The Life Of A Child In Colonial Connecticut

Growing up as a child in Colonial Connecticut was very different from life today.

The Little Red School House, located on the grounds of Middle Gate Elementary School at 7 Cold Spring Road, will be open for children and adults to explore schooling in a one-room schoolhouse when Newtown Historical Society hosts its next Open House-Living History Demonstration.

History Camp Leaders Nannette Maturi and Nancy Bocian will talk about the one-room school in Newtown’s history. For more than 100 years the one-room school was the backbone of rural American education

The historical society acquired the Little Red School House in 1968 and relocated the structure from its original site on Toll Gate Hill (now Route 25) to it present location. Accurately preserved, the school was restored with a new cedar roof, rafter repair, and window rebuilding.

The schoolhouse will be open for visits on Sunday, September 21, from 1 to 4 pm.

Visitors on Sunday afternoon will hear about the education that was provided and the chores that kids would have been expected to perform. Junior docents will challenge visitors with colonial games of hoops, Graces, marbles, jacks, and checkers.