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Schools

Second Graders Step Back in Time

Hornbooks and quills at the Hurlbutt Street Schoolhouse

The pupils waited patiently while the school marm passed out hornbooks.

Neither a horn nor a book, the paddle-shaped piece of wood helped young children learn their ABCs once upon a time. Instead, the name derives from the translucent bit of cow horn applied to the reader. 

"They didn't want messy, dirty, little kids messing it up," said Kathleen Castano, in period dress, as she played the part of a 19th century school marm.

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Earlier this week, Ms. Mallet's second-grade from Wilton's Miller-Driscoll School experienced what school was like 176 years ago when they visited the Hurlbutt Street Schoolhouse.

They learned punctuality ruled.

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"Even if it was a blizzard outside, you had to wait outside until we said you could come in," said Michelle Bies, the school marm. "You had to be on time."

The children learned that in 1834, when the school opened, there was more than one way to spell a word. It wasn't until Daniel Webster began work on a dictionary that people began paying attention to i before e except after c. 

Each autumn, second-grade children from Wilton and Westport schools visit the one-room school house. They learn to stand and nod their head before asking the teacher a question. And they learn to remain quiet between assignments.

A sharp rap on the desk met any display, however small, of unruliness.

"This is my favorite part," said Bies, joking that she'd love to bring the ruler home.

The children got a chance to work out some math problems on small slates. The sound of the stylus sent chills up more than one parent chaperone's spine.

After the children completed their work, they sat tall, hands folded across their desk, eyes to the front of the room.

They waited for good quills to make the rounds so they could practice their best penmanship.

"Neatness counted," said Castano. "It wasn't like today where there are computers. Penmanship was a reflection of how well schooled you were. It was a status symbol of sorts for education."

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