Another Trip Back in Time with Grandma!

On Friday, we welcomed a very special grandmother all the way from Columbia, South Carolina, and she brought some fascinating pieces of school history with her!

One of the most interesting things she shared was how children received the polio vaccine on a sugar cube at school. She even brought sugar cubes so the children could see what they looked like and we got to sample a sugar cube. The kiddos could hardly believe that something as important as a vaccine was once given on a little cube of sugar!

She also brought an old wooden school desk like the one she used when she was a student. Of course, everyone wanted a turn sitting in it! It was so much fun comparing her school desk to the tables and chairs we use in our classroom today.

But the best surprise of all was learning that Grandma skipped second grade when she was a child! That meant her visit to Room 102 was actually her very first time ever being in a second-grade classroom! We were pretty excited that after all these years, she finally got to experience second grade—and we were honored that her first second-grade classroom was ours!

What a wonderful afternoon of stories, history, and making memories together. Our Grandparents Month continues to teach us that some things about school have changed a lot, but learning from one another never goes out of style! 

A Twist Back in Time!

Our Grandparents Month adventures continued today with another wonderful visit! We had a very special grandmother come to Room 102, and she brought so many fun memories from her school days to share with us.

Since we are currently raising money through our Read-A-Thon, she told us that when she was young, they sometimes had sock hops for fundraisers. Of course, we couldn't just talk about a sock hop—she taught us how to DO THE TWIST!   Our second graders may be Read-A-Thon kids, but today they got a little taste of sock-hop fun!

She also brought every child a set of jacks and taught us how to play. It was so much fun learning a game that children enjoyed long before tablets and video games!  She also demonstrated how to hula hoop!

One of our favorite moments was when she brought in her encyclopedias and introduced us to the "old Google!"   Before you could type a question into a computer and have an answer in seconds, you had to look it up in a book!

She even shared a report she wrote when she was in second grade, which made it extra special for our second graders to see. We also learned how students used brown paper grocery bags to make covers for their schoolbooks—a clever way to protect those precious textbooks!

And apparently, textbooks weren't just for reading! 📚 She showed us how students practiced good posture by balancing their textbooks on their heads and walking without letting them fall off. Of course, we had to give that a try, too! Who knew textbooks could double as posture trainers? 😂

We danced the Twist, hula hooped, played jacks, balanced books on our heads, and learned about life in a classroom many years ago. We traveled back in time without ever leaving Room 102!

We danced, played, laughed, learned, and traveled back in time without ever leaving Room 102. 

These Grandparents Month visits have been such a gift to our class. Each grandparent brings a little piece of history through the doors of the Pine Palace, and our kiddos are discovering that some of the very best lessons aren't found in a textbook—they're found in the stories and memories of the people who came before us. 

 

Another Grand Grandparents Month Visit! 

Our Grandparents Month adventures just keep getting better! We loved welcoming another special set of grandparents to Room 102.

This visit had an extra-special Pine Street connection! Grandmother actually attended Pine Street School when she was a child. She shared that her classroom was in a portable classroom, and our students loved hearing what school was like for her right here at Pine Street many years ago.

Grandfather attended school in Landrum, South Carolina, and he brought plenty of laughter to our visit! He read The Wonky Donkey to the class, and everyone joined in with a great big “HEE HAW!” at just the right times. There were lots of giggles in the Pine Palace!

And as if the visit wasn’t already sweet enough, they brought us Pine Street cookies for a special treat! 

We are having the BEST time learning about school long ago, hearing wonderful family stories, and making special memories with our grandparents. Each visit brings something new—and we can’t wait to see what our next Grandparents Month adventure will bring! 

 

Grandparents Month — More Stories from the Past! 

Our Grandparents Month adventures continued with two more wonderful sets of grandparents visiting our classroom!

We loved hearing about what school was like when they were in second grade. There were certainly no computers or interactive whiteboards in their classrooms! The students especially enjoyed seeing old photographs of our visitors when they were second graders. It was so much fun comparing school then with school today!

One of our favorite surprises was a photograph of one of the grandfathers dressed as a superhero for entertainment!   That picture definitely brought lots of smiles and laughter to Room 102!

Our visitors also helped us see just how many different places are represented in our class family. Their stories stretched from Spartanburg to Mt. Pleasant and all the way to Virginia and Tennessee! 

Every Grandparents Month visit brings new stories, new memories, and new lessons about how much school has changed through the years. We are so thankful to our grandparents for taking the time to share a little piece of their childhood with us. We are loving every minute of Grandparents Month! 

  Grandparents Month — Visit #5! 

Our fifth Grandparents Month visit brought two very special grandmothers to Room 102!    We had such a wonderful time traveling back in time with them and learning even more about what school was like years ago.

One of our visitors had an extra-special connection to our classroom—she used to be a second grade teacher!    She certainly knew a thing or two about life in second grade!

We loved looking at old photographs of classrooms and report cards and comparing them to what we see in school today. One fact that really caught our attention was that girls had to wear dresses to school every single day!  Our students had plenty to say about that!

Every visit gives us another little peek into the past and reminds us just how much school has changed through the generations. We are loving the stories, photographs, memories, and wisdom our grandparents are sharing with us.

Five visits down, and our Grandparents Month adventure just keeps getting better! 

  Grandparents Month — Visit #4! 

Our fourth Grandparents Month visit was another wonderful trip back in time!   We learned about what school was like years ago, including much larger class sizes and some of the many ways classrooms were different from ours today.

We also learned about the Baby Boomer generation and enjoyed hearing stories that helped us imagine what life and school were like when our grandparents were young.

One of the highlights of the visit was listening to a fable and then talking together about the important lesson, or moral, we could learn from the story. 

We are learning SO much from our special visitors! Every grandparent brings new stories, new memories, and a little piece of history into Room 102. We can’t wait to see what we learn next!