{"id":7487,"date":"2022-11-04T11:28:26","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T18:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/?p=7487"},"modified":"2022-11-04T11:36:11","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T18:36:11","slug":"clubius-contained-part-1-regular-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/2022\/11\/04\/clubius-contained-part-1-regular-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Clubius Contained Part 1 – Regular School (September 1960)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Me age 5 & Bach School circa 1960<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mom and I were sitting in one of those \u201coffice\u201d places, like dad\u2019s in the basement. But this one was in this regular school place called \u201cBach School\u201d (pronounced like “Baugh”). I was supposed to go to school here, but mom and the other grownups here had to figure out whether I was going to be in \u201ckindergarten\u201d or \u201cfirst grade\u201d.<\/p>\n

This older woman with black hair all piled up on her head sitting behind a big desk said to mom, \u201cThe score on Jonathan\u2019s Weschler IQ test is sufficient for us to consider starting him in first grade instead of kindergarten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood\u201d mom said nodding, \u201cHe is a very bright kid. I think he would be bored to death in kindergarten.\u201d<\/p>\n

I remembered when we had come to this place two days ago and I went in a room with this grownup man who asked me a bunch of questions and showed me some pictures and asked me about those too. When he was talking to mom before that they called it a \u201ctest\u201d, but when he talked to me he only said that he was going to ask me \u201csome questions\u201d. I didn\u2019t know what a \u201ctest\u201d was, and in this strange place I was worried to ask, but I did remember dad saying sometimes that he had to work and \u201cgrade his students\u2019 tests\u201d.I told the man the answers to all the questions except one. He asked me, \u201cTell me the name of a woman.\u201d I was worried about telling him an answer, though I knew my mom\u2019s name and Molly\u2019s mom\u2019s name. I thought that if I knew a woman\u2019s name that was somehow naughty, so I didn\u2019t say anything, and he wrote something on his piece of paper and asked me another question.<\/p>\n

The woman behind the desk said, \u201cI AM concerned that Jonathan hasn\u2019t had socialization with other kids in a classroom setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u201d, mom said, \u201cHe\u2019s been going to Towsley Play School for the past year and is doing really well there.\u201d She looked at me and asked, \u201cDo you enjoy it at Play School?\u201d<\/p>\n

I knew she wanted me to say yes so I started to nod. I figured I should talk too and said, \u201cI like it a lot. They have really neat toys and we all play with them together.\u201d<\/p>\n

I could see the woman behind the desk watching and listening to my words. She smiled and nodded, like that was what she wanted me to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u201d, said the woman, \u201cThis is an unusual circumstance, but if this is what you think best Mrs. Zale, for Jonathan that is\u201d, and then looking at me, \u201cI don\u2019t have any objections to him starting in first grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman behind the desk did some more thinking for a minute and looked kind of worried. \u201cI am concerned\u201d, she said, \u201cThat we are already two days into the term, so it would be best if he could start as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom pushed her lips together and looked at me. \u201cWell Coop, what do ya think? We\u2019re here. Do you want to stay and go to your new class and I\u2019ll pick you up at three?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree fifteen\u201d, the woman said, holding up her finger.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want mom or this other woman to think that I was afraid and couldn\u2019t do things by myself. I figured that if I said I was okay staying here, mom would let me keep doing stuff on my own. And since mom and I had walked here from our house, if I had to, I could walk home by myself, even though it was kind of a long way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m okay staying here\u201d, I said, and then thinking I\u2019d use that word I heard grownups use a lot I said, \u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman behind the desk did a little laugh through her nose when I said that and then clapped her hands together and said, \u201cLet\u2019s take you two down to Miss Zimmerman\u2019s classroom and I\u2019ll introduce you.\u201d<\/p>\n

We walked down this big hallway with this hard floor that wasn\u2019t wood or that rug stuff. It was more like the floor in our kitchen. As mom and the woman talked more their voices sounded noisier somehow than they had in that office place. The doors on either side had a window in the top part so I could see into the rooms. Through a couple of the doors I saw a grownup woman talking, though I couldn\u2019t really hear what she was saying. Down at the end of the hall were two windows that went all the way down to the floor, which I think were also doors like the ones mom and I had gone in the other part of the building. We walked down to the end and the woman opened the door on the right side, just next to those big window doors.<\/p>\n

I could hear lots of kids talking, and a younger grownup woman who had been sitting on a desk on the other side of the room nodded. I figured she must be the teacher. She stood up and came over to us, while the kids still talked. A few kids looked at me. They were all sitting in small chairs with these small tables in front of them, one for each of them.<\/p>\n

