Part 44 (2/2)

STUDIES AND TEXTBOOKS The studies of the elehout the whole of the eighteenth century,and ciphering, soion, and in Teutonic countries a little music La Salle (R 182) had prescribed, for the Catholic vernacular schools of France, instruction in French, soraphy, arithmetic, the matins and vespers, le Pater, l'Ave Maria, le Credo et le Confiteor, the Commandments, responses, Catechism, duties of a Christian, and maxims and precepts drawn froht one half-hour daily The schoolbooks in England in Locke's day, as he tells us (p 435), were ”the Horn Book, Primer, Psalter, Testaious vernacular school The purpose stated for the English Church charity-schools (R 238 b), schools that attained to large ihteenth century, shows theious vernacular schools The _School Regulations_ which Frederick the Great proated for Prussia (1763), fixed the textbooks to be used (R 274, -- 20), and indicate that the instruction in Prussia was still restricted to reading, writing, religion, singing, and a little arithmetic In colonial America, Noah Webster's description (R 230) of the schools he attended in Connecticut, about 1764-70, shows that the studies and textbooks were ”chiefly or wholly Dilworth's Spelling Books, the Psalter, Testa A feords of description of these older books may prove useful here

[Illustration: FIG 130 A HORN BOOK]

THE HORN BOOK The Horn Book goes back to the close of the fifteenth century, [7] and by the end of the sixteenth century was in coland So the handle, were also used in Holland, France, and in German lands This, a thin oak board on which was pasted a printed slip, covered by translucent horn, was the book froan to read, the mastery of which usually required some time Cowper thus describes this little book:

Neatly secured fro soiled or torn Beneath a pane of thin translucent horn, A book (to please us at a tender age 'T is called a book, though but a single page) Presents the prayer the Savior designed to teach, Which children use, and parsons--when they preach

The Horn Book wasmatter was in time incorporated into the school Priious inally the child next passed to the Catechism and the Bible, but about the an to be used The Priinal form was a simple ht of its use in the schools It contained the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and a few of the more commonly used prayers and psal of the alphabet and a few syllables and words it was transfor book for children There was at first no atte, illustration, or the introduction of easy reading material About the close of the seventeenth century the illustrated Pri and soland and Areat popularity

The idea possibly goes back to the _Orbis Pictus_ (1654) of Comenius (p

413: R 221), the first illustrated schoolbook ever written The first English Primer adapted to school use was _The Protestant Tutor_, a rather rabid anti-Catholic hich appeared in London, about 1685 A later edition of this contained the alphabet, soures and letters, the list of the books of the Bible, an alphabet of lessons, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Co faers [9] It was an abridgeht out in Boston, about 1690, under the naland Prireat popularity, and beca book in all the schools of the Aland For the next century and a quarter it was the chief school and reading book in use a the Dissenters and Lutherans in America

School matter and the Catechism it contained, and the people recited from it yearly in the churches It was also used for such spelling as was given It was the first great American textbook success, and was still in use in the Boston daland, and enjoyed a great sale a Dissenters there Its sales in America alone have been estimated at least three e It was followed in England by other Pri books, of which _The History of Genesis_ (1708), a series of simple stories retold from the first book of the Bible, and _The Child's Weeks-Work_ (1712), containing proverbs, fables, conundrums, lessons on behavior, and a short catechism, are types Frederick the Great, in his list of required textbooks for Prussian schools (R 274, -- 20), does not mention a Primer

[Illustration: THE WESTMINSTER CATECHISM

(A page froland Primer_, natural size)]

THE CATECHISM In all Protestant German lands the Shorter Catechis Catechisland and the American Colonies the Westious instruction Teachers drilled their pupils in these as thoroughly as on any other subject, writing masters set as copies sentences from the book, children were required to memorize the answers, and the doctrines contained were emphasized by teacher and preacher so that the children were saturated with the religious ideas set forth No book except the Bible did so ious bias of the children Aliven to the Catechish there suppleious influences derived from the ceremonial of the Church

[Illustration: FIG 132 THOMAS DILWORTH (?-1780) The lish textbook writer of his day

(From the Frontispiece of his _Schoolmaster's assistant_, 1740)]

SPELLERS The next step forward, in the transition fro matter for school children, came in the use of the so-called Spellers Probably the first of these was _The English School-Master_ of Edave thirty-two pages to the alphabet and spelling; eighteen to a shorter Catechis copies; two to arithmetic; and twenty to a list of hard words, alphabetically arranged and explained As will be seen froeneral uide After about 1740 such books became very popular, due to the publication that year of Thoue_ This book contained, as the title-page (R 229) declared, selected lists of words with rules for their pronunciation, a short treatise on gra, some moral selections, and forms of prayer for children It becaland, and was followed by a long line of i in America in the publication of Noah Webster's fa Book_, in 1783 This was after the plan of the English Dilworth, but was put in better teaching forraded lists of words, so lessons, and was largely secular in character It at once superseded the expiring _New England Primer_ in most of the American cities, and continued popular in the United States for reat A list of popular Spellers and Readers, leading up to the excellent secular Readers of the present day

[Illustration: FIG 133 FRONTISPIECE TO NOAH WEBSTER'S ”AMERICAN SPELLING BOOK”

This is from the 1827 edition, reduced one third in size]

ARITHMETIC AND WRITING The first English Arithmetic, published about 1540 to 1542, has been entirely lost, and was probably read by few The first to attain any popularity was _cocker's Arith a Plain and Familiar Method suitable to theof that incomparable Art” A still more popular book was _Arithmetick: or that Necessary Art Made Most Easie_, by J Hodder, Writing Master, a reprint of which appeared in Boston, in 1719 The first book written by an Aar and Decimal_, which appeared in Boston, in 1729 In 1743 appeared Dilworth's _The Schoolmaster's assistant_, a book which retained its popularity in both England and A of the nineteenth century

No text in Arithulations of Frederick the Great (R 274, --20), or in scarcely any of the descriptions left us of eighteenth-century schools The study itself was common, but not universal, and was one that many teachers were not competent to teach To possess a reputation as an ”arithmeticker” was an important recommendation for a teacher, while for a pupil to be able to do sums in arithmetic was unusual, and a matter of ht by the writingteacher confined hiion Thus, for exa of Boston, in 1789, ordered ”three reading schools and three writing schools established in the town” for the instruction of children between the ages of seven and fourteen, the subjects to be taught in each being:

The writing schools: Writing, Arith, Accentuation, Reading of prose and verse, English graht not possess an arithmetic of his own, but the instruction to the pupil was practically always dictated and copied instruction Each pupil made up his own book of rules and solved problems, and few pupils ever saw a printed arithmetic Many of the early arithmetics were prepared after the catechism plan There was al or to give a concrete type of instruction, before about thesuch refor of the nineteenth century

[Illustration: FIG 134 titLE-PAGE OF HODDER'S ARITHMETIC An early reprint of this fa, siht by dictation and practice, and the art of the ”scrivener,” as the writing ht to be difficult to learn The lack of practical value of the art, the high cost of paper, and the necessity usually for special lessons, all alike tended toFees also were frequently charged for instruction in writing and arith the only free subjects The scrivener and the arithmetic teacher also frequently moved about, as business warranted, and was not fixed as was the teacher of the reading school