Does barkcovered mean noisy?

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NewHopeR

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And "to be held back from the first grade" means "to repeat the first grade"?


Context:


School was a haven for me. I was thrilled to be away from
Mother. At recess I was a wild man. I blitzed through the
barkcovered playground, Looking for new, adventurous things
to do. I made friends easily and felt so happy to be at school.
One day in late spring, when I returned home from school,
Mother threw me into her bedroom. She then yelled at me,
stating I was to be held back from the first grade because I was a
bad boy. I did not understand. I knew I had more “happy face”
papers than anybody in the class. I obeyed my teacher and I felt
she liked me. But Mother continued to roar that I had shamed
the family and would be severely punished. She decided that I
was banned from watching television, forever. I was to go
without dinner and accomplish whatever chores Mother could
dream up. After another thrashing, I was sent to the garage to
stand until Mother called me to go to bed.
 

5jj

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No, it means covered in bark -meaning #1 here.
 
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charliedeut

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Hi,

It means literally that the floor/ground was covered with bark to absorb impact.

"Interestingly, the percentage of falls resulting in fractures is somewhat lower
for hard surfaces such as concrete and tarmac than for natural surfaces such as grass/earth, and
even proprietary impact absorbing surfaces such as sand, bark and woodchip, and rubber." From Playgrounds ~ risks, benefits and choices, Professor David J Ball, School of Health & Social Sciences, Middlesex University (2002). [the highlights are mine]

Greetings ,

charliedeut
 

Barb_D

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I expect he had to repeat kindergarten, and was not allowed to enter first grade. It's actually pretty common here, so that we have special combined "K/1" classes for the kids who just weren't ready to move up. It often had to do with emotional maturity and their ability to sit for an entire day instead of the half-day of kindergarten, and not whether they'd mastered any academic topics.
 

Rover_KE

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It would be better to hyphenate bark-covered.

Rover
 

Amigos4

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