The woman with us said to her, \u201cMiss Zimmerman, sorry to bother you, but this is Jonathan Zale and his mother Jane Zale. Remember we discussed this situation yesterday. His mother is hoping to start Jonathan in your class, today if that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I recall the discussion. Today? Wow. Okay\u201d, the younger woman said, looking kind of worried.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think it\u2019s better to wait\u2026\u201d, said the older woman, but she looked like she really wanted her to say it was okay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026\u201d, the younger woman said, thinking, and looking at mom.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t I see you at that League of Women Voters event a week ago?\u201d she asked mom, not looking worried anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I remember\u201d, mom said, \u201cYou\u2019re Hannah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right\u201d, she said, \u201cYou\u2019re Jane. I loved what you said about Kennedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou two are acquainted?\u201d asked the older woman.<\/p>\n

The younger woman nodded. She seemed more like an older kid like Margie than a grownup like mom. Then she looked at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Jonathan\u201d, she said, \u201cYou\u2019re five years old and you haven\u2019t been to kindergarten?\u201d<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t sure whether to shake my head or nod.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he\u2019s been in Towsley for a year\u201d, mom said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh wow\u201d, the younger woman said to her, \u201cThat\u2019s such a great program!\u201d Then she looked at me and asked, \u201cDid you like it there, at the Play School?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded, but figured I should say something too. \u201cI really like it. They have lots of neat toys and we all played together with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat DOES sound neat\u201d, she said, but then put her hand on her cheek like she was thinking, \u201cBut first grade is going to be different. It isn\u2019t all just playing and doing what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded, and she could tell I was thinking about that. \u201cI want to finish figuring out how to read\u201d, I said to her.<\/p>\n

She smiled at me, put her hands together and said, \u201cWell okay, then you\u2019ve come to the right place!\u201d She looked at mom and the older woman, \u201cI think it\u2019ll be fine. We have a couple extra desks. I just need to get you your books and supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll take care of the supplies, Miss Zimmerman\u201d, said the older woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks so much, Mrs. Sanderson\u201d, said the younger woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re welcome dear\u201d, said the older woman, \u201cI\u2019m glad this worked out.\u201d Then looking at mom she said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you come with me and we can fill out the paperwork.\u201d Mom nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Jane\u2026 Mrs. Zale\u2026\u201d, the younger woman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCall me Jane\u201d, mom said, before she could finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat\u201d, she said, looking at mom and doing a big smile, \u201cJane it is. The afternoon session ends at three fifteen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGot it\u201d, mom said, \u201cI\u2019ll be back to pick him up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The younger woman nodded. \u201cOkay, great. Make sure you touch base with me when you pick him up and I can tell you how everything went.\u201d Mom nodded and looked at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou okay, Coop?\u201d she asked, looking a little worried. I nodded. Mom and the older woman headed off down the big hall and the younger woman closed the door to the room behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mother calls you Coop?\u201d she asked me. I nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo would you like us to call you Jonathan or Coop?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoop\u201d, I said, \u201cOr Cooper, that\u2019s my WHOLE nickname.\u201d I wanted to say more because I liked talking to her, \u201cJonathan is my REGULAR name, but nobody calls me that very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

She got down on one knee in front of me, and said quietly, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you a secret. MY regular first name is Hannah, but my friends call me Hannie. How about that?\u201d Then she made a sad face and said, \u201cBut here at school they call me Miss Zimmerman, so I\u2019d like it if you\u2019d call me that, Cooper.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded and said, \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stood up and looked around the class. Everybody was talking to each other and it was pretty noisy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a free desk right here or a couple over by the window\u201d, she said to me, \u201cWhich would you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the window\u201d, I said. I liked windows. I walked over and sat down at one of those desk things. It was weird because the chair was hooked onto the table part. There was a kid sitting in front of me with curly red hair that stuck out from her head. I figured she was a girl, and she turned around to look at me. She was wearing glasses like dad did, and her eyes looked bigger through the glasses. She pushed her lips together thinking as she looked at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou weren\u2019t here yesterday OR this morning\u201d, she said kind of fierce, \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know what to say, and the way she asked me, like I\u2019d better tell her or she\u2019d get mad, made me feel shy. So I just raised my shoulders and lowered them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFigures\u201d, she said, shaking her head, \u201cAnyway\u2026 do you know how to open your desk?\u201d I shook my head.<\/p>\n

