•Curricular+Trends+of+the+Colonial+Period


 * Curricular Trends of the Colonial Period**

Colonial curricul first began as subjective to what the individual families within the colonies could provide for their children. This curriculum philosophy was based on the European way of educating. In 1671, the Virginia governer, Sir William Berkeley, expressed in regards to Viginian's education was concerned, they were following "the same course that is taken in England out of towns; every man according to his own abilityin instructing his own children." Therefore, the curriculum for the colonial students differed based on the financial abilities of the family. Some families were fortunate to afford a live-in tutor which created educational tracks for the individual children. If a tutor could not be afforded, then home schooling was the practice where the parents would educate the children based on the parents' abilities and instructional materials.

Laws were passed in 1613 which required colonists to attend church twice a week. Later, another law was passed in 1631 which required churches to preach a sermon atleast once a week. It was also expected for the church to educate the children on several Christian aspects such as: The Ten Commandments, The Lord's Prayer, and The Articles of Faith. This eventually led to ministers becoming teachers and tutors for additional pay. The attempt for some ministers was to prepare students for college. This was done through teaching literacy and religious aspects.

Another form of curriculum that existed during the colonial period was apprenticeship. This allowed students to learn a trade, usually the trade of the student's parents. This type of curriculum was also adopted from Europe as a means of educating people for the purpose of expanding economic success. Orphaned children were gathered up by the colony and were instructed on religious matters.

Private schools began to pop up in commercial colonies for the purpose of educating students on non agrarian skills for a nominal fee. Later, t he Harvard Curriculum began to influence other schools. The Harvard Curriculum included: Logic, Physics, Rhetoric, History, Ethnic, Politics, Geometry, Astronomy, andLiteracy Studies.  In 1749, Benjamin Franklin challenged prevailing beliefs about education and the curriculum. Franklin’s Academy’s Curriculum focused on Latin & Greek for those preparing to be ministers. French, German, and Spanish was taught for those preparing to be merchants. Everyone would study English through reading, writing, and orating.

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