The New England Primer facts for kids

The New England Primer was a very important textbook used in the early American Colonies. It was the first reading book made especially for children in America. This book became super popular and was used in most schools before the 1790s. It helped shape how kids learned to read and understand the world for over a hundred years!

Before 1690, most schoolbooks in America were Bibles brought from England. But then, publishers in Boston started printing their own version of an English schoolbook, calling it The New England Primer. This new book had extra parts that made it a big hit in colonial schools. It was the main textbook until another famous book, Noah Webster's Blue Back Speller, came along after 1790.

What the Primer Taught

Many parts of The New England Primer came from the King James Bible. Other parts were new and written just for the book. It showed the main ideas and beliefs of the Puritans, who were a big group of people in the colonies.

The book talked about important topics like:

• Being respectful to parents and other adults.
• Understanding what sin is.
• How to find salvation (being saved by God).

Some versions of the Primer included a special set of questions and answers called the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Others had a shorter catechism by John Cotton, which was known as Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes. Some versions even had both!

Famous Parts of the Primer

The Primer had many rhymes and lessons that children learned by heart. Here are two of the most famous examples:

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;

If I should die before I wake,

I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.

This prayer was often taught to children to say before bed.

Another very well-known line from the Primer was:

In Adam's Fall,

we sinned all.

This short rhyme taught children about the idea of original sin, which was a key belief for the Puritans.

The book also used rhymes to help children learn the alphabet. For example, the letter 'L' was sometimes taught with a line like: ". . . like the lion bold, which whilom so magnanimously the lamb did hold." This line was even mentioned in the famous story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.

Different Versions of the Primer

Over the years, many different versions of The New England Primer were printed. Here are a couple of examples:

• A reprint from 1991, which was based on the 1777 edition. Its full title was New England Primer: Improved for the More Easy Attaining the True Reading of English: To Which Is Added the Assembly of Divines, and Mr. Cotton's Catechism.
• An updated edition from 1843, reprinted in 1996, called New England Primer: 1996, A Family & Homeschool Textbook. The 1843 Updated Edition with Lesson Plan.

Images for kids

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  Pages from The New England Primer showing letters A to M.

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  Pages from The New England Primer showing letters N to Z.