#elliebrokking #weetjenog The first thing that comes to mind is the school dentist, I had an ordinary dentist, but still you were sitting with a knot in your stomach, imagine that they forget that I have an ordinary dentist and I have to go mrt the school dentist.

My school started at 08:45 to 11:45 and from 13:00 to 15:30, might care about 15 more minutes, but yes it's already 55 years ago, my first day of school.

If a prick had to be given, it just happened at school, all neatly in line (I have fainted in the queue).

Parents were not allowed to come in and they were not allowed to pick up.
Much quieter for kids and parents if you ask me, you didn't know any better.

The reading lesson consisted mainly of classroom reading. All children had the same book in front of them. One child was given the turn to read aloud; the other children had to read along by pointing out the words with the finger. Suddenly the master called the name of another child, who had to take over reading aloud. If that kid didn't know where it was, there could be punishment. The reason that the child did not know, where it was, often lay in the fact, that the child read ahead, because the “reading out loud” child read difficult, stuttering and faltering. As a result, the fellow students had no patience to keep reading with, but they started reading aloud, because they wanted to know how the story ended. The books, which were used for this classroom reading, were often anthologies with stories, poems, etc. or 'through bookles' with one story (e.g. Jaap and Gerdientje by Anne de Vries) and Cornelis Jetse with his beautiful drawings. Reading in levels has put an end to this classroom technical reading.

Geography:

Groningen - Zoutkamp - Appingedam - Delfzijl - Hoogezand - Sappermeer - Zuidbroek - Veendam - Winschoten - Nieuwe Pekela, Oude Pekela - City Canal...

Who remembers the list of Groningen? The master pointed out and the class booted the places. Strange, that most schools started with the province of Groningen, while Jan Ligthart had learned that you had to start with your own province (= the nearest area). Often in the place names the products were also learned, such as Gouda - candles; Leerdam - glass etc. After the ordinary card came the blind card, but sometimes there was only a blind card. For a long time this was the geography lesson: the places and the products. But geography becomes wider over time: children also learned how they live in other countries, and topography is no longer so much about ready knowledge.

School milk

In the 1930s, research showed that milk had a positive impact on the development of pupils. In 1937, the Central School Milk Committee distributed the first bottles of school milk in a Rotterdam disadvantaged neighbourhood. Rotterdam took the decision in that year to distribute milk to the pupils in poor neighbourhoods to improve their condition. In the morning, a break was taken to drink the milk. After a year it turned out that the children had gained a better condition. From 1937, the Central School Milk Committee was busy to explain to all municipalities the importance of school milk. They argued that there were nutrients in milk that were important for the growth of children. Also, their concentration should improve after drinking milk. In the late fifties, almost all children were on school milk, dirty hot was the milk. Later, you could choose whether to take school milk or bring it from home. You guess, for me, it was from home.