SCHOOL DAYS Children's Grade Five

Rachel had Chris again this year and continued to make her work harder for grades because she could handle it. Yet I will still go on record to say that giving someone who is not very bright gold stars and not giving them to Rachel when she was working harder is wrong. Actually, I don't think much of the gold star program at all. May I growl?

Rachel and friends, who were well behaved, sat in the hall way and did their lessons. For those of you who were sent to the hall for being naughty, this was all together a different reason. I am wondering if this was the year I would slide her lunch bucket down the hall and declare "Lunch box express!" Perhaps it was fourth grade because I did it on days I worked play ground duty and Bud, a kindergartner, ate lunch with Mr. Mead. When you have the same teacher twice in a row, things run together, although Rachel could tell you.

As I mentioned, Chris had Rachel doing extra work. An example of this was book reports. Rachel was to write a long book report. When Chris took maternity leave and the sub started teaching, Rachel was NOT required to write the whole story over and this marvelous lady taught her how to do a brief synopsis and get to the point. It was a highlight!!!

Where the girls still spinning on the bars? Where they still playing Little House on the Prairie?

Back in those days, children brought treats for their birthdays. Rachel at 11 and Bud at 7 agreed to cinnamon rolls shaped like 7's and 11's. Bud ate all of his treats up himself before his birthday so I had to make another batch.

Bud had a fun year. He had come into his full comic stage. Now, at Schwegler, you could not go out for noon recess unless you had the right outer wear. This evaluation was based on the temperature of the day at noon. Never mind the wind speed, just the temperature.

I know the school was trying to protect the kids on the issue of outer wear. Yes, I know that. Let's think about this.....If a child goes outside and plays hard and runs and jumps and gets sweaty with all those clothes, doesn't that make a difference? I can understand it if it is a girl who sits on the step and reads a book.

So Bud called at noon frantic about not being able to go outdoors. As a stay at home mother, it was no problem to bring boots, mittens, hat, and jacket to school. As parents, we thought we had done well to get him to stop wearing short pants when the snow started to fly. Bud dressed and went out for recess.

The next day, he wore five jackets to school and carried that many hats and hand covers. He walked into his class room and announced that if anyone forgot their jacket, he had plenty to share. The teacher was furious because he had mocked her and the rules, if I remember correctly, he was sent to the Principal's office and I was called. I do remember drafting a letter to put in his file to say he could go out for recess without a coat. (Also in the file was one about if he had a bloody nose, he knew to hold his nose for ten minutes and not to make an issue out of it).

I was a room mother again that year. One of the games was to write your name holding the marker in your toes. Bud won!!!

Ryen and I had moved in the late spring and he would start school as a 5th grader from another address. It was a little closer than the house and he had free rein to go to either location to visit his father who was residing in the house where Ryen was born.

He decided he wanted to play a musical instrument and chose a flute. When not doing the band thing at school, he was busy learning other music on his own. His room was decorated just the way he wanted which included ragged clothes hanging on the wall.

He spent the summer keeping the pool clean for which he earned money. He was also allowed to swim without me being there because Pat considered him responsible. And that he was.

Think about this, some children in daddy's era where already finished with school and big enough to do a man's work on a farm. One young man, whose mother died, was handed off to a brother to raise. Otto and Loriene loved him as their own and considered him adopted although nothing legal was done. When he got old enough to work the farm, his dad wanted him back.

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