Chapter 4 - The Automatic Lock -- First Grade

1951-1952

Robert Frost House in 2014

(We had 1st grade here)

     Here we are again in Ann Arbor House in Greenfield Village (year 2 if you're counting) but this year we were the Big Kids on the First Floor. I was really proud to be counted among the first-graders, having so admired them when I was only five. The fact that we had less than half the space we’d had in kindergarten did not figure into my prideful calculations. I was just pleased to be counted among the older students.

     The first room on your right as you entered the front door was used for group activities such as musical instruments. I was especially enamored of the tambourine which made all kinds of wonderful sounds. Of course there were other musical choices such as the triangle, jingle bells, finger cymbals, wood block, hand cymbals and drums. But none were as versatile as the tambourine. Don’t you just love the sound your fist makes when you bang on the tambourine’s drum and the shimmering sounds of the small shaking metal strips that follow? I do. It’s very satisfying.

Robert Frost House

    The back room on the right was our classroom. It had small wooden desks neatly lined up in rows. That room had a bathroom in the far corner.

Robert Frost House 2012

    I remember the bathroom in particular because its door automatically locked when closed – it had been a house, not a school. This was fine while in use but was a problem if shut afterwards as no one else could use the bathroom. Luckily the windows of Ann Arbor House were low to the ground and in those days it was possible to reach that unlocked window from the outside. It was also fortunate that there were kids who enjoyed being sent outside to unlock the bathroom door. My name may have topped the list of “kids who like to unlock the door.” In retrospect, I can’t imagine what they were thinking to have a bathroom door with an automatic-lock in a first-grade classroom.

     My academic memories are not without trials. We learned to read with Dick, Jane, Sally and Spot. I enjoyed the process and looked forward to each new page of their adventures with anticipation. Would Spot chase his ball into a wardrobe and fall down a hole? No wait, that was years later and it wasn’t Spot who did that. The desks had hinged vertical slots for papers and books. It’s where we kept our Dick-and-Jane workbooks. Now what could happen if you had your daily milk break on top of the desks? Yes, it happened to me. I accidentally spilled my milk into this “well” which caused all the pages of my workbook to stick together. I was so shy and embarrassed that I spent weeks living in fear of my teacher discovering that I hadn’t been keeping up in the workbook. It even occurred to me as an adult to wonder why Mrs. McAllen didn’t notice the problem. However my memory of an entire year of lost learning evaporated a few years ago when I came across the old workbook – only three pages were stuck together.

     My other academic problem was not being able to see the pages in my workbook because my hair fell into my eyes. I kept losing the bobby pins which held it back. Mrs. McAllen started bringing in bobby pins from home for me. That was a strong memory and I was wondering if it was true when I found my only school picture, which is from First Grade. The bobby pins are clearly holding back my bangs. My mother must have decided to let my hair grow long because the following year I wore braids without bangs. In this case, I can see that my memory was undoubtedly accurate.

Robert Frost House

(My class spent 2 1/2 years in this building)

2014