education by chaos | a small idea from Raising Adults

Education by Chaos

History books hardly mention it, but, six years after the war ended—1951, the day after Labor Day give or take—a kind of tide swept over America.

That was the day the first wave of Baby Boomers broke on America’s schools. First grade classes that averaged about 15 students in 1950 had more than 30 in 1951. The first day of school was chaos in many places. Imagine thousands of six year-olds standing against the walls of small classrooms at eight o’clock in the morning; their first morning of school ever. There are too few chairs, too few pencils, too few teachers. Maybe you don’t have to imagine. Maybe you were one of them.

The biggest surprise is, no one saw them coming. They were six years old for crying out loud! They were ready for first grade. First grade wasn’t ready for them.

— from Raising Adults