In the colonial period (16-early 1700's),
schooling wasn't very valued, but some children were
forced to attend anyways. Learning, it seemed, wasn't
as important as being punished. Girls for most part
didn't even go to school. They stayed home to learn
weaving, sewing, cooking, homemaking skills,
and the alphabet. The children who did attend school
were treated like horrible little beasts who deserved
whipping more than schooling. Some schools kept
sessions 12 months a year, 6 days a week. Some
schoolmasters bordedwith students. Schoolmasters
did this usually because they were too poor to afford
a home. Public school was not free as it is now. In
fact, some students had to pay the schoolmaster with
food. In 1647 a law was passed that required every
town of 50 or more families to chose a teacher and
provide him with wages. The pupils lessons usually
related to the christian bible in some way. They
were required to learn short verses for every letter
of the alphabet.
Example: Letter A
In Adam's fall,
We
sinned all.
.
The students didn't have very many resources. They had
pretty much no books besides the schoolmasters
bible
and
book of psalms. They used
hornbooks instead.