![]() ![]() However, slate pencils make a shrieking noise as they are drawn over the slate, so the children did not work in silence!ĭiscipline was very strict in Victorian schools and children were supposed to keep very quiet. The advantage of slates over paper was that they could be wiped clean and used again and again.Ĭhildren had to bring a dampened cloth or sponge to school so that they could clean the slate and start again but often they would use their own spit and the cuff of their sleeve! This process is the origin of the phrase 'to wipe the slate clean', which we still use to mean to make a new start, or to forget the things that have gone before.ĭiscipline was very strict in Victorian schools and children were supposed to keep very quiet. This slate pencil was often sharpened on the school wall. A slate pencil (not chalk) was used to form the letters. The board was made from a piece of quarry slate set in a wooden frame. When about seven, they progressed onto writing on slates like the one pictured here. ![]() My friends and I will be visiting Huntington Beach’s annual Civil War event this Labor Day weekend.In Victorian schools, very young children first learned to write their letters in sand trays using their fingers or a stick. PBS’s School: The story of American Education While researching for this article I found the following history sources, although I know nothing about them and this is not an endorsement. The ones you might find there would be chalkboards rather than slates anyway – particle board painted with chalkboard paint rather than an actual piece of slate. They are still widely available on auction sites like ebay where you can get an antique slate and the pencils, but don’t look for them at you local craft store because they are no longer the “in thing” to decorate apparently. and said that he had a slate- thra beyond the time I have menpencil in his. The slate was phased out in the 20th century as paper making became less expensive. Here, gentlemen, should not be allowed to remain in is a slate - pencil. If you don’t like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, plug your ears when learning to write with a slate pencil on a slate! The scratching sound is something like a cat catching its tail under a rocking chair’s runner. Chalk was also available which was softer and easier to write with on slate. The softer the pencil, the fewer scratches it made into the slate surface, preserving the slate for a longer amount of usage. They were commonly wrapped in paper and slate pencils wrapped in wood (akin to a modern #2) were also available into the 20th century. Slate pencils were most common, and made from soapstone or of a softer grade of slate than the actual tablet was made. But! that was not the case in the 19th century. ![]() But, what did they write with? Until recently, I assumed “chalk of course!” because that is what the teachers of my childhood used on the chalkboard. School children had a slate which they carried back and forth from home to school. And now you know where that saying comes from… Once the work was reviewed at the student’s desk, the slate was wiped clean and new work commenced. There was just too much chance something would be erased accidentally. A teacher could walk around the room and review a student’s progress much like today, but assignments couldn’t practically be collected and then returned at the end of the session with a grade. Both sides of the slate would have been used as a work surface.īecause the slate was for temporary work, memorization was crucial for learning and in passing examinations. Slates could be bound in a book to protect the surface, and smaller 3×5 slates were available for adults to jot notes and work math on. The average size was 8×10 once encased in the frame. Many students remember the sound of the slate pencil - like nails on a chalkboard. Slate is a type of stone you might have seen used as stepping stones or patio paving, but in the 19th century, the stone was “flaked” into thin sheets and then cut to size. Slate pencils were made of soapstone or softer pieces of slate rock, sometimes wrapped in paper like this one. Paper would have been reused to start the fire. Is How to stop eating slate pencil your major concern Solve your problem quick & easy with online consultation. Now that really turns our modern concept of school supplies on its head, doesn’t it!? But, in perspective, a slate was a one-time purchase, and for practicing at something such as penmanship or arithmetic, it wasn’t practical to keep the work. Many sources reference the fact that paper was expensive while slate was inexpensive. But, who exactly knows the how and they why of the slate? We all know (somehow, by osmosis perhaps) that a slate is a chalkboard. If you have stumbled across this site because you were browsing historical topics, at some point you likely have come across references to school children using slates to perform their work.
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