usmbguest5318
Gold Member
I and my siblings, my kids and their kids went to school like, I presume, all Americans do/did beginning with nursery school, which we commenced at about three years of age, or kindergarten and progressing on to high school. Obviously, some folks continue on to college and grad school, but not everyone does, so this thread's scope doesn't include that phase of one's formal education.
When you and/or your immediate family members and their kids [1] went to school, what did you/they do, what was/is the instruction like in school?
I thought N-12 was tons of fun! Hell, everything about it was fun for me. My kids, nieces and nephews feel the same. I, and I think my kids too, would have a hard time deciding whether we had more fun at school or on breaks. Three's no question the nature of the fun differed, but it was all fun. Then again, we're all very curious about the world, what it offers, it's people/cultures, things that go/went on in it, etc. Anyway, I'm wondering whether other folks here had similar experiences in school, or if not, how some folks' here experiences differed.
When you and/or your immediate family members and their kids [1] went to school, what did you/they do, what was/is the instruction like in school?
- As nursery school students --> Our nursery school days consisted of very basic things, entertainment, and naps.
- Academics: alphabet, counting, basic reading and writing, and learning a second language
- Entertainment: recess and PE calisthenics, art, singing songs, games, making and playing with puppets, drama rehearsals for plays and whatnot (kids of all ages in the school participated in these -- we three and four year-olds we mostly just "props" who occasionally sang, toddled about on the stages, or said a little something). Of course, the teachers sought to make everything entertaining.
- Discipline: One could get one's ass slapped/swatted with a belt or paddle/ruler, but mostly discipline entailed having to stand facing the corner for a few minutes.
- Naps: Mostly we slept, but occasionally three or four of us would push our cots together and using the blankets make a fort/tent of sorts and do stuff that'd have gotten us in trouble if anyone found out.
- As elementary and middle school students --> These years entailed mastering the basics of "everything" and a little bit of entertainment.
- Academics:
- Four basic math operations,
- English --> spelling, penmanship, grammar
- Reading -- I remember lots of poetry, The Phantom Tollbooth, lots of fantasy, and Lord of the Flies.
- Writing -- by the fifth grade, we had to write a short "paper" (200-500 words, depending on one's grade level) about whatever we were reading at the time, it could be the assigned reading or something we were reading of our own volition. We read/play-acted Romeo and Juliet in sixth grade English.
- Art/art history -- this was half entertainment and half academic.
- Second language -- Grammar, vocabulary, light reading of fiction, and an occasional song
- Theology -- Major events and people in the Bible, and learning a few religious songs. Lots of discussion about ethics and morals. Prior to the sixth grade, one could only get an A or an E, the latter being very hard to get, so hard that I can't imagine anyone got an E.
- History -- U.S. history highlights, i.e., lots of breadth, but not much depth, and short essays (250 to 500 words)
- Science basic science (geology, astronomy, physics/chemistry -- stuff like mixing things and seeing them change color, burning things and blowing bubbles -- and biology that was mostly just learning about certain animals and what kinds of animals there are in general and in our area, and what they eat, and so on. Teachers weren't so much focused on being entertaining, but occasionally they were.
- Entertainment: show and tell (could happen in any class - my brother brought our dog (a lab) to school and told the class stories about the dog's shenanigans around the house, at the shore, etc. and partway through, the dog peed on the teacher's chair -- after that, there was an explicit no animals larger than a parakeet rule), music, performing arts, recess, PE class/intramurals, games, television and spitball wars at lunch.
- Discipline: mostly it consisted of having to perform some sort additional assignment related to the class. If one was really bad, it was off to the headmaster's office for detention, demerits, or worse. One notable difference between the schools I and my kin attended was that if one did something that garnered more discipline than an extra assignment, the whole school knew about because the headmaster (or a surrogate) routinely told everyone about who'd misbehaved and what their punishment was. So, for example, if one's punishment was denial of socializing privileges, everyone knew the only place they'd see you was in class.
- In my day, there was corporal punishment which ranged from a "nitwit" whack (only hard enough to mess one's hair) to a knuckle rap with a paddle/ruler or belt (cutting up in class would get one this "in NY minute") to actual spankings/whippings, which were extremely rare. (My siblings and I never earned spankings other than from our parents.)
