"The Old School House Below the Hill"
Fond
memories paint the scene of other years
Green be their memory still,
And bright amid those joyous scenes appear
The school house down below the hill.
Chorus:
Oh, the old school house that stands below the
hill
I never, no never can forget,
Dear happy days, ye gather round me still
I never, no never can forget.
There hangs
the swing upon the maple tree
Where you and I once swung,
There flows the stream forever flowing free
As when we both were young.
And just
beyond the school playing ground
Green grows the forest still,
Where once we chased each other round and round
With boisterous glee and skill.
Then
climbed the vine and there the berries grew
Which once we prized so high,
And there the berries grew
Of rich October skies.
"School Days"
School days, school
days,
Dear old golden rule days.
Readin', and ritin', and 'rithmetic,
Taught to the tune of a hickory stick.
You were my queen
in calico,
I was your bashful bare-foot beau.
You wrote on your slate "I Love You Joe."
When we were a couple of kids.
"Forty Little Urchins"
Forty
little urchins coming through the door,
Pushing, crowding, making a tremendous roar.
Why don't you keep quiet? Can't you keep the rule?
Bless me, this is pleasant, teaching public school.
Forty
little pilgrims on the road to fame,
If they fail to reach it, who will be to blame.
High and lowly stations, birds of every feather,
On a common level, here are brought together.
Forty
little faces, loving little hearts,
Eyes brimful of mischief, skilled in all its arts.
That's a precious darling! What are you about?
"May I pass the water?" "Please may I
recite?"
Boots and
shoes are shuffling, slates and books are rattling,
And in the corner yonder, two pugilists are battling.
Others cutting didoes, what a botheration!
No wonder we go crazy from such association.
Anxious
parents drop in, merely to inquire,
Why their olive branches do not shoot up higher.
Says he wants his children to mind their P's and Q's,
And hopes their brilliant talent will not be abused.
Spelling,
reading, writing, helping up the young ones,
Fuming, scolding, fighting, spurring on the dumb ones.
Gym, naps, vocal music, few our hearts rejoices,
When the singer comes to cultivate the voices.
Institute
attending, making out reports,
Giving object lessons, condrills of all sorts.
Reading dissertations, feeling like a fool,
Oh, the untold blessing's of the public school.
The
following songs are from the book
A Child's Book of Numbers for First and
Second Grades,
by John C. Stone, Copyright 1924.
"Counting"
One little, two
little, three little Indians,
Four little, five little, six little Indians,
Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians,
Ten little Indian boys.
"The Months"
Thirty days has
September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
To which we twenty-eight assign,
Till leap year gives it twenty-nine.
"A Number Rhyme"
Ten pretty roses,
Standing up so straight.
I'll cut two for Ruth,
That will leave _____.
Eight pretty roses,
Standing up like sticks.
I'll cut two for Ann,
That will leave _____.
Six pretty roses,
I wish I had more.
I'll cut two for Jane.
That will leave _____.
Four pretty roses,
Sparkling in the dew.
Ill cut two for Betty,
That will leave _____.
The Fox and Geese Game
Some children at the Wabash School made up a game they called "The Fox and The Geese." Someone is chosen to be the fox. He has a den about twenty or thirty feet from the other children who are the geese. He dares the geese to try and catch him. The fox goes to the flock and says:
You use to
have _____ geese,
Now you have but three.
I'm the fox that caught them,
But you can't catch me.
The fox says any number from four to ten where the blank is in the rhyme. For example, if the fox says "ten" where the blank is the geese all say:
You caught seven geese, and we'll catch you.
The fox does not run until they say "you," then he runs and the geese all try to catch him before he gets to his den. If he is caught, the one catching him becomes the fox.