In honor of school coming to a close for the year, here’s a glimpse of school days in the late 1800s. We spent a day in rural Michigan learning about what it was like to attend a one-room schoolhouse in 1870.
School days, school days
Dear old Golden Rule days,
Reading and writing and ‘rithmetic . . .
The youngest kids sat across the front.
The oldest (who were the parents during our visit) sat in back.
The children learned to write on their slates.
They read their McGuffey readers.
One of the youngest raised his hand and asked the teacher how old she is. She laughed and answered him.
At recess, simple, old-fashioned games kept the kids interested. Stilts require a bit of skill. Young and old enjoyed the challenge. (I tried but sadly would have earned a failing grade in stilting.)
Hoops, jump rope, and tug of war . . .
After recess, the children filed back into the class, but they were a bit squirrely.
Soon the school day ended and the children spent the afternoon catching frogs in the pond. (No frogs were harmed during this activity; they either were placed back in the water or jumped out of the hands that were holding them — ha ha!)
These are children raised on electronics, who play Wii and smartphone games. But for a day the calendar turned back more than a hundred years, and they were happy as could be. I loved seeing the enthusiasm, joy, and wonder in their eyes.
How about you? Have you spent time going retro, back to a simpler time, and really enjoyed yourself?
Photos are taken at the Chippewa Nature Center in Michigan — a wonderful place to visit!
Linking up with Texture Tuesday, Wednesday Around the World, Life Thru the Lens, and Sweet Shot Tuesdays. Some photos are edited with Kim Klassen’s Lightroom presets. Also linking up with the song-inspired party, Song-ography, where my song choice is “School Days.”
19 Comments
What an awesome experience for those children. I bet they’ll will remember it for years to come.
What a wonderful day this looks to be! My grandkids would love this! They love exploring Ft. Vancouver near us.
Sharon, great post! The kids look like they are having fun.
Tom the Backroads Traveller
Such a wonderful series – I love these shots!
Please come link up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/05/tally-ho.html
Great set, I love the old books!
What a terrifically fun day! And the photos tell a wonderful story so beautifully.
Love all the little faces so eager and happy. What a difference to our schools of today.
Such a wonderful place, and en unforgettable experience for the children! Lovely old books … your photos are beautiful, Sharon!
What an awesome experience! Reminds me a bit of Little House on the Prairie. 🙂
neat reading about history like that 🙂
Wonderful day it is! Those were the days…simple, fun and lots of interaction with other kids (not from gadgets eh :D)
I so enjoyed this post! What a difference in lifestyles … loved the photos of the children looking like children of the past – so fun! Fabulous story, Sharon!
very fun!
So fun! A thoroughly enjoyable post and briliant photography. The perfect combination of song and photography. Love that little boy in the hat! Thanks for joining in at Song-ography.
It looks like a lot of fun.
Wow that looks like so much fun! I am sure the kids all learned a lot about how things used to be. We used to play with stilts made from cans as kids. Looking at this I think we need to get kids back to old fashioned fun a lot more.
Wonderful series of photos. Wonderful experience. I have a neighbor who taught in a one-room school house in rural western Nebraska. It is fun and interesting talking to her about her experiences.
Thank you for taking us back in time and sharing this little schoolroom. It’s remarkable how adaptable children are and how nature is really more than enough to make them happy! 🙂
What a great experience that must have been for the children!AriadnefromGreece!