Friday, September 13, 2019

History of US Education


British Colonists began arriving in America in the 1600s. They were all home-schooled and read the Bible. Children were taught to read, write, do math and do farm chores. Churches provided their facilities for further education. Pastors taught the Bible and other subjects.

Some teenagers went to work as apprentices in towns and villages to learn a trade. Some stayed working on the farm. Some worked as laborers clearing land. Some hauled goods to market by boat and wagon.

The Boston Latin School was founded in 1635. Harvard was founded in 1636 in Cambridge MA. Children of wealthy colonial land owners who were interested in science and business attended these schools. The first Medical School was established in 1765 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Harvard opened a Medical School in 1782. The first Law School opened at William and Mary in 1779.  Harvard Law School was established in 1817.

Catholic missionaries had been establishing schools and churches in Spanish and French colonies since 1500. The French founded schools up and down the Mississippi River and in Canada.

One-Room Schools appeared in 1800 with one teacher and 20 students of all ages operating one-on-one and in small groups.  Older students taught younger students how to read, write and do math. The teacher taught the older students at higher levels. The older students got a good grounding in the basics by teaching the younger students.  That gave the Teacher the time to spend teaching the older students in the next set of tasks they needed to learn.  This worked well.

In 1837, Horace Mann pursued a “one size fits all” system in Massachusetts that doesn’t work as well and is still in practice throughout the US.

After 1970, US Public Schools replaced reading, writing and math with Marxist-based propaganda as the primary curriculum and dumbed down the basics.


Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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