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What Were the Schoolbooks Like?
Spelling Books
The English Spelling Book: Accompanied by a Progressive Series of Easy and Familiar Lessons, Intended as an Introduction to the Reading and Spelling of the English Language by William Mavor. Montréal: R. Miller, 1869
This speller from Upper Canada contained all sorts of lessons besides strictly spelling: stories, poems, songs, prayers, geography, grammar, history and arithmetic. This speller from Upper Canada contained all sorts of lessons besides strictly spelling: stories, poems, songs, prayers, geography, grammar, history and arithmetic.
The Public School Speller and Word-Book by G.W. Johnson. Toronto: Copp Clark Co., 1889
The preface of this speller states, “A great many common words of one and two syllables are habitually mispronounced by pupils. Correct pronunciation is the basis of good reading.” The preface of this speller states, “A great many common words of one and two syllables are habitually mispronounced by pupils. Correct pronunciation is the basis of good reading.”
Tableau alphabetique de mots de trois syllabes: à l’usage des écoles élémentaires françoises by Joseph-Francois Perrault. [Québec: s.n.], 1830
Joseph-François Perrault founded a school for boys and one for girls in Quebec City that operated from 1830 to 1837. The school texts written by Perrault were used in many schools in Lower Canada for many generations.
The Canada Spelling Book: Intended as an Introduction to the English Language by Alexander Davidson. Toronto: Printed and published for the author by H. Rowsell, 1840
The Canada Spelling Book: Intended as an Introduction to the English Language... by Alexander Davidson. Niagara, [Ont.]: A. Davidson, 1845
Each lesson has some moral content such as the need to care properly for creatures and the virtue of industriousness.