Our mystery reader today was the grandma of one of our students and sadly this classmate was not well today and absent from school. However, our mystery reader was still very happy to come in and read to Rosella this morning. Rosella was entertained today with the very funny book 'There Was An Old Bloke Who Swallowed a Chook' by P. Crumble. Lots and lots of giggles with this very Aussie rhyming story that becomes more and more ridiculous as the story goes on! Our grandma also read one of her favourite poems to us 'My Shadow' by Robert Louis Stevenson which we enjoyed very much.
Our grandma also kindly stayed on speak to us about what life was like at school when she was a young child, just like we are now. Life at school was very different for children back then compared to us now. Our grandma told us lots of interesting things about her school including:
* It was a small school that only had an asphalt playground and no oval. They had to walk to a local oval for sport.
* Speaking of sport, the girls were not allowed to play soccer like they are now.
* The classroom wasn't very colourful or pretty like ours.
* When you moved on to Year 1 you had to sit in rows at wooden desks and write with ink. You had to be careful because you couldn't rub out a mistake. Sometimes children were naughty and dunked girls' pigtail in the ink well.
* Lunch was wrapped in wax paper and then wrapped in a tea towel with a drink.
* They had a very small canteen at school and because there wasn't a lot of money you ordered your lunch once a week as a special treat. There was a fish and chip shop close by that you could order from too.
* Milk was delivered every morning and left under the big tree, but it was often warm by the time you were allowed to drink it.
* Grandma caught a bus to school and the trip cost 2 pennies.
* There were no big excursions like we have, only visits to local areas as bus trips were too expensive.
* There were no Smartboards, computers or iPads.
* There was no hall.
* The was no before or after school care as mums didn't work outside the home.
* You had to behave a school becasue if you were naughty you had to stand in the corner at the back of the room with your back turned. Sometimes the teacher threw a duster at you!
* Grandma's favourite subjects were reading, writing and singing.
* School uniforms did not have sloppy joes or jackets like today, only knitted jumpers.
* Grandma had two pairs of shoes, her school shoes and a plastic pair. When you arrived home you polished your school shoes and these were for going out too.
It was wonderful that our grandma spent this time with us today to give us an insight to what life was like at school for her. We have been comparing children's lives in the past to the present as part of our history unit this term.
Thank you so much for visiting us today. We look forward to another visit when your grandson is well and back at school with us.
Now . . . we wonder who will visit us next week?