Today I got to chaperone a field trip with the boys to Armley Mills in Leeds. We got to see the old wool machines and sewing machines and yarn ones. And the boys also got to experience a Victorian School for the day. They children lined up by height and in rows. The teacher, I can't even remember her name now, was very strict and told them all the rules before heading down to the classroom. The boys wore vests and the girls pinafore aprons/dress. She gave them all a penny from the 1800s for them to pay to attend school and for the supplies as the children in the Victorian age would have done.
Then they entered the classroom in a very orderly fashion and were so silent. I don't know if it was just fear, but no child spoke (unless spoken to like she asked) and they all sat up straight, hands folded behind their backs while she instructed them, all rose their hands and stand to answer and answered with a "yes, mum" at the end. It was very different than most of the kids' behavior on the bus ride.
The kids were so good and obeyed very well.
They even got to pray in school for Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, their children and the country. Certainly not something they do in US schools, but they do pray in the British schools.
They learned maths with shillings, pennies, pounds and had to write things on their slates. She said that Benjamin (Joseph, the kids all had to pick Victorian names) was the most promising pupil and they would recommend him to be a clerk in the store or an office. (Pennies were denoted by a d back then,12 pennies in a shilling, 20 shillings in a pound-I didn't know that. Some small villages still write things with shillings, but usually it's just pence and pounds now.)
For science they learned about wool and had to guess lots of things about it and learned different typesof sheep, the Black Welsh, Swaledale and Wensleydale . I even learned from that.
She would often say, "Sit up, no slouching, it will indeed give you a curved spine which is terrible indeed." And, "Some of you have been out with the measles, you have much to learn. I trust no one is poorly today." "You shift workers sit up straight, no nodding off in lessons." I thought it was funny that many were "out with the influenza and the measles"-that's happening again today.
The kids also worked on their writing and the ink was messy but they blotted very well.
It was really interesting learning about what things were like from notebooks where people wrote their experiences. Most talked about the cane, no talking, very strict teachers but still mostly kind, going out in the cold to the toilets and them being frozen. I even knew one of the ladies who wrote something for it. So funny!
Queen Victoria. I didn't realize she had 9 children and was the model for marriage and family life for people then.
Then they had "movement time" which they still do today during classes. Eliza's school does it daily, just little exercises that they can do at their seats.
And then they learned about discipline methods used back then (& not that long ago from my reading).
It was a really fun experience for them I think and made them grateful that they weren't running between the mills trying to pick scraps up for 13 hours a day from the age of 6, then school for half the day. It would have been hard to be a child then.
Lexie made me my lunch today and left a note.
I thought this was funny as Joseph and Andrew are making the same silly face.
Just neat old business signs.
The old mill.
Layken and Joseph on the way back.
And Andrew also. I was glad I could go with them on a field trip, it doesn't happen too often lately that I can go (although they go on one at least once a month) and they sure are fun.
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