the early years

grade 1 - "maiyaw-awan"

it was in 1973 that we had our first taste of school life. well, at least for the most of us. kindergarten learning was still optional then - basically 'saling pusa sa grade 1'. mrs. ludovico was our grade 1 teacher. she taught us the basics of writing, arithmetic and reading. we had drawing sessions, music, and of course recess.

we brought 100 counting sticks to class - actually icedrop sticks which can be bought from the public market. i remember my grandfather made me round bamboo sticks for this class requirement. mrs. ludovico asked us to group them into 10 tied with rubber bands.

mrs. ludovico had this cabinet full of english books which was part of the supplemental reading materials for interested students. there was no school library yet at the time.

we had small tables with small chairs, usually occupied by 4 pupils. we used pencil for writing. the popular brand then was the thick black pencil which can be caused to write darker by moistening the tip with one's tongue. mongol pencil was already around but was not common.

grade 2 - "maibatbato"

our grade 2 class with our teacher mrs. narbarte. she taught us how to write in scripts, and do advanced arithmetic (yung may 'borrow' sa subtraction). of course, further reading and a whole lot more.

we had proper writing desks, not tables anymore. one of the perks of being in grade 2.