When we've got this composition for homework, I thought that this topic wasn't very interesting. But I was wrong. I phoned my grandparents in Bjelovar to ask them about the time when they were going to school...And it revealed that that had been a really interesting time...
             First of all, I found out that children who lived in the town (like my grandma) were treated entirely differently than children who lived in the village (like my grandpa). All of them started to attend school at the age of 7. When they finished elementary school, four years later, they could choose: go to high school or stay at home. In most cases, parents decided instead of their children. If you lived in the village, chances for you to continue your education were almost none. Fortunately, my grandfather's parents knew the value of knowledge, so they enabled my grandpa to continue school. In elementary school they learned how to read, write and count. At first, they had a slate and a little chalky stone. At the bottom of the slate was a little sponge or a piece of cloth. They didn't have to make the cloth themselves. Usually, they bought it, or their mother gave them one. In the second term of the first grade, they got a notebook with lines and they had to do the calligraphy in it. Instead of a pencil, they used a pen and ink. Their desk and chair made one piece of furniture and there was a hole in the desk where they put a bottle with ink in it. They didn't have any written tests during their school and they were examined just four times a year. The teachers were really strict. The punishments were terrible. In elementary school, boys had to lean over the first desk and get off their pants, so the teacher could beat their ass. They were usually switched or beaten with something like a whip. My grandpa was punished just once, but it hurt him so much that he remembers is even now. My grandma says that in her school there
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