My three brothers went to a country school near Hopeville, Iowa when we lived on a rented farm. When we moved to a new farm that my parents had bought for $60 and acre, the brothers were able to ride a bus to a town school.
If they hadn't close down the country school close to us, my brothers would have had to walk to school across two farms. A country school in our Doyle township was directly west of us on a gravel road. It would have been reached by walking the length of our farm and the length of the next farm to ours to get there through farm fields or my parents would have to had drive them there. They would have had to cross a creek that would have had to have some kind of bridge, as it was called Big Creek for a reason.
That school was closed in 1951 and my dad went to the auction a few years later. He brought home so many good things. Colored pencils, wooden blocks with the alphabet on them, and a bookshelf filled with many text books, all were moved into my little tiny bedroom. That was such a blessing to me as I loved books and I was a poor reader, so I really spent time working on my skills.
I would have loved to have this reading book as it has the most beautiful inside endpapers. I would have looked at it everyday with joy. The book was printed in 1935 by the American Book Company. It was called book three so I assume a third grader would get to read out of this book. The book has a dictionary in the back of the words that they introduce in the different stories. The definitions are very clear and concise just like a real dictionary.
This is the back of the book with it's different illustrations that relate to the stories inside.
I had brought some of these books home from my parents before now but with the house closing I will be bringing them all home. One of them is an early book that teaches Art. Being an art teacher, it was a special book to own.
As a sneak preview of a math book I will share sometime, is this ilustration of this dog looking at us through a circle. It is on the back of the book.
I am fascinated with history and this little diversion is one that is an interesting study of our past education system. When I look at the various books, they really didn't do a bad job of getting all the basics correct. They went to school only eight months and the various ages heard each other recite for seven to eight years before they quit school at eighth grade or moved on to the big city high schools.
Thanks for stopping by.......
6 comments:
What treasures you have Larry. I love the illustrations. Thank you for sharing these with us.
What wonderful memories!!! I also love the beautiful school book/s...and it amazes me the way they used full pictures on the inside of the books and back. There was and still is magic in those old books. I have one that isn't that old but from the 50's or 60's and I love the illustrations and even the good wholesome stories that teach morals and lessons that helped kids learn about how to act and behave as young people. Bring all these treasures home, because some will not appreciate them! You need to write a book and post your stories and pictures of your past. Very good reading!
What a treasure, Larry. I can practically smell those old schoolbooks. I have a small collection, too. Sure was a lot different back then, and, in some cases, better than now. :-D
I love the old kid's books and school readers...when I see them at estate sales I buy them.
I love the old books too, and have begun collecting the ones I remember reading. Great post Larry:)
Hello Larry, I haven't managed to visit for a while because of being away and just overtaken by work and life. Am missing catching up with things here.
Your Dad had amazing foresight to buy these school treasures. A fascinating post. I know what you mean about changing education systems. I learned to read on wee books that are now looked down on, but they certainly did the job and as far as I'm aware our literacy rate was higher then than it is now with all our current sophistication in education.
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