A hornbook.
Make a primer, do exercises, and play games in a one-room schoolhouse.
North Carolina Fifth Grade Goal 2.06.
In early America, schools used hornbooks to instruct students. The hornbook was a piece of paper glued to a piece of wood with a handle.
If you shave a layer from a cow horn, it is clear. It can be used to protect a piece of paper. Hornbooks were covered with a thin layer of horn. This is why they were called a hornbook.
A hornbook might have many types of lessons, such as writing, reading, arithmetic, geography, spelling, and others.
A hornbook could also be used as a paddle to play games. The modern game of badminton was played using with a hornbook and ball. It was called battledore and shuttlecock.
What do you think it was like to learn in a colonial school? Without government support, how did people get an education? Do you think it would education would be better or worse in colonial times?
Did you enjoy the battledore game? How could you learn to play better?
