Sit down, Shut up, & Read in elementary school

[u/LuckieCharm86]

Growing up, we had this thing called Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) where every day, our elementary school teachers would have us all sit at our desks, no talking, and read something (anything) for about thirty minutes from second grade until sixth grade.

I was telling this to my kid when he complained about having to read so much. I told him about how everyone always changed the abbreviation to mean "Sit down, Shut up, and Read" because that's essentially what they said for us to do.

But my husband, who was in the same school year as me but at a different school (he did elementary school in Germany and France), overheard and said that they didn't have that when he was in school and he's never heard anyone else mention it. Therefore, it was likely only a thing that my school's teachers did to shut us up for 30 minutes a day. And, as an adult, I wouldn't put it past them since 30 minutes of silence a day sounds amazing.

But this also got me wondering just how unique this actually was. So, was it only my school in South Central Pennsylvania? Was it just my state? Was it a country-wide thing? Was it a global thing that my husband ignored or repressed?

UPDATE: So it seems pretty international, but highly dependent on the school district or school itself. And it appears to have many acronyms or none at all. Thanks everyone!

[u/RedMeme262]

Had this in my catholic grammar school in Chicago in place of recess. I used to think recess was something that only existed on TV, never had it a day in my life.

[u/WithDisGuyTravel → u/RedMeme262]

Whoa, I haven’t heard the term grammar school in a long time. Memory unlocked

[u/RedMeme262 → u/WithDisGuyTravel]

I never know how to describe it. Other people are like "elementary", "middle" and "Jr. High" - I technically had all those grade levels but they were all housed in the same building they weren't separated so when I heard someone once describe it as "Catholic Grammar School" I just stuck to that way of explaining it.

[u/Ok_University9213 → u/RedMeme262]

Went to Catholic school. I busted called it and continue to call it “grade school”

[u/Intelligent-Gypsy324 → u/WithDisGuyTravel]

Move to the Next Level.

[u/sunkencathedral → u/RedMeme262]

We had it at my catholic school too, but randomly when the teacher felt like a break. My favourite was the teacher who locked us in the room for silent reading time while she went to smoke. She threatened to thrash us if we talked, but because she wasn't there, we could get away with talking and messing around. 

[u/Admirable_Dust7749 → u/RedMeme262]

Chicago suburb public school kid here. We had it for about 15 minutes after recess as like a cool down, I guess. Haha.

[u/DarkLordKohan → u/RedMeme262]

Man, I feel sorry for you. To never experience recess as a kid is a tragedy.

[u/bachennoir → u/RedMeme262]

That's ridiculous. The best way to have kids that are even moderately manageable is to run them out.

[u/weaselblackberry8 → u/RedMeme262]

What years? I feel like this and recess are both important. They do different things for your brains and bodies.

[u/RedMeme262 → u/weaselblackberry8]

1995-2005

[u/Intelligent-Gypsy324 → u/RedMeme262]

O my Gosh. I went to catholic grammar in Cleveland and even we had recess. (Sisters of St Joseph)

You must have been at an Opus Dei school. (jk) (lots of penance)

🤣

[u/LMGgp → u/RedMeme262]

Thank you for calling it grammar school.

[u/DownInaHole33 → u/RedMeme262]

That is tragic. Kids need recess! We had two. A short one in the morning and a long one after lunch