So, You Only Got an 8th Grade Education?
Submitted by Albert Warren
8th Grade Education, 1895

Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. 

Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895? This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, KS, USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th GRADE FINAL EXAM
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no  Modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of  lie, lay and run
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?
8 Find bank discount on $300 for! 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U. S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U. S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln,  Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800,  1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography,  etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connect! ion with a word:  bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver,
Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall &Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Also notice that the exam took five hours to complete.

Gives the saying "she/he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?

What happened to us????   It is kind of humbling! , isn't it ??

I'm Not Using My Geometry
By Iona Hoeppner

I started hearing the argument in Junior high. "Why do we have to study ______ subject. We're never going to use it in real life." I wasn't too adamant about it then, but when I landed in Geometry during my very busy Sophomore year, it really took hold.

The funny thing about it was I really liked Geometry. I fussed about it because it was cool to protest... and because the course required homework and I had other plans for my after school hours.

History was another story. I hated it! I was also sure it was inaccurate. I tried my best to get out of these two required subjects. Thankfully, I was not successful.

I'm not using my (mostly forgotten) geometry skills today and I am now even more certain that High School history texts are inaccurate and slanted, but I am indeed a better citizen, neighbor, wife and mother for having studied these and other mandated subjects.

Math trains the brain in reason and logical conclusion; it lends discipline to thought. History requires mixing rote memory with political thought formation and leads us to better make choices in our lives and society.

Education is mental exercise and no matter what the subject, the brain is better for it. The object of all those courses we take at the varied levels is to teach us to learn, think, work with information, and these goals can actually be greater than the goal of acquiring knowledge on the particular discipline approached.

All too often, parents support their kids who want to rush through High School and "get on with their lives." I firmly believe we do a disservice to our youth by lowering standards, reducing requirements and making excuses.

I recall a young man we know who wanted to work in the yard for us. He had just graduated from High School. He could not figure the amount of fertilizer for our yard because he had no clue how to come up with the square footage, even after I told him it was 100'X300' Folks, that's a Middle School math problem! By the way, this young man was not a special ed student.

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