Texas didn’t allow anyone to start school unless they were six the day school started, and as my birthday is in February, I was not in school when we got to England. That was not to last.
Daddy came home and said he found out I could go to the base school, regardless. So here it was February; the school year was half over; there was no kindergarten back then for me; I didn’t even know my alphabet.
“No problem,” Daddy tells Mom. “I’ll teach her.”
We began after breakfast, skipped lunch, and through tears and threats of no supper either if I didn’t get it all learned that day, I did it. I learned to write and recite my alphabet and numbers 1-100, and spell small words in a day. We went down to the main dining room by 6:30.
Sunday we practiced and practiced and practiced some more. The next day was Monday and would be my first day of school.
Next: Enrolling myself in first grade.
Perle Champion 