There was a kid sitting at the desk next to her who turned around and said to her, \u201cManda, you ask too many questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked at him with an even fiercer look and shook her head and made a clicking noise. \u201cIt\u2019s A-MANDA, not MANDA, and I do not, Gabriel\u201d, she said to him, \u201cYou ask questions too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she looked back at me again and said, \u201cYou don\u2019t talk very much. You need to talk to be good at school.\u201d She reached over the top of my table to the part by me and pulled it open like a door and then put it back down. \u201cSimple\u201d, she said, and smiled at me.<\/p>\n

I knew I had to say something, though I couldn\u2019t think of the best thing to say, so I just said, \u201cI can talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay everyone\u201d, the teacher said with a loud voice, \u201cWe need to do something important. Quiet down please!\u201d<\/p>\n

She was the teacher, so she was being in charge like the older kids had said. Some kids were still talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is important\u201d, she said with a loud voice again, \u201cSo I need to see that everyone is listening before we talk about it.\u201d The last people who were talking stopped. The two kids I was talking to turned back to look at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow this is just our second day of class together\u201d, she said, \u201cSo we\u2019re still getting to know each other. Well we have a new class member today, Cooper Zale.\u201d She held her arm out towards me and said, \u201cYou want to raise your hand Cooper so everyone can see who you are?\u201d<\/p>\n

I raised my hand, but just looked at her, because I didn\u2019t want to look at everybody else looking at me.<\/p>\n

Now she raised both hands and said, \u201cLet\u2019s all say \u2018HELLO COOPER\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the other kids in the class said it, though some said it louder. Both Amanda and Gabe said it really loud. It all seemed so strange to me, I had never been in a place like this before.<\/p>\n

So then the teacher wanted us to say all the letters in the \u201calphabet\u201d. First she wanted us to sing the \u201calphabet song\u201d. I knew it, because mom and dad had sung it to me, and it sounded like most of the other kids knew it too.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne more time!\u201d she said when we finished. So we sang it again.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat\u201d, she said, \u201cNow I\u2019m going to point to each letter up above the chalkboard. First I\u2019LL say it, then YOU say it, okay?\u201d She took this long stick thing and pointed at the \u201cA\u201d way over on the left side above her. It had a picture of the big \u201cA\u201d next to a picture of the little \u201ca\u201d. She said each letter and then we said it.<\/p>\n

Mom and dad already had done this kind of stuff with me a lot, so it was easy for me. But I wanted to show her how much I already knew so I said the letters, really loud I could tell other kids were doing and thinking the same thing. It was kind of fun hearing all of us kids saying the same thing at the same time, like we were an army or something.<\/p>\n

She even had us say each again pointing at the \u201cZ\u201d first and going across to the \u201cA\u201d. Most of the kids could do it that way too, but some weren\u2019t as sure.<\/p>\n

Then she had a row above the chalkboard of two letters together and pointed to each pair of letters and made the sound, like \u201cshhh\u201d for the \u201cS\u201d and \u201cH\u201d. She pointed at each pair with her stick and said it herself the first time and then had us try the next time.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery good\u201d, she said smiling, \u201cWe\u2019ll do this every day so you all will know all your letters and how to say them without even having to think about it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she took a book from her desk and held it up so we could see the front part and said, \u201cDoes everyone have their \u2018Fun with Dick and Jane\u2019 book? Raise your hand if you DON\u2019T.\u201d Then she looked at me and said, \u201cCooper, I know you don\u2019t have one yet.\u201d Two kids raised their hands, but I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d never seen kids or anyone else raise their hand to answer a question, but I did remember seeing it on that \u201cRomper Room\u201d show on TV in the morning before Captain Kangaroo. Then this girl on the other side of the room raised her hand really quickly and moved it back and forth so the teacher saw her. She also said, \u201cOoo\u2026 ooo\u201d.<\/p>\n

The teacher looked at her and just laughed a little bit out of her nose and asked, \u201cMary, do you have a question?\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl nodded her head up and down really fast and asked, \u201cCan I give them their books?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure Mary\u201d, the teacher said, \u201cThank you for helping out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary got up from her desk chair and ran over to this pile of books on a table in the corner of the room and took three of them. She gave one to each of the two kids that had raised their hands and then gave the last one to me. She reminded me of Molly, and the way Molly liked to run everywhere. But she looked more like a girl, because she was wearing one of those dress things, had longer hair than Molly did and she had one of those bow things in her hair. She smiled at me like she was happy she could help me, and then went and sat back down in her seat, her shoulders still wiggling, like she was still excited about getting to do that.<\/p>\n

