Since schooling for kids first became compulsory in the early 1800s, American education has faced a whole lot of challenges. Today we’re enduring a new one thanks to coronavirus closures. As the classroom moves into the living room, many parents feel totally unprepared to take on the role of teacher. To build your homeschooling confidence and put this current epidemic into context, here are five crises in education that you may have forgotten about—and five inspiring ideas for keeping it together during this one. We made it through those trying times, and we’ll get through this, too. 
During World War II, Girl Guides (the British version of our Girl Scouts) stepped in to teach younger children when grown women were called to do other duties. In the photo above, 14-year-old Sheila Burr and 12-year-old Olive Taylor covered for teachers who had to accompany children who were evacuated to the countryside to escape bombings. 
When an outbreak of polio hit the country in 1944, many schools delayed the start of the school year to slow transmission. Kids were encouraged to take “audio lessons” broadcast over local radio airwaves in some areas, like the Chicago children in the photo above. Today, as coronavirus closes schools all over the country, Audible has made hundreds of kids’ titles free to stream at stories.audible.com. Teachers are also broadcasting lessons, stories and other activities on Facebook Live and other social platforms. Ms. Button, a third grade teacher in Portland, Oregon, for example, is reading aloud and assigning a math game every weekday at 2 pm from the Rose City Book Pub Facebook page. 
After the “Spanish flu” epidemic swept the globe in 1918, children’s health and safety became a bigger priority and teachers and other leaders experimented with new ways to keep kids safe. In the photo above, taken in 1925 in New York City, kids “enjoy” fresh cold air—thought to improve children’s health—in the classroom, wrapped in blankets. Earlier in the twentieth century, conditions for many American children were abysmal, especially in big cities. Poverty was widespread, and factory work and other jobs were prized more than education. That began to change with the establishment of the The Children’s Bureau”, tasked with investigating “all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes” in 1913. 
Many elementary school classrooms kick off the day with a “brain break” meditation, or offer a “peace place” or other cozy area where overstimulated kids can go to calm down and center themselves. Consider incorporating “quiet time”—like these American school kids with their heads on their desks in 1943—into your child’s daily schedule. Some quiet reading time in their room can give them a chance to release tension and even nap if they need to, while you have a much-needed moment to unwind. 
The baby boom after the end of World War II in America and some other western countries led to major overcrowding in schools a handful of years later. In England— where the schoolgirl above was snapped copying notes from a classmate in 1952—the increased birth rate led to classes bursting at the seams with up to 50 children. In the States, in 1959, educators reported having more than 1.8 million more children than normal enrolled in schools and that more than 100,000 new classrooms were needed. 
While core subjects like math and science are important, teachers around the world are reminding parents that just about anything can be turned into a learning experience for our kids. A walk down the block can double as a tour of local fauna and flora. A FaceTime chat with their pregnant auntie can lead to an age-appropriate discussion of human anatomy and the birds and bees, like this health class being taught in an Oregon junior high school in 1948. 
At the Barnard School in Washington, D.C., in 1955, these black and white school children learned together. It was just one year after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its unanimous decision in Brown vs. Board of Education that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional. But change didn’t happen overnight: It took 13 years and hundreds of lawsuits for all schools in the country to be integrated. 
Writing lines on a blackboard, like this Kentucky schoolboy circa 1960, was a favorite punishment for kids who acted up in class for generations. We may not have chalkboards in our living rooms, but we can take inspiration from this old-fashioned corrective measure to help our kids learn the new rules in their living-room schools. A kindergarten sibling who gets frustrated and hits her sister, for example, could spend time drawing the feelings that led to the smack, and three other choices she could make next time she feels the same way. 
Tensions with Russia have never been higher than they were during the 1950s and 1960s, the peak of the Cold War and threat of nuclear conflict. Starting in the early ‘50s, schools around the United States starting running “duck and cover” drills—like the one taking place in a Brooklyn, NY middle school in 1962, above—to teach students how to shelter in case of aftershocks from explosions. 
Take a cue from this super-colorful classroom at St. John Villa Academy Catholic School in Staten Island, New York, circa 1960. It’s easy to feel trapped when you’re working from home, teaching your kids at the kitchen table and are unable to host play dates or other gatherings. But vivid colors—and plenty of natural light—can help keep the mood a little brighter.
10 Retro Classroom Photos to Put You in a Homeschooling Mood
With schools closed, parents are scrambling to figure out distance learning and homeschooling for their kids. It’s a huge challenge; but here’s proof that we’ve faced some even bigger ones, and made it through OK.
