Page 28 - SYTYGIB_Aztec

education
Let,s get one thing straight RIGHT now. Learning. Stuff. Is. Good.
You’re reading this book, right? Well, that means you’re learning. And it’s FuN, FuN, FuN! Unless you’re reading it while swimming in a ShArK-iNfEsTeD paddling pool wearing a jacket made of sAuSaGeS, which is sTuPiD, sTuPiD, sTuPiD!
But of course, some types of learning, education and schoolwork are more enjoyable than others. Doing a science experiment which results in the whole school being engulfed in a tidal wave of purple foam is very exciting and highly amusing. A mountain of dull homework? Not so much.
But if you have oodles of extra work to do and you think YoU’vE GoT iT BaD, guess what . . .
An Aztec book called the Codex Mendoza suggests school didn’t begin properly until children were aged
14 or 15. Before then, Aztec kids were taught by their parents. They learned good manners, discipline, honesty and important jobs to help the household.
I can´t wait till playtime.
But once they were a bit older, there were two types of school available – one for rich kids and one for poorer youngsters. And neither was a stroll in the park.
Is it time to study yet?
The one for children
of nobles and wealthy merchants was called the calmecac, and pupils – boys, that is – had to sweep up, gather firewood, prepare meals and do tiring farm work. Oh, and they had to study, too, of course. Some historians think there were separate calmecacs for girls, or at least separate wings.
It was where children trained to be priests
and priestesses and was connected to a temple run by a High Priest.
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