Then the teacher looked at all of us and said, \u201cOkay, now open your books and turn to the first page of the story. The page looks like this.\u201d She held up her open book so we all could see it and pointed at one of the two pages. All the other kids except the two that raised their hands opened the top part of their desk to an inside part that had that book. Everybody opened up their books and turned pages to find the one she was pointing at. You could hear the swishing sound of all those pages turning. I opened my book too. It was strange watching all the other kids doing it all at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, said the teacher, \u201cI\u2019m going to write the sentence from that first page on the board.\u201d She turned to the giant chalkboard on the wall behind her and started writing words with a piece of chalk. Finally, after she\u2019d written all the words she made a tiny circle at the bottom after the last word.<\/p>\n

She turned back to look at us. \u201cDoes anybody know what this little dot at the end of all these words is called?\u201d she asked. That Mary girl\u2019s hand went up, and the girl sitting in front of me and the boy next to me put their hands up too. Mom and dad had told me about that little circle, and I wanted to show the teacher that I was smart, so I just answered her question.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a period\u201d, I said. Mary made a funny sound like she was scared and she was breathing in air really fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t raise his hand\u201d, she said, still holding her hand up as far as she could and moving it back and forth.<\/p>\n

The teacher blew air out of her mouth and then nodded slowly, and I got worried that I was going to get in trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u201d, she said, \u201cThis is Cooper\u2019s first day and we are all still learning how to do things in class.\u201d Her eyes looked at me and then she looked at all the other kids who were looking at her wondering what she was going to say next. \u201cTo be fair to everyone, and give everyone their chance to talk, all of you should raise your hand when you want to say something, so I can make sure that everyone has their chance to say something and one person doesn\u2019t do all the talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t look back at me after she said that, but that Mary girl put down her hand like that was what she wanted the teacher to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay?\u201d the teacher asked, putting on a big smile and still not looking at me. Some of the other kids nodded to answer what she asked. Then she finally looked at me and said, \u201cCooper, you\u2019re right\u201d, pointing her finger in my direction, \u201cThat is a period and we always put one at the end of a sentence of words.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that\u201d, said the girl sitting in front of me looking back at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe too\u201d, said the boy sitting next to me, but he kept looking at the teacher.<\/p>\n

But I was still thinking about the raising your hand thing. So all us kids were supposed to raise our hands and be called on by the teacher before we talked, but she could talk whenever she wanted to, because she was in charge.<\/p>\n

The teacher walked over by the left side of the chalkboard and pointed her finger at the first word she had written. \u201cNow I\u2019m going to read the sentence and point at each word while I read it. Then I want you to do the same thing in your book. You can use your finger too to point at each word in the book. Okay, here goes!\u201d she said, and said each word that she pointed at.<\/p>\n

She held her hand out to us and said, \u201cNow your turn. Maybe you can whisper the words when you read them so it isn\u2019t too noisy.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked around and some kids were using their fingers like she said and others were just looking at their book. I could see some of their lips moving like they were talking. So I looked down at the page in my book and read the words of that sentence quietly, a lot of them I already knew.<\/p>\n

We kept going through pages of the book like that, she wrote the words in each sentence on the chalkboard and then we read them in our books. It was exciting thinking that I was really learning to read now and would be able to read all those books in dad\u2019s office and those books in the library or even that giant \u201cbookmobile\u201d car. It also was exciting that we were all doing it together so it kind of made us the same and we could talk about it later with each other. I knew we needed to do this if we were going to be in charge one day instead of the grownups.<\/p>\n

While we did reading, I looked out through the window and I saw some other kids outside playing. The kids looked older than I was, and I could hear their voices through the window, even though it wasn\u2019t open. They looked like they were having fun, some playing on the monkey bars, swings, and other stuff, some running around together, and others just sitting or standing around talking to each other. There were also a couple grownups out there, but they looked like they were just talking to each other, kind of like those \u201ccoach\u201d grownups at the park who gave you balls and bats and worked on the baseball fields.<\/p>\n

