnut shop. Score! We always had fresh doughnuts as a treat. She was a wonderful, patient lady.
First grade was terrifying for me...I'm pretty sure. I had Mrs. Norman and it was a brand new school in Fort Worth and we were in a portable type building. I bought my lunch. I do not know why!!! I remember having to keep up with my milk money. I loved Dick and Jane ... reading was my favorite thing. Then we moved that summer and I went to an older elementary in Fort Worth and I have wonderful memories of that school. I do remember the smells...loved the smell of the soap and brown towels in the restroom, the smell of the books, crayons and those Big Chief Tablets!!!!
Thank you for sharing your memories. I remember the smell of the rain too, love it. And I remember how the light would change inside when it was getting ready to rain outside. I knew something was coming, things just looked different.
Margo
Yours sound so much like mine was. I remember those tablets and the fat crayons. Hugs...m.
I still love the smell of crayons and new tablets. Rain outside a school room, and the comfort, yes, the comfort of routine and safety I felt in a classroom.
Now that blackboard sounds very innovative. All that storage behind it...interesting. I laughed so over the story about the sandwich. Too bad that your mother doesn't remember. She may think that you are just telling tales. Ha! My first day of school was not as memorable as yours I guess since the only thing I remember about it was that all the kids were bragging about being "five and a half." I was just five as far as I knew. (Actually, I was well over the five and a half mark.)
What a great story. Thanks so much for writing it all down. It brought back so many memories! Those wonderful open windows, and smells and sounds and sights from outside! I started school in the same building my mother had gone to school in. It is still being used today - but they have boarded up (ok "enclosed") all the windows and put in air conditioning.
What a wonderful post! Lots of similarities to my own schooling. Some different. I don't remember the very first day, but I did go to the same community school until I graduated from the 8th grade. A wonderful old brick school built in 1930. Linda's comment above brought smell memories of the green liquid soap and brown paper towels. The lecture about only using 1 has stayed with me to this day. Also, not to cut your shape out of the middle of the paper, but to save as much of it as possible, and cut from one end. I love those old, fat Crayolas; haven't seen any in years, not even at the antique mall. Your photo of the Big Chief Tablet brought a smile to my face. And to this day I associate rainy days with the smell of chicken pot pie smell coming from the cafeteria. I took my lunch, too, but that smell remains in my head. Kind of a comforting thing. As Margo (above) commented, I, too remember the light changing with approaching storms. Ah, such wonderful, wonderful days.
One more thing about Big Chief tablets: my mother (born in 1914) thought she should have a new tablet to take to primary school each Monday, because her father owned a store and he had plenty of them. But he told her that she couldn't have a new one until the old one was all used. So every Friday she would mark up all the unused pages.
I sure enjoy reading your blog. And thanks, particularly for this post.
I remember first grade so vividly! "C" and I started first grade together since we were next door neighbors! We didn't have a blackboard like you described, but we walked to school- sometimes when I was in 4th-6th grade I rode my bicycle home for lunch! I remember the smell of crayons too- and the paste - We had Red Chief notesbooks also. We also had morning devotions, Bible reading and sang "My Country Tis of Thee", and this was in public school! Thanks for the memories! V.
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