|
BORN ON A FARM (Grades K-2)
HI KIDS! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAPPY AND HAVING FUN IN SCHOOL TODAY. I'M STARTING TO WRITE A BOOK FOR YOU GUYS RIGHT ON THE COMPUTER. YOU'LL BE ABLE TO READ A CHAPTER EACH WEEK. READ CAREFULLY NOW, BECAUSE I'LL ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS AT THE END. SO, LET'S GET STARTED.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT MY LIFE AS A KID? OKAY, LET'S START WITH THE VERY BEGINNING. I WAS BORN ON AUGUST 26, 1936. I WAS THE LAST OF ELEVEN KIDS BORN TO MY MOTHER, JULIA AND MY FATHER, THOMAS. THEY ALL CALLED ME THE BABY OF THE FAMILY. YOU WERE PROBABLY BORN IN THE HOSPITAL, RIGHT? I WAS BORN AT HOME, IN OUR LITTLE FARM HOUSE IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA. I'LL BET A DOCTOR HELPED YOUR MOTHER WHEN YOU WERE BORN. A NEIGHBOR LADY HELPED MY MOTHER WHEN I WAS BORN. SHE WASN'T A DOCTOR. SHE WAS A MIDWIFE. A MIDWIFE IS A WOMAN WHO HELPS DELIVER BABIES.
WE LIVED ON A SMALL FARM AND WE WERE VERY POOR. WE GREW CROPS, WHEAT, OATS AND CORN. WE ALSO HAD HAY FIELDS. WE NEEDED HAY TO FEED OUR 10 MILK COWS. I HAD TO LEARN HOW TO MILK COWS WHEN I WAS 6 YEARS OLD. AND WE DIDN'T HAVE MILKING MACHINES LIKE FARMERS HAVE TODAY. WE HAD TO MILK THE COWS BY HAND. IT WAS HARD GETTING UP AT 6:00 A.M. TO DO THE MILKING BEFORE I WALKED TO SCHOOL.
MY SCHOOL WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM YOURS. MY SCHOOL WAS NOT IN TOWN. IT WAS OUT ON THE CORNER OF A FARMER'S FIELD, TWO MILES FROM OUR HOUSE. MY SCHOOL WAS SMALL, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SMALL HOUSE. THERE WERE ONLY ABOUT 30 KIDS IN MY SCHOOL, GRADES ONE THROUGH EIGHT. WE WERE ALL IN THE SAME ROOM AND WE ONLY HAD ONE TEACHER. THAT KIND OF SCHOOL IS CALLED A "ONE-ROOM COUNTRY SCHOOL."
IN THE NEXT STORY I'LL TELL YOU MORE ABOUT OUR SCHOOL. NOW I HOPE YOU'VE READ THIS STORY CAREFULLY. HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS TO SEE WHAT YOU LEARNED.
- WHAT STATE WAS I BORN IN?
- WHAT DO WE CALL A WOMAN WHO HELPS A MOTHER GIVE BIRTH?
- WHAT JOB DID I HAVE BEFORE I WALKED TO SCHOOL?
- HOW FAR DID I WALK TO SCHOOL?
- HOW MANY KIDS DID WE HAVE IN MY SCHOOL?
- WHAT WAS THE HIGHEST GRADE IN MY SCHOOL?
- WHAT DO WE CALL THE KIND OF SCHOOL I WENT TO?
- HOW MANY CHILDREN DID MY MOTHER GIVE BIRTH TO?
- WHAT WAS MY MOTHER'S NAME?
- (HERE'S A TOUGH ONE) HOW OLD AM I?
|