Dame school facts for kids

Thomas George Webster, A Dame's School, in England

Dame schools were small, private schools for young children, usually from ages two to five. They started in Great Britain and its colonies a long time ago, during the early modern period. These schools were run by a "school dame," who was a local woman. She would look after children and teach them the basics, like their ABCs, for a small payment.

Dame schools were found in local towns or parishes. Children there learned reading and simple math. Sometimes they also learned writing. Girls often learned useful skills like knitting and sewing. Dame schools existed from the 1500s until the mid-1800s. That's when compulsory education (meaning kids had to go to school by law) started in Britain.

These schools were like the early versions of today's nursery and primary schools. Even though some people made fun of them, many famous people went to dame schools. These included the writer William Wordsworth and possibly Charles Dickens.

Dame Schools in Britain
Dame Schools in North America
Dame Schools in Australia
See also

Dame Schools in Britain

Early Dame Schools (1600s-1700s)

Nobody knows exactly when dame schools began. They likely grew naturally because families needed easy and cheap ways to educate young children. They also needed childcare. Many dame schools were taught in the teacher's own home.

School dames worked with small groups of children. They set up schools wherever there was a need and they felt they could teach. These schools were not part of a big system. Instead, women ran them independently in their local areas. Many teachers were older women, like widows, or young unmarried women who needed extra money. A few men also taught at dame schools.

Examples of hornbooks.

School dames usually charged very little money. For example, one teacher in Darlington, England, received about four shillings a year for each student. This was a very small amount, showing that teachers earned little. They had to teach many students to make enough money to live.

Children who went to dame schools often came from families of tradesmen or laborers. For many of these children, a dame school education was the only schooling they ever received. The teacher would hold classes for several hours each day. She taught reading and writing, often using a hornbook. A hornbook was a flat piece of wood with a printed sheet of paper on it, protected by a thin layer of horn.

During this time, reading and writing were taught separately. It was more common for both boys and girls to learn to read. But often, only boys learned to write. Later, in the 1700s, some people didn't want working-class children to learn to write at all. So, some dame schools might not have taught writing. However, learning to read the Bible was seen as very important for everyone.

Some school dames also taught the Catechism, which is a set of religious questions and answers. Sometimes, a local church leader would come to teach it. Basic math was also taught, helping students learn how to manage household money. Girls especially learned how to knit, which was a useful skill for their future.

Dame schools were common across England by the 1700s. One church leader, Francis Brokesby, said that many villages had someone teaching school. He noted that most people could read and write because of these efforts. It's hard to know the exact number of dame schools. This is because they were informal and not officially licensed like other schools.

Dame Schools in the 1800s

A late 19th century dame school class with five students in East Anglia, England.

The Industrial Revolution in the 1800s changed dame schools. As more parents worked in factories, dame schools became a form of cheap childcare. Some schools only offered childcare, while others still taught lessons. The Sunday School movement also grew. These schools were similar to dame schools, offering basic reading and religious lessons on Sundays.

The 1800s also saw many social changes in education. Rich people started free schools for poorer children. However, many parents preferred to pay for their children to go to local dame schools. In some parts of East London, more children went to dame schools than to these free schools.

Over time, dame schools started to be seen in a negative way. This was partly because social reformers wanted a national, standardized school system. They thought dame schools were not good enough and didn't teach useful skills. Some historians say this view was unfair. They argue that families liked dame schools because they were run by working-class people for their own communities. Other schools were controlled by middle-class officials who wanted to keep the social structure strict.

Dame schools were more relaxed. They were in homes that students were used to. Parents also had more say in their children's schooling.

In 1861, the Newcastle Commission looked at schools across Britain, including many dame schools. They found that over 2.2 million poorer children were in elementary schools. About 573,000 of these were in private schools, including dame schools. The commission said that dame schools did not prepare children well for their future lives.

The Elementary Education Act 1870 was passed because of the Newcastle Commission's findings. This law created a system for schooling all children aged 5 to 12 in England and Wales. After this, most dame schools closed. New official schools were now available for children.

By 1850, about 30 percent of all children still went to dame schools.

Famous People Who Attended Dame Schools

William Wordsworth: This famous poet went to a dame school in Penrith, Cumbria. He even met his future wife there! He said his dame school taught reading and helped memory.
John Keats: Another well-known poet, he attended a dame school in London.
Oliver Goldsmith: This writer learned his letters from Mrs. Delap at her dame school.
Charles Dickens: The famous novelist went to a school run by a woman in Chatham, Kent. In his novel Great Expectations, the main character Pip goes to a dame school. Dickens describes it as being almost useless.
William Shenstone: He wrote a poem called The Schoolmistress based on his own time at a dame school.
George Crabbe: He also wrote a poem about his dame school experience in his book Poems: Volume 1.

Dame Schools in North America

In Colonial America, "dame schools" were small private schools taught by women. They taught the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. For girls from wealthy families, they sometimes taught French, dancing, singing, and embroidery.

The quality of education varied. Basic dame schools were more common in New England. There, everyone was expected to learn to read. In the southern colonies, there were fewer educated women to be teachers.

In the 1600s, many women in rural New England opened small schools in their homes. They were driven by their religious beliefs and their need for money. They taught reading and religious lessons to young children. Laws like the Massachusetts School Law of 1642 and the Old Deluder Satan Law required children to learn to read and about religion. Puritans believed that reading the Bible was very important. Dame schools helped families meet this requirement if they couldn't teach their children at home.

For a small fee, women (often housewives or widows) would take in children. They taught a little writing, reading, basic prayers, and religious beliefs. Teachers were paid with money, homemade goods, or other valuable items. Teaching materials usually included a hornbook, a primer, a Psalter, and the Bible. Both girls and boys went to dame schools. They focused on the "four R's": Reading, Riting, Rithmetic, and Religion.

Girls at dame schools might also learn sewing and embroidery. For most girls, this was their only formal education. This was because common or public schools often separated boys and girls. If their parents could afford it, colonial boys would go to a grammar school after dame school. There, a male teacher taught advanced math, writing, Latin, and Greek.

In the 1700s and 1800s, some dame schools offered a "polite education" for wealthy boys and girls. These schools taught reading, writing, English, French, music, and dancing. Schools for upper-class girls were often called "female seminaries" or "finishing schools" instead of "dame schools."

Dame Schools in Australia

The first known school in Australia was started in Sydney in December 1789 by Isabella Rossen. The second known school was founded by Mary Johnson in Parramatta in 1791. Both women were convicts who were supervised by a clergyman named Rev. Richard Johnson.