Colonial School Flashcards
Name of a small stick put in a talkative boy’s mouth to keep him quiet.
whispering stick
What was more important, perfect penmanship or correct spelling?
perfect penmanship
Some rich boys were sent to college in England as young as what age?
11 years old
In this year the first public school in colonies open in Boston and Harvard College was founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1635
By the time of the American Revolution were there any colleges in the colonies?
Yes, many colonies had colleges by then.
This founder of Pennsylvania said that children in his colony must learn the three R’s, “reading, ‘ritin’ (writing), and ‘rithmetic (arithmetic).
William Penn
In the earliest days of colonial America, where were children usually taught?
at home
Name for a “school” in which a woman in a village taught several young children in her home.
dame school
At school, students studied this book, which helped teach children the alphabet using a series of short rhymes
The New England Primer
After a few years of basic education, formal education ended for most children. What did BOYS then typically do?
Boys became apprentices to learn a trade. Boys of rich families attended colleges.
After a few years of basic education, formal education ended for most children. What did GIRLS then typically do?
Girls learned household skills from their mothers. Girls of rich families went to finishing school to learn music, painting and a foreign language.
Massachusetts passed a law in 1647 that required towns with this many families to paid schoolteacher. This law was the start of the public school system in America.
Fifty (50) or more families.
Because paper was scarce and expensive, students did not have textbooks and instead used this tool to learn.
A hornbook, which was a flat board with a handle and covered with a thin piece of cattle horn that lessons on paper could be read through.
