Fun And Games At Old Middle Gate Schoolhouse

By Nancy K. Crevier

The Newtown Historical Society sponsored a morning of colonial games and school classes, Sunday, September 18, at the old Middle Gate School House, on Cold Spring Road. Children and adults were welcomed from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm to take part in “classes” based on what a schoolroom would have been like in the early part of the 19th Century, led by “schoolmaster” Dan Wolinsky and “school mistress” Barbara Wilson.

Along with learning about the rules that governed the school day — “Wash your feet if they are bare,” and “Bring firewood into the classroom for the stove whenever the teacher tells you to” among them — the students learned about the humiliating punishments doled out to disobedient students.

The dunce cap was worn by a student unable to properly answer the teachers’ questions, and a talkative student might find him or herself with the student’s hair pegged to the wall, forcing the student to stand on tiptoe, until released by the teacher. Other punishments included standing with the nose stuck into a knot hole in the wall or holding a piece of wood in one’s mouth. Spanking a child or rapping the knuckles with the ruler were common practices of the teachers of that era, Ms Wilson told the horrified modern day children in attendance on Sunday.

Children in attendance at the old Middle Gate School classes on Sunday also had the opportunity to make a mock horn book, with the assistance of Mr Wolinsky. A horn book was a “reusable workbook” from the days when paper was too expensive for classroom work. A sheer piece of horn was placed over preprinted words and letters. Children could trace over the letters, and erase the piece of horn when they were finished, he explained.

Outside the antique school house, other Newtown Historical Society docents led children in games, and demonstrated toys of the colonial time period. Among those games played on Sunday were graces (a hoop toss game), hoop rolling, sack racing, string games, and pick up sticks. Games from colonial times had a purpose, explained literature passed out by the docents. Games taught children “how to problem solve, do things with their hands, follow directions and rules, be fair, and how to wait your turn.” Toys were made of natural materials available, and families often left children to mind themselves — after chores were done.­