School Then and Now
Background for Students
What is a one-room school?
Early Johnson County settlers built schools shortly after their arrival. In the 1800s and early 1900s, most of Johnson County was farmland and people did not live close together. There were no cars or buses, so travel to and from school had to be done on foot, horseback or by buggy. For this reason, small one-room schools were built in these rural areas. The schools taught grades 1st through 8th in one room with one teacher. Schools were built every four miles. Students attended the school that was closest to them and usually had to walk about one to two miles to school each way.
How did one teacher teach eight grades at one time?
Teachers worked with one grade at a time. Students from each grade would come to the front of the room for lessons at a special seat called the recitation bench or with chalk at the blackboard. While one grade was with the teacher, the other students worked at their desks on assignments. Older children helped younger children with their lessons, and the younger children learned from hearing the older children recite. Since recitations took about ten to fifteen minutes each, students had plenty of time to complete their lessons. Homework was not assigned; the children were expected to finish their work in class.
There was one thing that all did together and that was penmanship. Young children were taught cursive from their first day, and they could participate with the older children. The younger students practiced on their slates, while the older children used a pen that they dipped in a pot of ink to write with. The students had copy books, which were like today’s notebooks, in which they practiced their writing.
What are recitations?
Early 1900s one-room school teachers used recitations to teach students. During a recitation, teachers would ask students questions about their lessons and they were to give the correct answer out loud. This is how the teacher would know that the students had done their schoolwork. Memorizing and reciting a poem out loud was another form of recitation.
What games did they play at one-room schools?
At Lanesfield, one game was played by many generations – Ante Over. The class divided into two teams. One team stood on one side of the school, while the other stood on the opposite side. Then one team threw a ball over the roof of the school and the other team tried to catch it. If the team did catch it, the person with the ball ran around the school and tried to tag as many of the opposing team as was possible. To confuse the other team, all the members of the team ran around the school with the student who had the ball. Often this lead to collisions with other students, and it was common for children to be knocked down or even knocked unconscious.
Other popular games from this time included Pom, Pom, Pull Away; Drop the Handkerchief; Flying Dutchman; Dare Base; and Red Rover, Red Rover.
A favorite winter pastime was sliding on Dille pond. The Dille family owned the farm directly across the street from the school and at one end of their property was a pond. Before school and during the “noon hour,” children from Lanesfield would spend their time sliding on the ice.