Finally we stopped when it was time for \u201crecess\u201d. I had heard that word before from some of the older kids when they talked about school. Some of them said it was the best part of school because the teachers weren\u2019t in charge of you and you could just play outside and do whatever you wanted. I noticed the older kids were gone by the time our teacher had us lineup by the door to go outside. When we were all standing by the door, she opened it and led us out into the hall and then to the right to the big glass doors at the end of the hallway, then out to the sidewalk and to the right to the playground part of the outside of the school. Once we got to the playground some kids started to run. Some girls ran to get to sit on the four swings and some boys to get to the monkey bars. I noticed that some of the girls were screaming a lot. I didn\u2019t remember girls doing that so much in the park. Other kids came out from another room in the school to play on the playground too. They didn\u2019t look like older kids.<\/p>\n

The boy who sat next to me looked at me and asked, \u201cYou want to see the neatest place?\u201d I nodded. He started to run towards the playground.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he does\u201d, said the girl who sat in front of me. I looked at her, but I also wanted to run and follow that boy to that neatest place. She could tell I was trying to figure out what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo follow him if you want\u201d, she said, wrinkling her nose, \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll see you guys later if I feel like it.\u201d It was kind of a strange thing for a kid to say, more like a grownup, and I nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour Cooper and my name\u2019s Amanda\u201d, she said, kind of fierce, \u201cNot Manda. A-MANDA. His name is Gabriel, but he says his name is Gabe.\u201d She wrinkled her nose again and shook her head. I nodded but didn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can talk to me\u201d, she said, \u201cI don\u2019t have cooties.\u201d<\/p>\n

I figured I better start talking so I said, \u201cI know. My babysitter Margie said that girls don\u2019t really have cooties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood\u201d, she said, \u201cBecause they don\u2019t. Or at least I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded again as I looked for the boy who sat next to me, and he was on the other side of the playground by a shiny red tube thing waving for me to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo\u201d, she said, \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll stop by later.\u201d Again, sounding more like a grownup, I had never heard a kid say \u201cstop by\u201d before. I felt like I should say something else but I started running instead.<\/p>\n

By the time I got to the red tube thing, he had already crawled inside it and was sitting with his legs crossed against one side of the inside part of the tube. He was right, it was really neat, like a tunnel or even the inside of a submarine or a rocketship. I crawled in and sat next to him, crossing my legs the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my favorite place in the whole school\u201d, he said. I nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really neat\u201d, I said, \u201cIt\u2019s a good pretend submarine or rocketship.\u201d He nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Tom Swift?\u201d he asked. I nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like his stories\u201d, I said, \u201cI want to finish figuring out how to read so I can read his books myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMe too\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

We heard someone else walk up to the end of our tube. She got down on her hands and knees and looked at us. It was that Amanda girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate this thing\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Gabe, \u201cIt\u2019s a great pretend submarine or rocketship. Cooper thinks so too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he does\u201d, she said, starting to crawl into the inside of the tube, \u201cBut if I sit like you two with this dress on you\u2019ll see my underwear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should wear pants to school\u201d, Gabe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom says I should wear a skirt or a dress because I\u2019m a girl\u201d, she said, trying to sit inside the tube across from us with her legs together instead of apart like ours.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend Molly wears pants all the time\u201d, I said, \u201cAnd she\u2019s a girl. Except when she goes to parties her mom makes her wear a dress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amanda wrinkled her nose and moved her legs a little bit and pulled down her dress closer to her knees. \u201cI\u2019m okay\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

Then she looked at me for a minute like she was thinking and asked, \u201cYou didn\u2019t learn to raise your hand in kindergarten?\u201d she asked. I shook my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t go to kindergarten\u201d, I said, \u201cI went to play school. They don\u2019t make you raise your hand. We just play all day with lots of neat toys and the teachers sometimes read us stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s like nursery school\u201d, Gabe said, \u201cOnly better.\u201d Amanda nodded.<\/p>\n

Gabe looked at me and now he was thinking. \u201cI think I\u2019ve seen you in the park\u201d, he said. I nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur house is next to the park\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich park?\u201d Amanda asked kind of fiercely, \u201cThere\u2019s more than one you know. I live near a park too. West Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAllmendinger\u201d, Gabe said.<\/p>\n

We continued to talk about where we lived and what were the neat things in her West Park and our Allmendinger. Then we talked more about how this tube would be a great submarine or rocketship for pretending.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u201d, Amanda said, \u201cIf we pretend that it is, I get to be the captain and sit and look out the front part.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2019s that?\u201d asked Gabe like he was pretending to be mad, \u201cYou\u2019re a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe so\u201d, she said, wrinkling her nose again, \u201cBut if we\u2019re pretending things, then I can pretend I\u2019m the captain.\u201d I could tell Gabe didn\u2019t know what to think about that or what to say back to her.<\/p>\n

