Toronto's Heritage Schoolhouse

School Programs

A visit to the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, Toronto's first free school, is a unique museum experience. It is a journey back in time where today's children can experience first-hand the life of a working class child in 19th century Toronto.

From the moment they step through the Schoolhouse door, students see and feel what it was like to be a schoolchild in the Victorian era: the wooden desks, the slates, the discipline and the starched collars and pinafores. "Mrs. Henderson" commands their attention as she tells them what children learned in school 150 years ago.

All Schoolhouse programs feature role playing and hands-on learning. Teachers praise the program and many bring their classes every year.

School Days – Then and Now

90 minutes
$5.00 per student
This program is geared towards younger students, grades 1-3. The students, dressed in pinafores for the girls and collars for the boys, become students of 150 years ago. The Schoolmistress, in period costume, leads them in several subjects, such as reading, writing on slates. All Schoolhouse programs feature role playing and hands-on learning. Teachers praise the program and many bring their classes every year. A grade 3 teacher wrote: "They will not forget this experience because they were fully immersed in the activity. Thank you for the wonderful experience! I'd highly recommend this outing to my colleagues."

In Mrs. Henderson's Class

90 minutes
$5.00 per student
This program is excellent for the pioneer life strand of the grade 3 Social Studies curriculum, but can be adapted to any grade level. Your students are transported to Mrs. Jane Henderson's schoolroom of 1858. Their lessons are just like those taught here at the Schoolhouse 150 years ago: they read the very same stories that the Irish immigrant children read, write on slates, and learn about geography through maps of that time. They have an "object lesson", learning first hand from objects (a very popular form of education that all the children took part in). Even break time features the games of that period. This program is designed for grade 3 classes.

3-in-1 Program

Full day           
$5.00 per student

(Please note: separate payment to each museum is required)                                    
You can fill a school bus or a streetcar for a full-day learning experience. This program combines the "School Days – Then and Now" with a 90-minute visit to the Redpath Sugar Museum. Included is a self-directed walking tour through one of Toronto's oldest districts and lunch room facilities at the Market Gallery. At the Redpath Sugar Museum, your students will experience the world of Toronto today in a fascinating look at modern industry and technology in our city.