School Days:
It seems likely that during the school day, children would rise at sunrise (not wanting to be late since that would lead to a caning), work all day with a short break at lunch, and then home to be in bed by sunset for the next day. In ancient Rome, the school days were longer than most students now are used to. School was seven days a week for Roman students. However, even though there weren't any weekends off, there were many religious holidays where they didn't have to attend school that day. Children didn't have to go to schools on market days either, and they also had a summer holiday.
It seems likely that during the school day, children would rise at sunrise (not wanting to be late since that would lead to a caning), work all day with a short break at lunch, and then home to be in bed by sunset for the next day. In ancient Rome, the school days were longer than most students now are used to. School was seven days a week for Roman students. However, even though there weren't any weekends off, there were many religious holidays where they didn't have to attend school that day. Children didn't have to go to schools on market days either, and they also had a summer holiday.
Lessons:
Like some of our schools today, Roman schools were small, with one room, and one teacher. Roman schools were rarely an individual building, but were an extension of a shop- separated from the crowd by only a curtain. The teacher would always be male, and was in charge of teaching boys of ages about 7 to 11 or 12. Boys younger than 7 didn't attend school. The teacher was paid by the boys' parents, so school wasn't free. The boys would have to sit on stools or chairs, and the teacher had a chair with a back. Desks weren't used.
In school, boys were taught how to read, write, count, and calculate some numbers. They were taught Roman numerals, and recited lessons that they had memorized. Since books weren't avaliable at that time, and no one knew how to make paper in Europe, students would have to read from papyrus scrolls. Using wooden sticks, they scratched on wooden boards covered with wax, or they would use a metal stick on old broken pieces of pottery to practice their writing. Once the boys could show that they could write well, they were allowed to write on papyrus (an Ancient Egyptian method of papyrus leaves). The 'pens' that were used were quills, and the ink was a mixture of gum, soot, and sometimes even the ink from an octopus. The alphabe and lines from the Aeneid (a Latin poem, written by Virgil) were taught, the students were supposed to copy out what the teacher wrote. When learning math, children were taught their times tables. An abacus, or a frame set with rods on which balls or beads were moved, was used for making arithmetic calculations. Musical instruments and memorizing poetry was taught as well.
Boys were punished for not staying on task, or learning what they needed to. If this happened, they would be hit with a stick by the teacher. At school, the boys were afraid of their teacher and being hit, and lots hated school. Some schools had a policy of having students held down by two slaves while the tutor hit them with a leather whip when boys continued to get things wrong in lessons.
After the age of 11 or 12, the age where boys had learned everything they could at their elementary school, most boys stopped going to school. A few boys decided to continue their education at a high school. At the high school, students would study specific topics like public speaking, or rhetoric. They would also study the writings of Cicero and other famous Romans.