Dame Schools

Women in colonial America had limited opportunities for both education and employment. In the [Page 259]early 17th century, many New England women started small schools in their homes. These dame schools, as they came to be called, were open to both boys and girls, and provided women with a source of income. As publicly supported schools became more common in the 18th century, some dame school teachers became “school dames,” employed in the town schools and Indian missions to teach reading to small children. Other dame schools, especially those in urban areas, evolved into more structured and comprehensive private schools for girls.

The Massachusetts Bay School Law of 1642 mandated education in letters and church doctrine for all children. The law was prompted by religious considerations rather than any abstract belief in the value of education. Puritan religion held all individuals responsible for their own salvation, so the ability to read the Bible was an essential part of religious instruction for everyone. Even though education was required under the law, there was no provision for schools. Each family was responsible for teaching all children in the household to read, and masters had to teach their apprentices as well as their own children. In 1647 the “Old Deluder Act” provided for the establishment of publicly funded education in towns with more than 50 households so that “that old deluder, Satan” would not “keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures.” The 1647 act, however, did not remove the responsibility for basic instruction from families.

All families were not equipped to teach reading, so enterprising women often formed small schools in their home where they taught their neighbors' children along with their own for a small fee. Children as young as 3 or 4 years attended these dame schools, where they learned their letters, catechism, and the Lord's Prayer. In addition to basic education, dame schools provided a few hours' respite for overworked mothers and wives. Dame school teachers, who were often poor widows, were able to care for their own children and carry out their household duties while they earned a small income. According to her 1680s daybook, in a single day Abigail Foote milked the cows, spun linen and thread, made a broom, and taught two children. The schools were inexpensive and unregulated, and teachers were often paid in kind rather than in cash. The teacher might receive a dozen eggs, firewood, or services such as washing and ironing.

The most common text for beginning readers was the hornbook, a wooden paddle with a single page tacked to it and protected by a sheet of transparent horn. Hornbooks typically contained the alphabet, the Lord's Prayer, and the first few lines of the syllabarium (ab, eb, ib, ob, ub). In his 1691 diary, Samuel Sewall described sending his 2-year-old son Joseph to a dame school, accompanied by his older cousin Jane who carried Samuel's hornbook. The teacher might use a knitting needle as her fescue, or pointer, to direct a child's eyes to a letter or word. By the 18th century, children sometimes came to school with gingerbread hornbooks; as a reward for learning a letter, they were allowed to eat it.

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