Did you know that there was a time when kindergarten was such a serious stage in a child’s life? Back in the 1950s, things were so different. The expectations of what a child should achieve at this age were pretty high back then compared to now.
Source: Little Things
When Margaret Bramer posted her Kindergarten Report Card from 1954, the things they had to tick off blew people’s minds. The post immediately went viral. Read on to see how it’s like to be in kindergarten during the 1950s.
Table Manners
In the 1950s, kids in kindergarten are expected to already know their table manners. These kids eat together during their class and were taught to have proper dining etiquette so they can behave well during meal times at home.
Source: Maternity Week
Having good manners at the dining table is very important during this time. Mealtime was a respectful time and some would even dress up for dinner. Don’t you just wish your kids can behave the same way today?
Growing food
Kindergarten students know their way around a garden in the 1950s. They were taught to sow seeds and make sure that they grow into crops properly. This lesson taught the kids about food production and showed them how hard it is to grow food.
Source: Maternity Week
Knowing the work of how a crop is grown helps them appreciate more the food that they get to eat every day. Kids really should be aware of this from an early age so they won’t waste their food.
Play in a band
Back then, kindergarten students were thought to play together as a band. They would form into a group with each kid having their own musical instrument. This is not only about learning to love music but also about making a collective contribution and working together.
Source: Maternity Week
Learning how to play musical instruments is also great for developing fine motor skills. The kids get to develop a passion for music at an early age. They may even choose to learn an instrument at a young age, which would make them professionals in just a few years.
Keeping their fingernails clean
Back in the 1950s, kids must learn to be clean and hygienic. This makes sense since back then, kids get to spend a lot of time playing outdoors and they were not afraid to get dirty. This may mean their fingernails collected a lot of grit from being outdoors.
Source: Maternity Week
Today, there are a lot of toys and gadgets that keep our kids indoors. Some parents have to force their kids to go out and play and just be kids so that they could enjoy their childhood.
Skipping
Have you really been a child if you have not ever tried to skip? Skipping is one of the most joyful and fun things that children do and it helps them become physically active. In the 1950s, teachers were able to appreciate the importance of skipping.
Source: Maternity Week
In fact, there were dance demonstrations like this one that demonstrated a lot of skipping and moving around. Skipping is actually a bit difficult to master because kindergarteners need to master time and rhythm. But since it was a fun thing to do, the kids were able to learn this one quick enough.
Knowing their father’s name
One weird requirement in a kindergartener’s report card during the 190s is “I know my father’s name.” Strangely, there was no mentioning the need to know their mother’s name. Sexist? Apparently, there is a reason for this.
Source: Design Corral
During the 1950s, fathers are often away from home because of work. It was traditional for fathers to report for work while mothers stayed at home to cater to the kids. The lack of time fathers get to spend with their kids made it important for the kids to learn their father’s full names.
Listening to records
Another strange entry in the report card of Margaret Bramer was “I listen nicely to records.” It seemed that back then, kids were made to drop a needle on a vinyl record and appreciate how music was produced by the spinning record.
Source: Maternity Week
These days though, vinyl records are a thing of the past. Kids prefer using streaming services to listen to music. The easy access to digital music makes it disposable. But a spinning record is a more active form of listening and watching that record spin helps develop their attention span.
Wrapping up warm
In Margaret Bramer’s kindergarten report card, two entries mentioned “wraps” under personal habits. The first one was “I can take off and put on my wraps” and the second is “I can hang my wraps correctly.”
Source: Maternity Week
This brought about some confusion. Then someone in the comment section clarified it by explaining that back in the 1950s, people called their scarves and hats “wraps.” So basically, kindergarteners should know how to keep themselves warm from the code by using their scarves and hats properly.
Carrying chairs the right way
Somehow, the way a child carried their chairs was deemed to be a valuable skill in the 1950s. This may not be such an important life skill on the surface but it actually involves something deeper.
