One-Room Schoolhouse
By Kelli Reyes
Where were the schoolhouses?
The schoolhouses where in the country or in small towns. You could usually find them where farming was a big thing.
What did a one-room schoolhouse look like?
In the early days the were made of logs but then they started making the schoolhouses with wooden frames. Pictures and decorations were really rare but they always had a picture of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Wealthier districts had stone or brick buildings. The windows were on the side so that the sun was not in people's eyes. Students sat at handmade desks. There was usually a shed attached to the schoolhouse. There was a stove that they heated and that was near the back of the room. There were benches at the front of the room so the students could do their recitations. They had to use Kerosene lamps until electricity. There were bell towers that told the kids that it was time to come to school. There was also outhouses outside for boys and girls.The one-room schoolhouses were not clean.
Who went to the one-room schoolhouses?
Children who went to the one-room schoolhouse were the children who lived on nearby farmers. They usually started around the age of 5 or 6 and then they usually dropout around the age of 16 to go help on the farm. Immigrants who just moved here put their kids into the one-room school because they saw education as a way to make it in America. The class size were usually small too. The grades that went were 1st-8th grade.
What was the curriculum that was taught?
The curriculum that was taught was basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. Everyone had to learn how to sing. People say that they learned more in the one-room schoolhouse than in a public school.
What is the school's history?
The earliest school was was in 1872 and the latest one that closed was in late 1900's. The really early schools were made of sod and then they were made of logs and to wood frames. Finally they were made of stone or bricks. The desk and the seats were handmade and made of wood.
Would I have attended the one-room schoolhouse?
I would have like to attended a one-room schoolhouse because the class sizes are a lot smaller and I might have learned better too. I would have like to attend this type of school because they had recess two times a day up until they were in 9th grade.
Citations
- Beld, Gordon G. "Simple buildings that made a difference." Michigan History Magazine 93.3 (2009): 20+. General OneFile. Web. 20 Sep. 2012.
- Loucks, Terry. "Little Red Schoolhouse immortalized." The Loyalist Gazette Fall 2010: 22. General OneFile. Web. 25 Sep. 2012.
- Otisfield's One-Room Schoolhouses. n.d. Web. 26 September 2012. <http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Features?t=fp&feat=65&supst=Exhibits>.
- Slatta, Richard W. "Western frontier life in America." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.
- Video "Country School'.