Childhood/Schooling

William was the third son of Mary and John Shakespeare. Little is known of Shakespeare's childhood but we do know that he went to school. Shakespeare went to The King's New School, records of him have been lost but he must have went there because the school was made specifically for the son's of citizens. The curriculum consisted of learning the English alphabet but mostly learning and understanding the Latin language. The school day was most of the day and was six days a week, there were breaks for eating and such but mostly they were learning all day long. Teachers back then used something called a birch to punish students who misbehaved. The first thing Shakespeare would have used to read and write (or so experts have inferred) was something called a horn book. A horn book was a small wooden frame with a handle that had the alphabet and the Lord's pray on a piece of parchment protected by a layer of horn. Shakespeare himself was a religious man but his community was protestant. Shakespeare went to school of that we are sure but he did get taken out sometime because of his family's financial problems. Most of what experts know about Shakespear's childhood has been inferred from documents and his schooling.