Students always ask how it all begin, why should we “suffer” by doing endless homework and studying so many subjects? Please read some fascinating things bellow. Especially about the Great Teacher, who invented it all: semesters, homework, even school brakes.

Education began on man's first day on earth. Before there were written words (the Pre-literate era), everything humans learned was passed on by word-of-mouth.
3000 B.C. Egyptian "temple schools." Priests teach religion, writing, sciences.
2000 B.C. First formal schools in China.
1500 B.C. Priests in India teach religion, writing, philosophy, sciences.
550 B.C. Confucious, revered Chinese teacher and philosopher. Much of Chinese society today is based on his teachings of basic morality. Emphasized importance of goodness, kindness, generosity and respect for elders.
400 B.C. Sophists, wandering teachers in Greece, taught people how to argue through logic. Great philosopher Socrates teaches in public squares to anyone who will listen/argue. He puts higher value on finding "truth," rather than simply winning arguments, and encourages people to think for themselves.
387, 355 B.C. Plato & Aristotle establish schools in Athens. Plato's school called the "Academy." Both schools focus on truth. Plato writes The Republic, outlines his vision of perfect society and education based on social standing.
100 B.C. Organized education curriculum Romans named Cicero and Quintilian have ideas that are still in use today's Western society. Cicero says that education should be broad in arts & sciences. Quintilian says education should be based on student's ability to learn.
0 B.C./A.D. Jesus teaches in Jerusalem. In most of the above mentioned teaching methods- students were required to memorize all the learned material, it was too expensive, and very labor intense to produce text books. Yet, every single book at ancient times- was worth a FORTUNE! Only few had access to books.
500 A.D. Nalanda, great Buddhist university in India, home to over 10,000 students. Largest "resident" place of learning in history at the time. Subjects included religious study, as well as philosophy, grammar, medicine.
999 A.D. Avicenna, Iranian leading thinker on medicine writes The Canon of Medicine. This work and others by Arab, North African, and Spanish thinkers has great impact on European education ideas.
1000 A.D. Arabic learning. Europeans learn an Arabic number system, still used in the West today.
Priests teach religion, writing, sciences.
1100 A.D. Scholastics, a movement that helped bridge differences between purely religious teachings and philosophical and scientific thinking.
1500 The Renaissance through 17th century. Period of renewed interest in learning begins. Italy is especially active during this time. More women begin to pursue education, although it is still out of reach for most men and women. Many important texts in mathematics translated into useable language, aiding study and development of science.
1620s Slide rule is invented, math is made easier.

WHO WAS THAT FIRST TEACHER , OFFERING EDUCATION FOR KIDS?

Have you ever heard of Jan Amos Comenius, or Komensky in his native Czech? . He wrote over 154 books in his lifetime . He was an amazing and prolific educator, and has been stamped “The Father of Modern Education.”
Born March 28, 1592, orphaned early, educated at the universities of Herborn and Heidelberg, Comenius began working as a pastor and parochial school principal in 1618, the year the Thirty Years war began. After the defeat of the Protestant armies in the Battle of White Mountain— one of the most disastrous events in Czech history—he barely escaped with his life while enemy soldiers burned down his house. Later, his young wife and two small children died of the plague. For seven years he lived the life of a fugitive in his own land, hiding in deserted huts, in caves, even in hollow trees. Early in 1628 he joined one of the small groups of Protestants who fled their native Moravia to await better times in neighboring Poland. He never saw his homeland again For 42 years of his long and sorrowful life he roamed the countries of Europe as a homeless refugee. He was always poor. His life was characterized by constant moving, despair and turmoil (this was part of the reason his second wife became ill and died). His contributions to the educational scene are immeasurable in many ways, and, as stated before, he is deemed the “Father of Modern Education.” He answered the question “Is there a way to teach children pleasantly, but quickly at the same time?” in a most biblical and helpful manner. The various schools of his day thought this was impossible. They leaned upon corporeal discipline to the extreme, and neglected the teaching of girls altogether. Children in Comenius day were trained to repeat memorized very boring Latin vocabulary , but they were not taught to think well. If one cannot think well, how can they learn or understand a given proposition? Education for Comenius stretches beyond the boundaries of the classroom and encompasses all of life. "Comenius was the first to conceive the full-scale science of education". His educational objective can be summed up in the phrase on the title page of The great didactic, "teaching thoroughly all things to all men". He is also considered to be the first educator to have put forward the concept of international education. His ideas on education for everyone and for all peoples, and on the international organization of public education make him a forerunner of many modern institutions and trends of thought. Comenius’s efforts on behalf of universal education earned him the title of "Teacher of Nations".

EDUCATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF COMENIUS:

1. PRE-SCHOOL TRAINING. He recommended sense training for the pre-school child. Children must be enrolled at the age of 6-8.
2. CURRICULUM. Comenius proposed a curriculum for primary elementary education that is used in the primary grades today.
3. SUBJECTS RECOMMENDED. He recommended the study of science and social studies in the secondary school.
4. METHOD. He emphasized the fact that learning comes through the senses. The teacher must adapt his methods to this principle. Whenever possible the teacher must be concrete, permit the child to observe for himself, and arrange for the child to have direct experience in learning by doing.
5. THE SCHOOL. Comenius suggested that the school experience be made as pleasant as possible. He proposed that the school year be limited to forty-two weeks, with three school brakes throughout the school year. The teacher should use of play in teaching children, and that the school surroundings be made as attractive as possible.
6.DISCIPLINE. Comenius proposed a modern theory of discipline in which the burden rests with the teacher to provide the interest and atmosphere in which the child will wish to learn. The child must understand the reason for rules. When all this fails, punishment must not be associated with schoolwork.
March 28, the birthday of Comenius, is celebrated as Teachers' Day in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic.
The Comenius Medal, one of UNESCO’s most prestigious awards honouring outstanding achievements in the fields of education research and innovation, is named after him.

A FEW QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO ANSWER:

1 Do you believe teachers today as highly respected by their students, or by society, as it was in the past?
2. Do we really need to learn it all : arts and science many subjects in School?
3. Should the Punishment be brought back to school for kids, or better yet for teachers?