04/10/2024
It's Thursday...
When I was a nursery school child, i used to wake up at 7 am and went to school at 8 am.
Going to school was fun.
Together with the children of our neighbours, we would stroll down the path to school, picking leaves and flowers and staring at colourful birds.
We would also pick stones and pelt at lizards and geckos.
We would meet adults who would greet us cheerfully,
"Whose child are you?"
"Work hard."
"Teacher will punish you for walking slowly."
Strapped around our shoulders were well-knit colourful hobo shoulder bags. In the bag was a small pencil, a rubber, and four half-sized books. One book was for Mathematics; the other three were for English, Kiswahili and mother tongue.
We would walk barefoot in the morning dew, kicking cans, guavas, and papers, and stepping on stubborn insects.
Then, when we arrived at school, which was at around 9 am, the school assembly would be over, and the first lesson in the upper classes would be going on.
The lower-class pupils would be singing rhymes, reciting mnemonics, and dancing during their early lessons.
The nursery class was a distance from the other blocks; therefore, we did not interact with the other pupils except during break time in the main school field.
Our nursery lessons were about singing the alphabet, reciting mnemonics, role-playing, and dancing to singing games.
We had two teachers, a man and a woman. Mrs Kendagor and Mr Nderitu.
In class, we would write on our books while those not skilled in writing were given coloured chalk to write on the cement floor so that they could master the skill of writing.
At midday, we would go to the field and sing "Oringo Bayaya" and "Baba Blackship" as we danced around a circle.
Then after 30 minutes, we would run back to our class to be served sugarless fermented porridge and sweet potatoes, or if the President Moi's milk was delivered, we would be given a packet each and drink with sweet potatoes or boiled beans.