- For my kids, there was no corporal punishment (at school) and they didn't do things that warranted the school informing me about it. Ditto my nieces and nephews and their parents.
- Academics:
- As junior and high school students --> This is when the "real deal" scholasticism happened. This is where we were taught pretty much everything one needs to know about, well, everything that doesn't pertain to a specific career or baccalaureate major.
Interestingly, by the time most of us had finished 11th grade, most folks could apply to college because one'd have by then fulfilled the state's requirements for high school. If one did that, however, one wouldn't receive a diploma from the school -- one'd get a state diploma -- because one had to have that last year of theology to earn the school's diploma. The rub, of course, was that one also couldn't remain at the school as a senior taking nothing other than theology.- Academics:
- Math -- Started with algebra and ended with calculus (BC), computer science was an elective. One research paper per semester; could be pure composition, something having to do with math and another discipline (history or music were quite common) or could be an applied math presentation of some sort (a classmate did a series of magic tricks that relied on math).
- History -- U.S. and European, social/cultural, political, and economic. Also one's choice of Asian, Latin American or African history, which consisted as much of "names, dates and places" as it did general trends and cause and effect. That was in stark contrast with U.S. and European history which were taught with the assumption that one already knew the major "names, dates and places." Lots of "dovetailing" with science, music, theology, literature, art and math. By the 10th grade, there were at least two 10-20 page papers per semester and 1000 word essay every two to three weeks.
Hell, for EWC and USH, one rarely needed to mention dates; I don't know that one could even pass 9th -12th grade history knowing every name, date and place that was ever mentioned in the classes and readings. Sequences and relationships were the focus. E.g., in a discussion of populism, it was important to know roughly when it first appeared, that what it replaced, what followed it, who were its proponents/opponents and why, what were the seminal events and influences on it and what influences had it on subsequent events and people, how various iterations of it have been similar and different. - English -- U.S. and European literature, rhetoric, some philosophy and philosophers. In class 500-word essay or creative writing exercise twice or three times a week; biweekly 1000-2000 word essays, one 15-20 page paper each quarter.
- Economics -- Macro and micro; supplemented with general economics history, Renaissance and American economic history up to the 1950s (1990s for my kids).
- Science -- Bio, chem and physics; astronomy or geology electives. Some sort of research project (research, experimentation, report, and demonstration/presentation) each semester.
- Theology -- Chapel (though we had to go to chapel, one absolutely wanted to go because chapel was a nexus point of the school "grapevine" -- news and announcements, who was up to what, etc -- was communicated at chapel and in the dining hall), we still had dogma in 7th grade, but from 8th grade on, it was Biblical history, comparative religion, ethics, and philosophical foundations of Christianity. One short paper (5-10 pages) per quarter.
- Modern language -- "The big three" were my options, but by my kids were offered Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, Italian, and Hebrew. Four or five current events essays (not more than 1000 words) per semester written in the language. By junior year, the whole class happened 100% in the language.
- Latin or Greek -- grammar, vocabulary, reading the classics in the original, a few short essays in the language, and lots of short answer written and spoken response. By junior year, the whole class happened 100% in the language.
- Entertainment: Teachers, coaches and administrators participated in everything, but unlike earlier years, one is responsible for driving one's entertainment.
- PE -- required
- Intramural sports -- required
- Daily breakfast, lunch and dinner -- required -- The dining hall was another major nexus in the social culture at school.
- Optional: competitive athletics, all sorts of "appropriate" mischief, student government, socializing with classmates (in lounges, at events, and plotting and participating in random "mischief"), countless "standing" clubs along with whatever three or more students got together and decided to form a club for, and more.
- Discipline: about the same as described earlier.
- Academics:
I thought N-12 was tons of fun! Hell, everything about it was fun for me. My kids, nieces and nephews feel the same. I, and I think my kids too, would have a hard time deciding whether we had more fun at school or on breaks. Three's no question the nature of the fun differed, but it was all fun. Then again, we're all very curious about the world, what it offers, it's people/cultures, things that go/went on in it, etc. Anyway, I'm wondering whether other folks here had similar experiences in school, or if not, how some folks' here experiences differed.
