Hornbook
HORNBOOK
HORNBOOK, the primer or first reading book used in colonial schools. Long used in England, colonists brought it with themto America. The hornbook was not really a book at all but simply a sheet of paper mounted on a board and covered with transparent horn. The board ended in a handle that a child held while reading. The handle was perforated so that it might be attached to the child's belt. Hornbooks contained the alphabet in capital and small letters, followed by combinations of vowels with consonants to form syllables, the Lord's Prayer, and Roman numerals.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beatty, Barbara. Preschool Education in America: The Culture of Young Children from the Colonial Era to the Present. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1995.
Cohen, Sheldon S. A History of Colonial Education, 1607–1776. New York: Wiley, 1974.
Charles GarrettVannest/s. b.
See alsoColonial Society ; Dame School ; Education ; New England Primer .