The old schoolmaster in Skippack wrote one hundred
rules of good behavior for his scholars. This is perhaps the
first book on good manners written in America. But rules
of behavior for people living in houses of one or two rooms, 30
as they did in that day, were very different from those
needed in our time. Here are some of the rules:
"When you comb your hair, do not go out in the middle
of the room," says the schoolmaster. This was because families
were accustomed to eat and sleep in the same room.
"Do not eat your morning bread on the road or in school,"
he tells them, "but ask your parents to give it to you at 5
home." From this we see that the common breakfast
was bread alone, and that the children often ate it as they
walked to school.
"Put your knife upon the right and your bread on the
left side," he says. Forks were little used in those days, 10
and the people in the country did not have any. He also
tells them not to throw bones under the table. It was a
common practice among some people of that time to throw
bones and scraps under the table, where the dogs ate them.
As time passed on, Christopher Dock had many friends, 15
for all his scholars of former years loved him greatly. He
lived to be very old, and taught his schools to the last.
One evening he did not come home, and the people went
to look for the beloved old man. They found their dear
old master on his knees in the schoolhouse. He had died 20
while praying alone.
—Stories of American Life and Adventure.
1. How was Christopher Dock's school different from most pioneer schools of that day?
2. How did he teach good behavior? What inducements were offered for scholarship? You often hear people say that only the "three R's" were taught when they went to school. What do they mean?
3. What information about pioneer home life does this article give you?
4. You will be interested to know that the pupils in the early schools studied their reading aloud at the top of their voices. They learned reading by singing "ab," "ba," etc. Later, when geography was taught, the capitals of the states were sung.