School Days, School Days

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.”