Source: Maternity Week
That deeper aspect is obedience and the ability to follow specific instructions. Picking up your chair without making noises and stacking chairs was a good task that developed their motor skills.
Cooking
While today’s kindergarteners have they pretend kitchen and toy food to deal with, kindergartners in the 1950s were actually cooking real food. Try letting your kids do their own meals now and they probably would not know what to do.
Source: Maternity Week
Teachers believed back then that learning how to cook at an early age is great for developing cognitive and motor skills. It’s not just practical – it’s also a great survival skill to have.
Pottery
Would you believe that kindergarteners in the 1950s already know how to do pottery? The closest thing our kids would probably be doing in the present is playing with clay. But back then, kids are actually producing actual pottery.
Source: Maternity Week
Learning pottery at a young age encourages children to be more creative. Kindergarten teachers believe in the benefits of the activity and the rewarding outcome of being able to produce something out of their own imagination.
Knowing their right hand
Now, this may seem to be a basic thing. Children should really learn how to distinguish their right side from their left side. But the fact that the right hand was specifically stated was a bit strange.
Source: Maternity Week
It turns out that back then, being a leftie was considered as a problem. in fact, left-handed kids were even forced to learn how to write with their right hands. Of course, things have changed now.
Sewing
Kindergarteners were taught basic hand sewing techniques in the 1950s. Sewing was considered a basic creative activity that helped develop fine motor skills and it was a useful skill to know.
Source: Little Things
Aside from fine motor skills, sewing helped kids learn to be patient and to follow instructions, which were great values for their character development. We doubt today’s kindergarteners already know how to sew.
Homemaking for girls
Gender roles were very clear during the 1950s. It was a tradition for men to go to work while women stayed at home to tend to the house and the kids. And these ideas were instilled in the kids.
Source: Maternity Week
So, young girls were taught to do skills that involved maintaining a household. They were expected to wear their skirts or dresses and were supposed to know the basics of managing a household like cleaning up and washing clothes.
Competitive activities for boys
You may be wondering what were the young boys doing while the young girls were on their homemaking tasks? Well, they busied themselves with activities that encourage them to be competitive, confident, and dominant.
Source: Maternity Week
This means they had more time to do sports and challenges that helped build their ego and confidence. It was an attitude highly encouraged to prepare the boys for the real world. As we pointed out earlier, the 1950s was a time where stereotypical expectations among men and women exists.
Learning rhymes
One of the entries in the 1950s report card was “I can tell rhymes.” This is not really news since a lot of kindergarten kids are taught a lot of nursery rhymes. But back then, they are expected to memorize these by heart.
Source: Maternity Week
According to experts in child development and literacy, if kids know at least eight nursery rhymes by heart when they turn four years old, these kids usually turn into good readers by the time they are eight years old.
Finances
Back in the 1950s, kindergarten students are expected to know their pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollars. Kindergarten teachers taught their kids the value of money.
Source: Maternity Week
Early exposure to the idea of money is actually not a bad idea. Teaching them about it as early as possible may have a positive effect on their money management as they grow older.
Duck and cover
During the 1950s, the Cold War was happening. There was a lot of anxiety about the possibility of a nuclear attack taking place. So, during this time, schools prepared their students how to act in case this happens and kindergarteners are not excepted.
Source: Maternity Week
The kids were taught to know how to duck and cover or stay under their desks and brace themselves for impact. An animated film called “Duck and Cover” featuring Bert the Turtle was shown to teach the kids as a way to lighten the grim anticipation that a nuclear attack would happen.
Walking to school by themselves
Back in the 1950s, it was normal for children in kindergarten to walk to school and walk back home all by themselves. The times were different back then – it was more peaceful and no one had all these paranoid fears of what can happen to their child.
Source: Maternity Week
Today, you can be judged as a bad parent if you allowed your kindergartener to walk to school alone. Even a grownup walking alone can be in danger. It just shows how much darker the world turned out to be as the years passed.