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Women's History

Girls and Women in Education

Girls and Women in Education
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.64

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    discriminate, gender, teaching, provides, provided, majority, mainly, nurture, difficulty, federal, material, based, daycare, participate, leadership, especially
     content words:    Title IX, American Association, University Women

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Girls and Women in Education
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     Education makes our lives richer. It provides us with opportunities. So the amount that girls were allowed to participate in education is an important part of American history. Women's participation as teachers is an important part of history too.
 
2     In Colonial times, school was mainly for boys; it was usually taught by a young man, since parents felt that boys needed strict leadership. Girls' participation was often limited to filling in extra spaces in a class, maybe in summer school. More often, young girls were educated only in an early type of daycare called dame schools. A dame was a neighborhood lady who cared for children while she did her own housework. She may have used a colonial school supply called a hornbook (a wooden paddle with one sheet of paper attached, covered by a clear material made from horn) to teach her young students their ABC's, numbers, and prayers.
 
3     In the 19th century, more women became school teachers. These teachers were often very young women, even teenagers. Using simple materials like slates, chalk, and a few books, they taught boys and girls. Some of their students were older than they were. Usually, they taught for only a few years.

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