My Childhood: Early School Years

I loved kindergarten. It was great. We had the same teacher throughout the day who loved nothing more, it seemed, than to see her pupils happy and comfortable. She taught us how to finger-paint, draw, and use colored construction paper in various projects.

I most clearly remember the milk breaks, which were once or twice a day. The teacher would bring out a large box filled with little cartons of milk, and a snack such as a Twinkie, a donut or some cookies. Then we’d sit around, eat our snacks, drink our milk, and talk.

I began to enjoy school, and looked forward to each and every day. The best thing in my little world was the time I spent in that classroom and on the playground.

Then it was time to move forward to first grade, after an all too brief summer vacation. First grade was a shock, as we were actually required to learn. At the beginning of the year, the teacher passed out a whole bunch of books, which we used until the next summer vacation.

I was fascinated by science - I read everything about it that I could get my hands on. I read my third-grade science textbook from cover to cover within two weeks of the start of class, then went on to the next years’ textbook, and then onto various other books in the library.

Another thing that I loved about school was recess. Tether ball was one of my favorite pastimes, along with climbing all over the jungle gym and digging in the sandbox. The overhead bars always remained a problem, however, as my little arms were too weak to hold up my body for extended periods of time.

I hated math right from the start. I despised math. I thought division was stupid, multiplication was a waste of time. And the word problems were real problems to me - not because I couldn’t do them, but because I thought they were idiotic. This hatred of math has persisted with me throughout life. Fortunately for me, my teachers were wrong - I haven’t needed much more than grade school math in my profession.