With the start of school just around the corner, I am reminded of a story I heard not too long ago.
The young child returned home from his first day of school and approached his father.
“How can I become smarter?” he asked.
Somewhat perplexed by the question, the father thought for a moment. His initial response was to tell the child to ask his mother, but decided against that, not because he doubted what his wife's answer would be, but more that the son might think mom was smarter than he was.
“Why do you ask?” the father asked.
“Because the kids in school say I am stupid and .(sniff,sniff)..I want to be smart like them.”
The dad reassured his son that he was not stupid and if he attended school every day, worked hard and did what the teachers said, he would be just as smart and maybe even smarter than the other kids. Satisfied with that answer for now, the boy raced off to his room to play.
The question got the father thinking. What had the other kids said to his son? Did they really think he was stupid or were they just teasing him. Was it because of the clothes he wore or the house he lived in?
The lessons of kindergarten can be really hard. His son was very smart but the family did not have a great deal of money to buy nice clothes or live in a really nice house or drive a fancy car. Was this the beginning of a very unsuccessful school experience or was it the first steps of growing up.
Many years ago a book hit the literary market, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, by Robert Fulghum. Once and awhile, I pull the book off the shelf and thumb through the pages as a gentle reminder how important those early years are in school and how they often set a pattern for life. Most of what we need to survive in life is not that complicated and we generally learn those survival skills at a very early age.
For some strange reason, even at my age, I can still remember some of the days in kindergarten. Perhaps what I remember most are the days that taught me the greatest lessons and it wasn't always math or reading.. For example, I can remember sitting in the corner for what seemed like forever because I would not share some of the toys.(Back in those days, kindergarten was more social and play than academics and homework as it is today.) I can remember being sent to the office because I hit my best friend Billy. But... he deserved it! And to top it off, the principal even made me tell him I was sorry, which I really wasn't at the time.
I can remember 'staying after school as a class' to help clean up the room because we had made such a mess. ( In those days, you got punished as an entire class, even if you didn't do anything. Yeah, right! We all did something, with the exception of the little blond girl.) This particular day we had a substitute teacher and the principal had come into the room several times because of all the noise. We were told that if we didn't get the room cleaned up in a hurry, we would miss the bus. Miss the bus!! That was worse than death.
But there were some good times too. Snack time at mid morning seemed to make the time go by faster. We learned to walk instead of run, always line up to go to the bathroom and stay together on field trips.We always had to hold hands. Ugh! (Except if you were next to the little blond girl. All the guys wanted to be next to her.)
And then there was nap time. Nobody every really slept, with the exception of Ralphie. He always slept, even when we were not suppose to... .like during science.
I miss those nap times. But wait, I am retired now. I can nap any time I want!
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