Kindergarten through First Grade

School- Kindergarten

I learned to read in kindergarten. We had little paper books from Abeka. All the good readers made it to the purple book. The reading group I was in never made it to the purple book. At the end of the year I asked and then begged my kindergarten teacher to just let me look at the purple book. I knew I could read it, if she'd just let me.


I hated reading group. I would rarely know where we were when it was my time to read in the circle. It wasn't because I couldn't read, it was because I couldn't multi-task. I couldn't read ahead in the story, and keep track of where little Susie was as she laboriously sounded out her section of the story. Inevitiably it would be my turn and it would seem that I couldn't even read well enough to follow along.


The teacher moved me from reading group to reading group the whole year. I didn't read well out loud. I tried to tell my teacher I could read in my head really good but the words wouldn't come out fast enough out loud. She didn't believe me, and she never would let me even hold the purple book in my hands because I didn't earn it by reading all the other books that came before it. I still resent that. I don't know if it's the purple book or the fact that she didn't believe me that I could really read. I spent the summer between kindergarten and 1st grade practicing reading out loud so I wouldn't miss any of the books the next year in 1st grade.


I remember other things about school too, but at this point it may be too identifying.

School-- First Grade
My first grade teacher liked me. She was still around when I graduated from high school and gave me a present.

I don't know why she liked me. I spent a lot of time with my nose in a circle on the board or standing in the corner. I was always getting fussed at for going to the creek during recess. I'd edge my way over there and when she wasn't watching I was down the hill and tucked out of sight from the playground above. I never got in real trouble for disobeying, just fussed at. Maybe it was something she wanted to do to.

I got all A's in first grade. I read a lot, too. I loved The Bobbsey Twins. I bought them for my own kids and they don't like them! I'm still holding out hope that my youngest will like them. If not, I guess I'll try again with my future grandkids.

Home
We lived in the same house from the time I was 2 until I was 7. I was about 4 or 5 and I wanted my mom to like me so I was the little helper. I didn't like emptying or filling the dishwasher, but I did want her approval. She thought I liked to help with the dishwasher. I would have done anything for her to smile at me and love me. So I would help with the dishwasher and earn a smile from my mom. I don't know why I knew at that age that she didn't love me.


My favorite drink was Tang. I don't even know if they make it anymore. I used to climb up on the counter to get a glass and the jar of Tang out of the cupboard and make it nice and strong. I liked putting extra scoops of mix in the water and stirring it.


Soup. My dad usually let me pick the soup we were going to eat. My favorite was cheese soup. I always picked it if we had it, or rather if my dad let me know that was one of the choices. He still won't eat soup to this day. He says it reminds him of being poor.


The neighbors next door on the right had a sandbox, but no kids that I knew of. They also had a HUGE dog that I wasn't afraid of. I would constantly climb over the fence to play in the sandbox. The dog would stand over me as I played. My mom would always come to the fence and in a fake calm voice would tell me to slowly get up and come to the fence. I still don't know why she was so scared of that dog. The neighbors had a good sandbox that nobody used except me when I could sneak over.

I learned to ride a bike by balancing using the edge of the curb. My dad held the back of my bicycle and ran with me and lied every other time I'd ask if he was still holding on. What is it with parents that they have to lie to their children when they are teaching them how to ride a bike? We didn't lie to our kids when we taught them to ride a bike. Our friends all did. (Am I being judgemental here, or just making an observation?)
A teenager who rode a ten speed with no hands tried to teach me how to ride with no hands. A couple of wrecks later I decided that I was going to work on getting good with one hand first. I wanted to impress him with my new-found bike riding skills. He went on to teach me how to jump curbs. Back then a curb was a CURB. Concrete must have been cheap because the curbs were like castle walls. If you hit a curb wrong then you ended up bending your bike rim. People who drove cars got flat tires when they hit a curb. When I was 16 the worse thing I could do was hit a curb. That's the only thing I really got in trouble for; staying out to 3am wasn't that big of a deal if it wasn't a school night. (Was I ever asked what I was doing?)
Back on topic...







Once I've covered these items then that will pretty much wrap up 1st grade. Stay tuned for future updates on this post. :)
kids across the street, boys peeing letters on side of house, learning, chris batman, nick, laurie, choir