Facts About One Room School Houses
* The McGuffy Readers were firts published in 1836, and more than 122 million copies of the readers were sold by the 1920s. In some areas only the Bible was more popular than the McGuffey Readers.
*Thomas Jefferson emphasized the importance of education for all. He believed that educated people were essential for a Democracy to work.
*During the winter months the teacher would get to the school early to get a fire started in the potbelly stove, so the building would be warm for the students.
*The school house was the center and focus for thousands of rural communities, hamlets and small towns. Often, town meetings and picnics were also held there. They hosted plays, dances, box socials, spelling bees and Christmas pageants. At these events, you could eat every type of egg salad imaginable!
*Read "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder if you would like to learn more about 20th century education in rural America; or "One-Room School" by Raymond Bial. Both books are available at the Capital Area District Library.
*Children were taught by ability not age. You moved on to the next book when you understood all the material in your current book level. Teachers taught the subject as long as the subject needed to be taught; teachers taught the best way for each student to learn.
*Click here to learn more about Michigan One-Room Schoolhouses.