Victorian Kitty Schools

Many kitties in early Victorian times never got to go to school at all and more than half of them grew up unable even to read or write, which was distressing because we know how much kitties love to read the great books. Cats from rich families were luckier than poor kitties but most kitties were poor in those times. The wealthier kitties had toys and books and an elder would  teach the little ones at home. Then, when the male cats were old enough, they were sent away to a bigger school similar to Eton or Rugby for humans. The girl kitties were kept at home and taught medodious mewing, music playing and cuddling. Slowly, things changed for poorer kitties too. By the end of the Victorian age all kitties usually got to go to school. Now they all could learn how to read and paw-write and how to count properly.

 
School room

A Victorian school could be quite a grim building with rooms that were warmed by a single stove or open fire. The walls of a Victorian schoolroom were quite bare, except perhaps for a good scratching post. Curtains were used to divide the schoolhouse into classrooms and it was a task to keep the younger kitties from climbing! The meows of several classes competed as they were taught side by side. There was little fresh air  because the windows were built high in the walls, to stop kitties from looking outside and being distracted from their work. Many schools were built between 1837 and 1901. In the country you would see barns being converted into schoolrooms and the kitties especially loved these...all those hiding places to explore.
 

Teachers

Kitties were often scared of their teachers because they were very strict. Sometimes older cats helped the teacher to control the class. These “pupil teachers” scribbled notes for their lessons in books .They received certificates which helped them qualify as teachers when they were older. In schools before 1850 you might see a single teacher instructing a class of over 100 cats with help of pupils called “monitors”. Tuna pay was low, and there were more female cats teaching  than male. The poor conditions in schools simply made health conditions bad at times. Sometimes, teachers were attacked by angry parent cats. They meowed that their offspring should be at work catching mice, not wasting time at school. Teachers in rough areas had to learn to box!

Lessons

Victorian lessons concentrated on the “three Rs”-Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. Kitties learned by reciting things like parrots, until they were word perfect. They daydreamed of chasing mice and watching birds but they kept on. It was not an exciting form of learning! Science was taught by “object lesson”. Mice, models of trees, sunflowers , stuffed d*gs, crystals, wheat or pictures of birds were placed on each kitty’s desk as the subject for the lesson. The object lesson was supposed to make cats observe, then mew about what they had seen. Unfortunately, many teachers found it easier to chalk up lists describing the object, for the class to copy. Geography meant yet more copying and reciting - listing the countries on a globe. If you look at a timetable from late in the 1800s and you will see a greater number of subjects, including the art of purring, victorian foods and mousetraps.

Slates and copybooks

Kitties learned to paw on slates, they scratched letters on them with sharpened pieces of slate. Paper was expensive, but slates could be used again and again. Kitties were supposed to bring sponges to clean them. Most just spat on the slates, and rubbed them clean with their paws.

Abacus

The kitties used an abacus to help them with their maths. Calculations were made using imperial weights and measures instead of our simpler metric system. Cats had to pass inspections in maths, reading and writing before they could move up to the next class or “standard”. Teachers were also tested by the dreaded inspector, to make sure that they deserved government funds.

Dunce's Cap

Bad kitties had to sit at the back of the class! They usually used this time to nap. The teacher then took a tall, cone-shaped hat decorated with a large “D”, and placed it on the cats head. Today we know that some kitties learn more slowly than others. Victorian teachers believed that all cats could learn at the same speed, and if some fell behind then they should be punished for not trying hard enough.
 

Drill

When its time for PE or “drill”, a pupil teacher starts playing an out-of-tune piano . The kitties prance and stretch in time to the awful music. It was like a Victorian aerobics class! Even when the teacher rings a heavy , brass bell to announce the end of school, the kitties march out to the playground in perfect time

Playtime

Outside the classroom is a small yard crowded with meowing kitties. Games of chase the mousie, birds and butterflies, hide-and-seek and high-leap are in full swing.