What was the first thing you learned at school?

Question

I learned that my mother was prepared to abandon me for long periods. It was a shock and I've never forgotten.

I also remember that the teacher was astonishingly strict about writing from left to right. Nothing else was good enough.

Answer 1

I learned that other people don't necessarily want your opinion about their clay dinosaur simply because they showed it to you.

I learned that blurting out an unflattering comment about someone else's clay dinosaur can reduce a person to tears.

Essentially, I learned that words are powerful.

Answer 2

The first things I learned in school:

To put my hand up and say "please may I leave the room" if I wanted to go to the toilet

Those yukky tins full of words that you had to take home and spell (yup, we had the smelly tobacco tins too!!)

To tell the difference between the little tubs of crayons that were safe to use and the one that someone was sick in the day before. Taking the sickie crayons would earn you a days p*sstaking from all the other kids.

To hold my breath while banging the chalk duster off the wall outside so as not to choke!

That the janitor did not actually live in the school, she went home too. And that sawdust fixes everything. Avoid the little heaps of sawdust with the traffic cones around them, that means another kid puked.

That kids puke alot - people used to throw up all the time. Must have been the school dinners.

That school dinner custard is actually the best custart I have ever tasted. Wierd, eh!

And finally, kids can be really horrible. They will stuff your coat in the bin, put custard in your bag and steal your favourite pencil. But if you make coconut ice and bring it into school, everyone will suddenly be your bestest friend!

Answer 3

Where to hang my coat - that was the first thing.
Other stuff- like school was the best place to get a hot meal. Later I learnt that other ppl don't think the same way as I do - see 'Enders Game' for details. I also found I was streets ahead in binary math : I was the one who wrote out 1 to 100 so the rest of the class could check their answers. I found my art was astonishingly different too, even when we were given the same brief- 29 variations on a theme, and mine.
Lastly, I found out I was underachieving.

Answer 4

How vulnerable I was. It was awful. I was like a bundle of walking emotions. Emotions with legs. Terrible. Then I went to work on myself and found some boundaries and a few ways to keep people from getting at me and upsetting me. Then I found a few friends and the whole world opened up to me. I began to see that I had something to offer, too. What was interesting to me was how much I still preferred my own company most of the time. I was busy reading and exploring and just doing stuff on my own all the time, so school for me was classes, a brief exposure to a bunch of relative strangers, and then home once again to continue the education process I was doing on my own behalf. I hope this answer provides some insight. I have tried to answer your question honestly. Sent with good energies from Chris in South Portland, Maine, U.S.A. (I am now 63 years old, and still hanging out with myself a lot, and learning all kinds of stuff, such as holding down the Control key on my keypad and turning the wheel backward or forward on my mouse to decrease or increase the size of the print on the monitor screen in front of me.)

Answer 5

The answer everyone should give is their name, i was given the letters in a smelly tobacco box and took them home to learn (that's the day my dad learnt to spell too!!!)

But I'm gonna be honest and say the 1st thing i learnt at school was that i could persuade other kids to do anything. The highlight was getting Sean (i forget his last name so many years ago.) to pull his pants down in assembly!!!
We both got in trouble but from that day on i knew i had a special gift that couldn't be taken away by anyone!!!

Answer 6

I learned how to spell and write my first and last name and that it took up the whole top of the page. I had a very long last name until I married a man with a simple name. My kids don't know how lucky they are to have a simple last name. LOL

Answer 7

That I knew how to read and everybody else was still learning letters. I was three and in pre-school. The teacher used to have me read to the class while she was setting up the next activity. (And I don't mean in the context of "See Spot Run" - actual stories.)

Answer 8

Who the nice teachers where and who were the nasty ones. I loved Miss Connelly but hated Mrs Roberts. I was never purposely naughty but Mrs Roberts liked to shout. I was only 5!

Answer 9

to make friends with a strange girl who kept crying because she didn't want to part with her mother.

I learned from the age of 4 that i was good at making people feel confortable around me with ease. I didn't realise until you asked. I remember that day really well because i was really nervous and i didn't want to go but i didn't get upset like the girl who cried and cried until i made friends with her. I still know her today.

Answer 10

The first thing i remember learning is how to write my b's and d's properly as i kept getting into trouble for writing them round the wrong way.