Schooling, Education, and Literacy in Colonial America

Schooling, Education, and Literacy, In Colonial America

Town School at Dedham Massachusetts, built in 1648

Map of Colonial Educational Institutions The Hornbook

Basic Facts about the Hornbook

                                                        I. Paddle shaped board with paper sheet attached.
                                                                 A. Contained the ABC's in both small and capital letter.
                                                                 B. Contained short syllabic processions.
                                                                 C. Contained the benediction and either the Lord's Prayer or Scripture.
                                                         II. Covered with pellucid horn -- lamination of the colonial age.
                                                         III. Decorated with jewels and leather by wealthy.

The Dame School

A New England Dame school in old colonial times, 1713. Engraving. (Bettman Archive) Basic Facts about the Colonial Dame School I. Opened to women who were usually not allowed in grammar schools.                                            II. First private elementary schools and taught by women in their home.
                                           III. No desks, maps, blackboards; perhaps only a hornbook.
                                                   A. Essentially day care for the colonial world.
                                                   B. Not widely thought of as important, but it is the main school for women.
                                                   C. It is used extensively for the first century of colonial development. The New England Primer

The New England Primer's Cover -- 1805 edition Basic Facts on the New England Primer I. Benjamin Harris publishes the first primer in 1690, with a possible early edition in England.                             II.   Combines Hornbook with authorized Catechism
                                    A. Essentially religion:   Words , Couplets , Text .
                                    B. Religion is the way to salvation -- associated with reading as the path to knowledge.
                            III. Less than ninety pages.
                            IV. Three inches wide by four inches long.
                            V. Ends its use in the nineteenth century.
                                    A. Three million copies printed.
                                    B. Required reading in school and church.
                                    C.   Contained Pictures . Education in the Northern Colonies Education in the Middle Colonies Education in the Southern Colonies