Saturday, March 04, 2006

The One-Room School


Do you have memories of a one room schoolhouse? Maybe you were a student in one. I grew up listening to my father tell stories of his school days as a young boy who attended a one-room school. What adventures! His stories were rustic, cozy, and unique compared to my elementary school experiences as a student attending a sophisticated elementary school in a college town. Most of my teachers were 'master teachers' who trained student teachers, but my father's teachers probably had no more than a 10th grade education. The education my father received must have been good, though, because he grew up to become a teacher in a one-room school for a year or two before going back to college to complete his education and become a college professor himself.

This one-room schoolhouse is not far from where we live. Visiting it today filled my mind with questions and made me want to know more! Some of my fondest one-room schoolhouse stories were those written by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her "Little House" books. I'm sure her stories had an influence upon me and my decision to become a teacher when I grew up. Look at this schoolhouse. Why are there two doors on the front side? Why does one have a porch and not the other? And note the windows that you see through the large windows on the side of the schoolhouse. Can you see how they are so high up? I decided it must be because a chalkboard is below them, so they needed to be high enough to accommodate it. They couldn't be eliminated because the light they let in was probably a necessary commodity of nature.

If schoolhouses could talk, I'm sure this one would have many stories to tell!

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous7:11 AM

    Ah yes, if only old one room schoolhouses, empty farmhouses, and log cabins could speak.....what wonderful fun it would be to hear their stories. Thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete

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