Created By: Megan S. Bella Z. Matt H. and Peter C.

4.9 Colonial Education

• Little education was

beyond the New

England Colonies.

• Neighbors

sometimes gathered

together and pooled

their money to hire

a teacher for their

children.

• Wealthy people

hired tutors for

younger children.

• Older children were

sent to boarding

school in distant

cities or England.

Little Education in the Colonies

• Religion slowed education in the Middle Colonies.

• Religious groups or families decided how to educate their children .

• Mostly among Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Baptists and others were problems.

• Some parents homeschooled their children.

• Some people created church schools.

• Puritans wanted their children to be educated only so they could read God’s word.

How Religion Affected Education

Education Laws• Only New England towns

were required to have schools

• Massachusetts passed a law in 1647 for towns with 50 families to hire an instructor so kids could read and write.

• One hundred families or more had to build a school.

• The rest of New England passed similar laws

Colonial Schools and Supplies

• Schools were one room with a chimney and fireplace in the center of the room.

• There were no maps or a board.

• Pencils and paper were not available.

• Students would yell out spelling words.

• Student would write sums in ink on bark.

• There was only one book which was the New England Primer.

• The New England Primer taught the alphabet, syllables, and prayer.

The New England Primer

Quiz #11. What was the book that the colonists used to

teach their children?2. Where did older children go to school?3. How many families per town were required

to build a school in Massachusetts?4. What did Southern Colonists pool their

money for?5. Who wanted their children to be educated

only so they could read God’s word?6. What did children write with and on in

school? Why?

1.The New England Primer2.Boarding school or England 3.100 families4.Instructor/teacher5.Puritans6.Ink and bark, because paper

was not available

Answers

4.10 COLONIAL FAMILIES

• Most people married in early to mid 20’s .• Indentured servants could not marry until free.• Because men outnumbered women, women were

almost assured marriage proposal .• Married women and mothers had a harder job than

their servants.

Marriage

• Nearly half of all the children died before adulthood.

• Middle and Southern Colonies had a high death rate because of malaria.

• Adults died young.• After death a widow/widower

would remarry quickly. • Women gave birth often, but

most kids died.• Households often contained

stepchildren and orphans.

Deaths

• Today the average family has two or three children.

• Back in colonial times families were much larger.

• Families in colonial times would have ten, twelve or even more children.

• For example Benjamin Franklin had seventeen brothers and sisters.

Large Families

• Today most people think of a family as their parents, and siblings

• Back in colonial times your family was your parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and great grandparents.

The Colonists’ Concept of Family

• Families have changed over the years and with them so have children.

• Children in colonial times were expected to work hard and be very productive.

• They often helped their parents with long days in the field or hard chores around the house.

• This is the main reason families had so many children.

Colonial Expectations of

Children

• Back in the colonial times many people came with everything they had to start a new life.

• When they came many people built and lived on small farms.

• There were very few cities and towns so people had to live off the land and make their own lives.

Where Colonists Lived

• Back in colonial times families were very close.

• They relied on each other for daily chores and survival.

• Children worked very hard to help their parents.

• Parents worked very hard to put food on the table and make a living.

Focus on Family

Quiz #2 1.What was the average amount of kids

in a family in colonial times?2.What is one reason why parents had

so many children?3.What caused a high death rate in the

middle and southern colonies?4.True or False? Women couldn’t be

assured marriage proposal.5. Could indentured servants marry

freely?6. How many children died before

adulthood?

Answers

1. 10-12 children or more2. To help with chores or

around the farm3. Malaria4. False. Women were

outnumbered, usually assuring proposal.

5. Indentured servants could not marry until free.

6. about half

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