The real learning:
Wealthy children could stay home rather than attending grammar school, but children from less wealthy family attend. Grammar school is known as the most common form of schooling for children in the Elizabethan era.
The first age group consisting of 7-10 would be taught by ushers, junior masters or senior pupils. The boys would begin learning latin with the aid of a well-known textbook, Lily's Latin Grammar. This textbook written by William Lily was chosen as the sole grammar textbook for students by Henry VIII. |
These students followed a set routine by age:
- At age 7 students learned parts of speech including verbs and nouns.
- At age 8 students would learn grammar rules and sentence structure
- At age 9 students focus on English-latin translation.
The second age group consisted of students aged 10-14. The ushers would no longer teach students at this age, instead masters would teach the students in many specific fields. Some of the taught fields were:
- Latin to English translation
- Literature
- Greek studies
- Arithmetic
The 44 weeks that students were extremely repetitive with a basic week format followed each week. This basic week might appear:
After 4 long years of grammar school, at the age of 14 students would be sent to university.
- Monday, an examination of the previous sermon
- Tuesday, curriculum
- Wednesday, curriculum
- Thursday, curriculum
- Friday, examinations and punishments
- Saturday, study of Christian faith and literature
After 4 long years of grammar school, at the age of 14 students would be sent to university.