“If you read only one book on educating children, this should be the book.… With a warm, informative voice, Bauer gives you the knowledge that will help you flex the educational model to meet the needs of your child.” —San Francisco Book Review Our K–12 school system isn’t a good fit for all—or even most—students. It prioritizes a single way of understanding the world over all others, pushes children into a rigid set of grades with little regard for individual maturity, and slaps “disability” labels on differences in learning style. Caught in this system, far too many young learners end up discouraged. This informed, compassionate, and practical guidebook will show you how to take control of your child’s K–12 experience and negotiate the school system in a way that nurtures your child’s mind, emotions, and spirit. Understand why we have twelve grades, and why we match them to ages. Evaluate your child’s maturity, and determine how to use that knowledge to your advantage. Find out what subject areas we study in school, why they exist—and how to tinker with them. Discover what learning disabilities and intellectual giftedness are, how they can overlap, how to recognize them, and how those labels can help (or hinder) you. Work effectively with your child’s teachers, tutors, and coaches. Learn to teach important subjects yourself. Challenge accepted ideas about homework and standardized testing. Help your child develop a vision for the future. Reclaim your families’ priorities (including time for eating together, playing, imagining, traveling, and, yes, sleeping!). Plan for college—or apprenticeships. Consider out-of-the-box alternatives.

A popular collection of memories and recollections from people who learned at and taught in one-room schools in Wisconsin, including former pupil Jerry Apps, the book’s author.

The Midwest's one-room schools were, Fuller observes, the most democratic in the nation. Located in small, independent school districts, these schools virtually wiped out illiteracy, promoted democratic values, and opened up new vistas beyond the borders of their students' lives. Entire communities, Fuller shows, revolved around these schools. At various times they were used as churches, polling places, sites of political caucuses, and meeting halls for local organizations. But as America urbanized and the movement to consolidate took hold in rural counties, these little centers of learning were left at the margins of the educational system. Some were torn down, some left to weather away, some sold at auction, and still others transformed into museums. Despite its demise, Fuller argues, here was a school system that worked. His book offers a timely reminder of what schools can accomplish when communities work closely together to educate their children.

At 9:00 in the morning, the day begins for children of the 1800’s as they walk to their one room school. Children ages eight through eighteen years of age enter the building as they are greeted by their teacher. All of the students will be learning their lessons in one room at the same time. The schoolhouses grades one through eight and all grade level subjects are taught by one teacher. The schoolhouse is often very cold, because there is only a potbelly stove to warm it. Long windows on two sides of the room provide the only light in the room. There is no cafeteria for a warm meal and no bathroom facilities in the building. Even with these minimum facilities, these children have fun as they learn through spelling bees and ciphering contests. This book includes sections on games that were played during recess, recipes of food eaten for lunch, directions on how to make items used in school at this time, and samples of lessons that were learned.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to attend a one-room school, to be in the same classroom as your older brother or younger sister, or to have your teacher live with your family for part of the school year? In One Room Schools, Susan Apps-Bodilly chronicles life in Wisconsin’s early country schools, detailing the experiences of the students, the role of the teacher, and examples of the curriculum, including the importance of Wisconsin School of the Air radio programs. She describes the duties children had at school besides their schoolwork, from cleaning the erasers and sweeping cobwebs out of the outhouse to carrying in wood for the stove. She also tells what led to the closing of the one room schools, which were more than just centers of learning: they also served as the gathering place for the community. Susan Apps-Bodilly drew from the research compiled by her father Jerry Apps for his book, One-Room Country Schools: History and Recollections. Apps-Bodilly has geared her book toward young readers who will learn what students and their teacher did on cold mornings before the wood stove warmed them up. They also will find out how to play recess games like Fox and Geese and Anti-I-Over and will learn the locations of 10 former one room schools that can be toured. Apps-Bodilly also encourages readers to ask themselves what lessons can be learned from these early schools that have application for today’s schools? One Room Schools will transport young readers back in time and make their grandparents and others of that generation nostalgic—perhaps even prompting them to share memories of their school days.

Explore inside a one-room schoolhouse and see what subjects were taught, how students were disciplined, and what games boys and girls enjoyed during recess.

This sentimental yet scholarly look at an American institution preserves the one room school story before it vanishes forever. Once there were over 100 one room schools scattered throughout Morgan County, Colorado. Of the few that remain, most are in advanced stages of disrepair. These schoolhouses were often products of the Homesteading Act, when federal lands were opened for settlement. The farmers and ranchers who came to stake their claim all wanted their children to be educated. Morgan County was a region abundant in Homesteads. One-room schools, usually built by the community, were constructed every two to four miles. Generally, one teacher was hired to instruct grades one through eight. For over 75 years (from 1889-1965), these lonely sentinels of Morgan County provided education to that era's youth. Using a mixture of past and present photographs, this book is the ultimate resource for a comprehensive study of the one room schoolhouse through the microcosm of Morgan County.