Page "Amos Bronson Alcott" Paragraph 4

At age six, young Bronson began his formal education in a one-room schoolhouse in the center of town but learned how to read at home with the help of his mother.

The school taught only reading, writing, and spelling and he left this school at the age of 10. At age 13, his uncle, Reverend Tillotson Bronson, invited Alcott into his home in Cheshire, Connecticut to be educated and prepared for college.

Bronson gave it up after only a month and was self-educated from then on. He was not particularly social and his only close friend was his neighbor and second cousin William Alcott, with whom he shared books and ideas.

Bronson Alcott later reflected on his childhood at Spindle Hill: " It kept me pure ...

I dwelt amidst the hills ... God spoke to me while I walked the fields.

" Starting at age 15, he took a job working for clockmaker Seth Thomas in the nearby town of Plymouth.