I remembered my 5th birthday party in the park and said, \u201cMy friend Molly pretended she was Captain Nemo.\u201d Amanda smiled and nodded, like she was telling Gabe that she was right and he was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides\u201d, she said, \u201cIf I sit in front and look out I don\u2019t have to sit like this and you still can\u2019t see my underwear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another person walked up to one end of the tube. We could tell it was a grownup. \u201cHello in there\u201d, she said. We all looked at each other but didn\u2019t say anything, but Gabe started to laugh so Amanda and I just had to laugh too. The grownup got down on her hands and knees and looked in the end of the tube. It was the teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this a secret meeting?\u201d she asked, smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh\u2026 kind of\u201d, said Gabe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell sorry to be the party pooper\u201d, she said, \u201cBut it\u2019s time to come back into class.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, said Gabe, nodding. Amanda and I nodded too. The teacher walked away.<\/p>\n

Gabe looked at Amanda and me with his mouth and eyes open really big and said, \u201cMiss Zimmerman said pooper!\u201d<\/p>\n

Amanda waved her finger at us like we had to go out first. I guess we had to so we couldn\u2019t see her underwear.<\/p>\n

When we got back to our classroom I could tell all the kids had more energy and most were smiling. The teacher gave each of us two pieces of paper. Mary raised her hand and wanted to hand the sheets of paper out, but the teacher said she would do it herself, but Mary and some other kids would have a chance soon. The first paper had what the teacher called \u201cadding problems\u201d on it. I knew about that because mom had shown me how to \u201cadd\u201d numbers and also how to \u201csubtract\u201d them. The second sheet of paper had a big \u201cplus sign\u201d in the left part and a big \u201cequals sign\u201d in the right part.<\/p>\n

The teacher wrote each adding thing on the chalkboard. She said each one was called a \u201cproblem\u201d, which I thought was funny because they were easy to figure out. But she talked about how you got the \u201canswer\u201d to each \u201cproblem\u201d by adding the numbers on either side of the \u201cplus\u201d and writing the answer on the other side of the \u201cequals\u201d. She also had colored blocks and did more adding with them. Then each of us got stuff to do our own adding. Blocks, pencils, erasers or pennies. She let Mary give the kids in her \u201crow\u201d, that is all the desks behind hers, blocks. The other kids sitting in the front got to do the same thing with the pencils or erasers or pennies for the kids behind their desks. She said to give each kid five of them, and to count out the numbers as they gave them to each kid from one to five. It got pretty noisy but most of the kids thought it was fun.<\/p>\n

Then once we all had our five things, mine were blocks, she had each of us use them to do the \u201caddition problems\u201d on our piece of paper. If there was the number \u201c1\u201d to the left of the \u201c+\u201d in the problem, I was supposed to put one of my blocks to the left of the bigger plus on the piece of paper. If there was a \u201c2\u201d on the other side of the problem\u2019s \u201c+\u201d, then I put two other blocks on the right of the big \u201c+\u201d, but to the left of the \u201c=\u201d. Then to do the adding I just took all the blocks from either side of the big \u201c+\u201d and put them to the right of the \u201c=\u201d sign, and counted them. So then you counted all those blocks and wrote the number \u201c3\u201d to the right of the \u201c=\u201d in the problem on the top part of the sheet. We did more problems like that on other pieces of paper she gave us, and she did some other problems with bigger numbers on the chalkboard to show us that it worked the same way for those bigger numbers.<\/p>\n

It was all pretty easy, because mom had shown me a lot about how numbers worked. She had even shown me that one quarter plus one quarter is one half of something. Stuff with numbers had always made sense to me. The teacher called it \u201cmath\u201d and I remembered mom had called it \u201cmath\u201d too.<\/p>\n

I was telling Gabe and Amanda that I already knew about \u201cadding\u201d, and that I could even add one quarters together. I also told them I knew about \u201csubtracting\u201d. They said they knew that kind of stuff too. So we started thinking about adding and subtracting \u201cproblems\u201d to figure out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about seven plus six\u201d, said Gabe. Amanda and I both knew that was thirteen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about seven MINUS six\u201d, said Amanda. Gabe and I knew that was one.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about one quarter plus one quarter\u201d, I said. Amanda said that was one half. I don\u2019t think Gabe knew the answer until Amanda said it, but he said it made sense.<\/p>\n

