The start of this school year reminds me of kindergarten in 1949: the smell of the classroom’s new crayons, chalk, erasers and chalk boards, and a sand box on a table in the corner.

There were easels, jars of paint and paint brushes much smaller than the ones Momma used to paint our bathroom.

We were the first ones there.

Momma reminded me to use my good manners, then we met the teacher.

She checked my name off the list, wrote it on a tag and safety-pinned it to my new dress that Momma made. Then she gave me the job of Greeter.

I welcomed new students, made friends and consoled those who missed their mommas.

“We get juice and cookies!” I told them, but left out that we’d have to take naps.

By the first and second grades we were given Big Chief tablets. Their spines made wonderful new sounds when you opened them, and the lined pages smelled almost as good as our freshly sharpened pencils.

Penmanship later became my favorite subject in the third or fourth grades. They called it longhand back then, and if they’d called it cursive as they do today, I probably would have thought it was one of Daddy’s bad words.

It’s strange to me that children now aren’t encouraged to use cursive in school because it’s much faster than to print, but then, what do I know?

I know that this year’s pre-k and kindergarteners are in for treats that weren’t even invented in 1949. They’ll learn to use classroom computers and Smart Boards, and still enjoy the smell, but not eat, crayons and Elmer’s glue.

Today’s young children will also have to take more than a love for cookies and their good manners their first school day. Most are required to take a backpack, dry erase markers, baby wipes and hand sanitizers.

We didn’t have those things 70 years ago, but did have a most important item that’s still required for four- and five-year-olds: a change of clothes.