In colonial America, there were 3 distinct types of educational institutions. For the common public, there were the common schools in which its foremost goal was to teach students to read and write. Grammar schools were for the elite and their goal was to create the leaders of the colony and confirm the elites status. Colleges, including Harvard, were a higher education that allowed common people to obtain a higher class and to confirm the elites status. Common schools were mainly used to instruct students using repetition and memorization. One of the main manuals or primers of the day was the New England Primer, which comprised repetitive Christian phrases and prayers. They likewise used an instrument called a hornbook, that was comprised of a piece of wood or horn-shaped into a paddle that was engraved with the alphabet, phonics, and a prayer. Common schools were first ordered mandatory by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the Old Deluder Satan Massachusetts Act of 647. It ordered all communities of more than 50 households to assign a teacher to conduct a school to impart the ability to read and write. This law of the land lost its effect in 780 after the drafting of the c
onstitution of Massachusetts, which included public education for the state. The main goal of common schools was to educate the population on the fundamentals of society, so they can properly obey their superiors with letters or documents and to educate the population in reading, so they can read the scripture of religion, which was namely Christianity. As quoted from the New England Primer, A: In Adams Fall, we sinned all. B: Heaven to find; the Bible mind. C: Christ crucifyd, for sinners dyd. This excerpt was memorized by the student and displays how the only task for these schools was to teach the basics of Christianity, and a rudimentary ability to read and write. These schools were funded by local funds and required support from local taxpayers.
Grammar schools were designated for the elite. Their studies mainly comprised of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and other various languages that that would help confirm the status of the scholars. The study of classical writers, at the time, was believed to develop character in aspiring pupils. Some writers and pieces include Homers Iliad and Odyssey and Platos Republic. These grammar schools were funded by paid tuition by the student.