Then he said, \u201cWhat about seven minus seven.\u201d Both Amanda and I said \u201czero\u201d at the same time, which was funny and we both laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay smarties\u201d, Gabe said, \u201cWhat about seven minus EIGHT.\u201d We didn\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n

Amanda finally wrinkled her nose and said, \u201cYou can\u2019t take eight things away if you only have seven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabe did a silly look like he might know that there might be an answer and asked, \u201cAre you SURE?\u201d<\/p>\n

We were too busy talking to see that the teacher was standing near us listening. \u201cWow\u201d, she said, \u201cYou three know your math. Good for you!\u201d We all smiled because we liked that she said that.<\/p>\n

Still looking at the three of us she said, \u201cBut now I\u2019d like to move on and do something else.\u201d Then she looked at everybody and talking louder said, \u201cOkay everyone, enough math for now, let\u2019s move on to storytime.\u201d Amanda, Gabe and I wanted to keep talking about doing stuff with numbers, but the teacher was being in charge, like all the older kids told me teachers would.<\/p>\n

So the thing she did next was read all of us the second chapter from a book about these really small people called \u201cBorrowers\u201d. I was used to dad or mom reading to me, or to me and David, at bedtime, so it was kind of strange that the teacher was reading it to all of us at the same time and in the daytime. She said we could ask questions, if we raised our hands first, but nobody did. I didn\u2019t either, because I got worried about all the other kids that I didn\u2019t know hearing my question.<\/p>\n

But it was an interesting story, so I stopped thinking about all that other stuff and just listened to her read it. There were these really tiny people called \u201cborrowers\u201d, because they took stuff from the house of the regular people that they all lived in. They called the regular people \u201chuman beans\u201d or \u201cbig people\u201d. That made sense and was really interesting, because I didn\u2019t think of myself as being big, but to them, or even to small animals in the real world, like ants or squirrels I would seem like a giant.<\/p>\n

The borrowers were small enough to be able to live inside the walls of the house so the regular people didn\u2019t even know they were there. I didn\u2019t even know that walls in houses had inside parts, but that was neat too. So when the \u201cbig people\u201d weren\u2019t around, or were sleeping, the borrowers would sneak out of their little place in the walls and take things they needed. Like they took letters to make walls and stamps to stick on their walls to be like pictures on the wall of a regular person\u2019s house. They took a potato to eat, and since they were really small they could all eat it for a long time.<\/p>\n

It was also interesting that they called themselves \u201cborrowers\u201d, because when you borrow something you\u2019re supposed to give it back, like when mom or dad borrowed books from the library. But they were just taking stuff and not giving it back. But the stuff they took didn\u2019t really mess up the \u201cbig people\u201d, because they had a whole box full of potatoes so they didn\u2019t even know one was missing.<\/p>\n

She got to the end of the chapter and stopped reading. She said it would be time to go home in a few minutes and that she\u2019d read the next chapter tomorrow. She said we could all talk with each other until the \u201cbell\u201d rang. All the kids started doing that. Some stood up so they could walk over to kids they didn\u2019t sit next to so they could talk to them. Then I saw her look at me, push her lips together, put up her hand and wave her finger for me to come over to her. Gabe and Amanda where busy talking with each other as I walked over to her regular desk in front of the chalk boards on the wall.<\/p>\n

She sat in her chair behind her desk but turned her body towards me at the side of her desk. She put her knees together and her arms on the top part of her legs and leaned toward me and asked, \u201cSo how was it, your first day?\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know what to say. There were so many things I was thinking about. Liking that she was showing us how to do real reading. Liking that \u201crecess\u201d, so we could play outside in the play yard. Excited that I had two new friends. Thinking that I was really smart because I already knew all the numbers stuff that she talked about. Liking her reading that \u201cBorrowers\u201d story. Worried that she made all the choices and we were supposed to do what she said. Worried that mom and dad really wanted me to like school, because they liked school, and would they be mad if I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I was used to telling grownups things that I liked that they did for me, so they would keep doing those things. But I wasn\u2019t used to telling grownups about my friends, because that wasn\u2019t something I wanted them to think about, or ask me about. My friends were just for me, not for them. And the things that I worried about were about grownups, so I couldn\u2019t tell them, or they would think that I thought they were bad. But I liked my teacher, because she wasn\u2019t too much like a regular grownup. She wasn\u2019t like that woman mom talked to in that office before they took me here.<\/p>\n

