What was schooling like in the 1930s?

School. 1930s: School was considered a luxury for low- and middle-income children. Schools were overpopulated, underfunded, and an estimated 20,000 schools in America closed. Transportation was an issue—there were no buses or cars so children had to walk often long distances.

What was education like in the 1930s?

During the 1930's, the public education system was not as highly regulated as it is today. Students often did not attend school for nine months of the year as they do in today's schools, as different county or local school systems often operated for different lengths of time.

What age did kids start school in the 1930s?

I went to school during the depression years when times were hard and money scarce. I had one Sunday dress and a pair of shoes and two dresses for school and an everyday pair of shoes. I did not begin school until I was almost eight years old as no one began until their seventh birthday.

What was expected of children in the 1930s?

Like their parents and grandparents, children in the 1920s and 1930s were expected to help work the fields, tend to the animals, clear land, plant crops, weed, and harvest. Children were also expected to perform domestic labor such as washing clothes, fetching water, and cooking meals.

What was it like to be a kid in the 1930s?

Kids used whatever was just laying around and created their own scenarios, games, and toys. Girls made their own rag dolls, children played schoolyard games like jump rope, tag, and "Ring Around The Rosie"; children generally spent most of their free time playing outside and exploring.

History Brief: Daily Life in the 1930s

Did kids still go to school during the Great Depression?

Prior to the Great Depression, most children in rural, or countryside, areas attended school, but during the Great Depression, many schools closed, leaving children without a school to attend. The school buildings were often just one big room, and without any money to keep them fixed, some began to fall apart.

Why was life hard in the 1930s?

The Great Depression began in 1929 when, in a period of ten weeks, stocks on the New York Stock Exchange lost 50 percent of their value. As stocks continued to fall during the early 1930s, businesses failed, and unemployment rose dramatically. By 1932, one of every four workers was unemployed.

Was education good in the 1930s?

During the Depression, the problems of American education rose to the surface. Although public education was free to all, the quality of schooling available in different parts of the country varied drastically. In some areas, such as the rural South, the public school system was starved for money.

Did girls go to school in the 1930s?

According to the U.S. Office of Education, the total number of enrollment for women in higher education the U.S. in 1930 was 480,802.

Did girls go to high school in the 1930s?

Graduation from high school and college rose dramatically across cohorts from the 1930s to the mid 1970s. High school graduation rose from 60 percent of men and 51 percent of women in 1933 to 89 percent of men and 90 percent of women in 1973.

Was there homework in the 1930s?

In fact, homework was outlawed — banned entirely — in the State of California until 1917. In 1930, homework was classified as a form of child labor. As modern thinking about education, teaching, and learning took hold in the mid-20th Century, the focus shifted standardized metrics of student success.

Did they have high school in the 1930s?

Teens who could not find employment enrolled in high school, changing high school enrollment numbers increased from 11,546 in 1930 to 19,638 by the end of the decade. While high school enrollment increased, funding did not.

Did people go to college in the 1930s?

Moreover, the majority of the roughly one half million female college students in the 1930s would have been attending their local state universities or state normal (teacher training) colleges, not elite women's institutions.

What did schools do during the Great Depression?

During the Depression these schools found it necessary to sometimes cut teachers' salaries, stop purchasing supplies, or to simply close their doors when money ran out. By 1930 over three million children between seven and 17 years of age were out of school.

What subjects were taught in 1930?

6. The main subject's that were taught during the 1930's included reading, writing, math, science, and home economics.

Was life hard in the 1930s?

It was very hard then, during the Depression. There was no food, and there were people walking around, asking each other, did they have food, or could it be shared. People had no money to buy seeds or plants or anything like that to plant.

What were black schools like in the 1930s?

By the 1930s, some three decades after the Plessy decision, more black children attended school in the Jim Crow states, stayed longer in school, and earned higher scores on achievement tests. Yet they still lagged far behind white children, whose schools were bigger and better and whose teachers had more training.

What did girls do in the 1930s?

Women's roles in 1930's America were still mostly domestic. They were typically in charge of home management and social duties, while men were usually the breadwinners. However, after the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was passed in 1920, there was a shift in women's roles.

What did people do for fun in the 1930s?

Radio programs, music, dancing and dance marathons, and cinema were popular forms of entertainment during the Great Depression. Many people affected by the economic downturn sought inexpensive ways to pass the time and distract themselves from the challenging circumstances.

What was education like 100 years ago?

Students today would be surprised at the sparseness of the classrooms 100 years ago—there were many fewer books and what we today consider school supplies. Rather than markers, scissors, glue sticks, paper, computers, and more, students in the early twentieth century probably had only a slate and chalk.

What was schooling like in the 1920s?

By the early 1920's the original curriculum was expanded. The original classes in mathematics, English, history, Latin, German, and French were augmented with sciences, Bible class, current events, physical education, and singing.

What was the Great Depression for kids?

The Great Depression was the longest and most serious economic crisis in modern history. It began in the United States in 1929 but spread quickly throughout the world, lasting for about 10 years. The Depression caused sharp declines in economic production and severe unemployment in almost every country.

What was the nickname for the 1930s?

The Dust Bowl in the United States (which led to the nickname the "Dirty Thirties") exacerbated the scarcity of wealth.

Who got rich during the Great Depression?

Not everyone, however, lost money during the worst economic downturn in American history. Business titans such as William Boeing and Walter Chrysler actually grew their fortunes during the Great Depression.

What was the worst decade in the 1930s?

The Great Depression was a social and economic disaster that brought misery to millions worldwide, making the 1930s one of the worst decades in history.