How would grandmother get author ready for school ?

She used to wake him up and get him ready for school. she said her morning prayer while she bathed and dressed him in the hopes that he will learn it. the author listened because he liked her voice but never bothered to learn it. then she would fetch his wooden slate, which she had already washed and plastred with yellow chalk, a tiny earthen ink pot and a red pen, tied in a bundle and handed it to him