So I figured out what to say to her. \u201cI liked figuring out how to read and going outside to play\u201d, I said, \u201cAlso that story about the Borrowers.\u201d She nodded and looked at me like she was trying to figure ME out, which I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted her to do.<\/p>\n

Still nodding slowly, finally she said, \u201cWell, we\u2019ll do all of those things every day.\u201d Then she did thinking and said, \u201cAnd I noticed that you really know your numbers, adding, subtracting and even some fractions?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded and said, \u201cMom showed me. She really likes numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pushed her lips together and did more thinking. Then she said, \u201cWell I think you\u2019ll do fine in first grade. I think your mom made the right choice not having you start with kindergarten. You\u2019re a bright young man.\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n

I heard a loud bell ring outside the room in the hallway. The teacher could tell it surprised me, and she laughed a little bit through her nose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the bell telling us that school\u2019s over for today\u201d, she said, \u201cIt also rings in the morning to let you know it\u2019s almost time to start and then again when it\u2019s time to start. AND when we break for lunch and again when it\u2019s almost time for the afternoon session.\u201d Finally she said, \u201cYou\u2019ll get used to it after a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seemed strange to me that she couldn\u2019t just tell us it was time to go home. All the other kids in class started going out of the room. Amanda and Gabe waved at me from across the room as they left. After they all went out mom peeked her head in the doorway.<\/p>\n

\u201cJane\u201d, the teacher said, \u201cI mean Mrs. Zale. Come in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019d it go? Mom asked, walking towards us.<\/p>\n

The teacher put her hands together right under her mouth and said, \u201cWell I think it went fine. I feel you made the right choice putting him right into first grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh good\u201d, mom said, \u201cI\u2019m relieved actually, I wasn\u2019t sure how it would go. But Coop\u2019s such a bright kid.\u201d I didn\u2019t like it now when she said that about me to other grownups, like it was something good she did instead of me.<\/p>\n

The teacher nodded. I wondered if that meant she thought I was bright too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you Miss Zimmerman for helping make it all work\u201d, mom said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy pleasure\u201d, the teacher said, making a big smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cC\u2019mon Coop\u201d, mom said, \u201cI\u2019ve got some chores to do before dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBye bye Cooper\u201d, the teacher said, \u201cWe\u2019ll see you tomorrow. Eight thirty for the morning session.\u201d Then thinking of something and looking at mom. \u201cWill he be staying for lunchtime?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom wrinkled her nose and shook her head. \u201cI don\u2019t think so\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay then\u201d, said the teacher, nodding. She looked at me again, smiling, waved her hand and said, \u201cBye bye Cooper\u201d again.<\/p>\n

I saw mom look at me with her eyes open really big like I should say something back. \u201cBye\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u201d, mom said, looking at the teacher, \u201cHe\u2019s not always one for a lot of words!\u201d<\/p>\n

The teacher nodded and said, \u201cNo problem. I think he\u2019ll be a good addition to the class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom and I walked out of the room, her hand just behind my shoulder. I walked fast so she couldn\u2019t touch it like she was in charge of where I was going.<\/p>\n

We walked together up that long street that went up to Allmendinger Park. The tops of the big trees above us always made it feel like a giant green tunnel. Mom asked, \u201cSo how was your first day?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded and said, \u201cOkay.\u201d I knew she wanted me to say more and I tried to figure out if I needed to say more or mom would get mad at me. I decided to just say the things I had said to the teacher. \u201cI liked figuring out how to read\u201d, I said, \u201cAnd we got to go outside to play. The teacher also read this book about the Borrowers.\u201d<\/p>\n

I could tell she wanted me to say more and she asked, \u201cSo did you meet any of the other kids, those two that waved at you?\u201d I just nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat were their names?\u201d she asked. I thought about it but couldn\u2019t remember.<\/p>\n

\u201cI forget\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u201d, she said, \u201cI\u2019ve found it\u2019s very important to remember people\u2019s names. They like it much better if you know their name the next time they say \u2018hi Coop\u2019.\u201d I nodded, but didn\u2019t say any more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mom and I were sitting in one of those \u201coffice\u201d places, like dad\u2019s in the basement. But this one was in this regular school place called \u201cBach School\u201d (pronounced like “Baugh”). I was supposed to go to school here, but mom and the other grownups here had to figure out whether I was going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1777,13,1774,1773,1799,1800,1775],"class_list":["post-7487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-1960s","tag-ann-arbor","tag-autobiography","tag-childhood","tag-free-range-kid","tag-growing-up","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7487"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7495,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487\/revisions\/7495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}