Windows provided the light in a school. Students often worked in dimly lit classrooms.
Sometimes oil lamps were used for light. In some schools the lamps were mounted on the walls.
Schools with windows on two sides had more light available.
The first schools were poorly heated. The buildings were cold and drafty in the winter. There was little equipment for the teacher.
Basic items were a desk and chair for the teacher, desks or benches and tables for the students, blackboards,
chalk, brushes, slates and a few books.
HEATING THE SCHOOL - STOVES
Before stoves were available, schoolhouses were heated by a fireplace.
Sometimes a wood stove was made from a metal barrel. The barrel was placed on its side and metal pipes
connected the barrel to the chimney. Parents supplied the wood as payment for their child's schooling.
Students helped to bring in wood from the woodpile.
A popular stove used for heating one-room schools was the pot belly stove.
The stove was placed in the centre of the room.
Students sitting close to the stove were hot while students who sat further away complained of the cold.
The teacher or an older student lit the stove before school began so the room had time to warm up.
If it was too cold indoors everyone wore their coats till it warmed up.
pot belly stove
Later a larger stove (or heater) was placed at the back of the classroom. The stove was connected to the chimney by
large overhead stovepipes. The stovepipes also helped to warm up the classroom.
a stove in the centre of the classroom
source (larger photo)
DESKS
The teacher sat at a wooden table or desk in the front of the classroom.
The first desks for students were just wooden benches (without backs) and tables. The benches were very uncomfortable.
Some teachers had the boys sit on one side of the room and girls on the other side.
The youngest children sat at the front of the room.
By the early 1900s tables and benches were replaced by desks.
The desks were bolted to the floor.
Students of Melness School near Floral SK
seated at desks with teacher at blackboard 1905
BLACKBOARDS
Blackboards were a very important teaching tool. Blackboards were used by both the teacher and the students for assignments and for working out math problems. Some blackboards were made of slate, some were just smooth boards painted black.
PAPER
Paper was hard to get and expensive. So children used slates to do their work. Slates were like small blackboards. Cloth rags were used to clean the slates.
Slate pencils made of chalk or soapstone were used to write with.
When parents could afford to buy paper, the paper was made into a notebook. The paper was folded into pages and sewn together.
Brown wrapping paper may have served as a cover to protect the pages. Then lines were drawn to create ruled paper. The paper was brownish in colour, not white like the paper we use today.
PENS AND INK
Sharpened quills dipped in ink were used for handwriting. The quills were made from large goose feathers.
Trying to write with a quill pen could be messy. Ink drops made ugly blots on the page. Pens with detachable nibs were preferred.
Ink was made by mixing ink powder with water. If families could not afford to buy ink powder they made ink.
Later, lead pencils were available.
BOOKS
The first schools had very few books. Children were asked to bring whatever books they had at home. If there were no text books, the teacher would write notes and assignments on the blackboard.
Children learned to read and write using text books called primers. A primer contained the letters of the alphabet,
numbers, some spelling words, simple stories and poems. (link - a page from a primer)
There were different levels of readers. The readers contained poems, stories and lessons in nature and history.
The Bible was also used for reading. Aesop’s Fables were popular because the stories were short and each story taught a moral lesson.
COAT HOOKS, WASH STAND, DRINKING WATER
At the entrance there were hooks for the outdoor clothing and shelves for the lunch pails.
There was a bench or a stand for a washbasin and a pail of water.
Students washed their hands with soap and water. One hand towel was shared by everyone.
Since there was no running water, pails of water were brought from a well or from a nearby stream.
Students took turns getting water. Drinking water was kept in a container or pail and all the students used the same metal dipper or drinking cup.
OTHER SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Clocks were expensive so not every school had one.
Maps or a globe were used for teaching geography and history.
A pointer stick was for pointing to the blackboard or a map.
A yardstick (ruler) and an abacus were for teaching arithmetic.
