What it was like for a kid in 1786

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     In Tuck Everlasting, Jesse told Winnie that he was 104 years old.  Winnie thought he was kidding, but he was telling the truth.  We wanted to find out what life was like when Jesse was ten years old, around the same age as us.  Winnie was born in 1870 so we added ten years to that. That got us the year 1880.  We then subtracted 104 from 1880 then added ten for the year it was when Jesse was ten years old.
    Being a kid 1786 was mostly about education and religion. There was a law that said if there was fifty or more families in the town then there must be a school and if there is a hundred or more families then there must be grammar school.  Students studied the Bible in school.  Sometimes they would be taught things like the ABC's by religious poems.   Sometimes you would study the Bible for four hours and do the three R’s (reading, writing, and reckoning) for three hours.  They would not learn much reckoning which is math.
     In 1786, punishment was harsh.  For fighting students would be locked in a closet for up to three hours or sometimes even whipped. If someone answered a question wrong then he would have to sit on a stool with a hat on that said “good for nothing baby” and let the other kids make fun of them along with the teacher.  Sometimes they had to sit on a stool with only one leg and if they fell over the teacher would beat them.
    Kids played some of the same things we play today, like football.  In 1786, parents still thought football was just violence.  Young girls blew soap bubbles and baked mud pies for fun.  Older girls played hop-scotch.  Both boys and girls played marbles and flew kites in the summer.    In the winter they would sled or ice skate.
     At school students would write on slate (slate is a type of rock) with a piece of chalk instead of paper.  Your teacher would have the only text book.  There would often be a dictionary in the front of the room. You would also have a scrap book were you would only write the most important things.  A scrap book would have a few sheets of paper in it.  All this was just because they didn't have printing machines and paper was hard to find.
    Kids dressed like adults after they were six years old.  Before that both boys and girls wore dresses.  If your family was wealthy, you might shave your head and get a wig as early as ten.  A lot of girls ordered clothes from England.  It took longer and was more expensive but it looked and felt better. I’d hate to have dressed like that.
    An apprentice would be taught how to do a certain job and the three R’s.  You and your parents would have to sign an agreement that lets you go live with the person apprenticing you.  The person apprenticing would feed you and shelter you for a fee. You would help him at work as he taught you.  Usually only boys were apprenticed.  You would have him for at least four years.   
    At school you might be a subscriber.  Subscribers helped build the school, supply the wood, helped buy supplies, and helped find the teacher.  You would do this instead of paying tuition.  In 1786 there were no public schools you had to pay tuition.  Kids had six day weeks at school and get Sunday off.  Girls would work on mostly only around the house things at school