A Remembrance of Days Gone By, Kindergarten Was Where It Started
The walk to school was never wrought with danger, not was it something that needed extra time to complete as I only needed to walk across the street to get into the back gate.
My Grammar school is still there, as is the house across the street. Washington School in the Washington Hill section of Waterbury, which way back them was the Irish Capital of Waterbury and still home to the Hibernian Hall, where the finest corned beef can be found on St Patrick's day.
Being late was not an option, nor was playing hooky and trying to play in the yard.
School was not something I feared, as I thoroughly enjoyed those formative years as I got a chance to meet new kids and get play with things we didn't have at home.
When I was in kindergarten, there were different sessions as the classes were not meant to be over crowded, and the teachers wanted more individual time with the young students. That was almost fine by me. I can recall days when I would insist that I was supposed to go to school, even though the calendar showed something else. On those days, my father allowed to make that long walk knowing I would be sent home soon, and it's not likely that there was a problem walking across the street, even at 5 years old.
The sense of independence was also stated at this age, as I would begrudgingly leave the classroom, but instead of going out the back gate, I would s l o w l y use the front gate and then take the long way around the block. I was in no hurry to listen to that lecture, again.
I so much enjoyed Kindergarten. There was reading, which we didn't get at home as Mom and Dad were always involved in something. They did, however have books for us to look through, but in those days it was in First Grade where learning really began.
You'll note, that I was definitely brought up with the most fashionable of styles. Quote the look in 1953.
Only once in my Kindergarten career did I have to take what is now called a 'time-out'. Back then it was, go sit in the corner. That was not a day I was going to bring home and report to Dad about, as my parents were definitely Old School, and I was not about to have a Time-Out, my father's way.
We were taking new books out of boxes, and as I pulled out something that caught my eye, I started to hold it high, (well high for me) and hop around the class room. Miss DePietro put a stop to that quickly, and encouraged me to take a break, on the chair, facing the corner, while all the rest of the kids giggled. The humiliation! and I didn't even know what the word meant.
In that era, kindergarten was probably meant to be a time when youngsters were taught school deportment, respect for other's books and space, and the beginnings of reading, writing and of course art. There was a special private lesson taught by my neighbor, and first love, Diane Despins, in the coat room of that class. She set the standard by which all others were judged, and those lessons continued for years. I did mention that she was my neighbor, didn't I?
Today, youngsters go through pre-school and are taught those same lessons well before they reach Kindergarten. Somewhere along the way, I must have gotten the message, as I was always at the top of my class; always involved in the mischief, but never took a disciplinary letter home.
Life's lessons should be taught at an early age and children also need proper discipline, respect for others, and the opportunity to succeed. Life is too difficult without the proper foundations.
A Remembrance of Days Gone By, Kindergarten Was Where It Started
