There are chores to do , with the girls sweeping the floor and wiping the big blackboard . The boys bring in small split logs for the pot-bellied stove that heats the big room and warms the baked potatoes some kids bring to eat for lunch or toss in a game of “ hot potato .”
Children willingly embrace — at least , for one day — the ritual courtesies of the Victorian classroom , such as bows and curtsies to their teacher , whom they greet in unison , “ Good morning , Miss Darby !” They sit quietly at their desks — girls on one side of the room , boys on the other — with their hands folded in front of them , silently raising their hands to be called on , then standing up next to their desks to give their answer .
The children go to the recitation bench at the front to say their memorized poems and multiplication tables , stand beside their desks to read didactic stories from McGuffey ’ s Reader , the most popular all-in-one textbook of the 19th century ( still in print today ). They all stand for spelling bees , sitting down one by one until the winner is declared . They learn some geography and local history too .
What do modern kids seem to find most intriguing ? The corporal punishments and humiliations long ago banned in public classrooms . Miss Darby wields her stick and switch with a light touch to the back of the hand or knees . Failure to bring firewood to school ? Go sit on the front stoop in the cold . Poor academic effort ? It ’ s the dunce cap and stool in the corner . A boy who laughs at the dunce must don a girl ’ s bonnet . A girl who laughs must stand with her nose touching the
blackboard ( inside a chalk circle ),
In addition to field trips from with her arms out straight in a T . public , parochial and private
A very few teachers and parents have requested that the his- D . C ., SSH is very popular with net-
schools in Maryland , Virginia and
toric punishments be omitted . Miss works of homeschooling parents , Darby will accommodate them , but some of whom have come from as she notes the authenticity of the far as West Virginia and Pennsylvania . And on weekends it hosts punishments — and the kids ’ delight in seeing them meted out . birthday parties and outings of
And what ’ s a school day local Scout groups . At Thanksgiving and Christmas students make without recess ? Here it ’ s spent in relay races , jumping rope , rolling wooden hoops , and playing with garlands made in class .
crafts and decorate a small tree baseball with sticks and fat black
SSH is the core educational walnuts , still in their husks . ( And program of Historic Medley District ( HMD ), a historical society using the outhouse out back .) Seneca Schoolhouse ( SSH ), based in Poolesville and named where field trip classes began in for Montgomery County ’ s Election District No . 3 , which coincides
1981 , is the longest-running and most active reenactment of its kind roughly with the northwestern in the Washington metropolitan side of today ’ s Agricultural Reserve , bounded by Seneca Creek , area , and historical groups from all around seek to emulate its success . the Potomac River and Sugarloaf
Built in 1865 with funds and materials gathered by the local community , the Seneca Schoolhouse provided education for local children until 1910 . Right : The Seneca Schoolhouse before its 1978- ’ 81 restoration , taken by James Reber . Above : Today ’ s children play at recess with wooden hoops from the past .