Michael Day

BOARDING ROUND For much of the 19th century, most school teachers were short-term itinerant workers who moved from one district to the next with the changing academic seasons. Room and board was routinely offered as part of the teacher's compensation, but just where would the teacher live? Some communities, at the Annual Town Meeting, would solicit bids from the local people to determine who would provide room and board for the teacher at the least cost to the town. The more common approach wa

What was it like to attend or teach in a one room school-house at the beginning of the 19th century ? In “The History of A Country School-Master,” Leonard Deming describes the painful experiences he endured as a young student, and his efforts to be a better teacher as an adult. The book was written in 1811 at a time when Deming was teaching in a small school in New York State. The formal title, “Oblique Hints …” as well as several references in the text, suggest that the book was written to h

Thomson’s First Lessons - 1864 activity provides an opportunity for today’s students to sample the kinds of arithmetic problems that would have been presented to students at the time of the Civil War. This would be an appropriate activity for a class visiting a one room schoolhouse, or for a class studying American History. The activity consists of a set of word problems drawn from one of the more popular arithmetic books used in the mid-19th century. The Teacher’s Guide offers answers, backg

In the mid-19th century, a high school education was beyond the needs, and the finances, of the average person. Many smaller communities did not even have a high school and those students who wished to attend one needed to apply for admission to the high school of a nearby community. To be sure that students coming in from other areas were sufficiently prepared, many high schools had entrance examinations. Here are the questions from one such test as reported in the 1860 edition of the Annual

A couple of pages from the 1860 edition of "The School and Family Primer". Designed as a handout that can be used when a class is visiting (or just studying about) a historic one room schoolhouse.