As the nation grew, private schools were established particularly for the wealthy. Often times only the boys in the family would receive a proper education. Due to the sexist pretenses of the time, it was also only men that would become educators. An innovative school that gained a lot of traction in the late 1700's was the monitorial school, developed by Joseph Lancaster. Later known in the United States as the one-room schoolhouse, the monitorial school utilized a delegate system where the smarter students (monitors) taught the day’s lesson to smaller groups of students after receiving tutelage from the master teacher. Unfortunately this sort of education was only available in the larger cities and the wealthier families. |
The New England Primer was the first reading primer designed for the American Colonies. It became the most successful educational textbook published in 18th century America and it became the foundation of most schooling before the 1800's.