The teaching of writing was not even included on every school's curriculum. In fact, during the earliest periods it was often taught by separate masters entirely, members of the writing craft guilds who only relinquished their right to monopoly over the teaching of this skill after a struggle. Even at the end of the eighteenth century, there were schools which taught only reading. In many girls schools, reading instruction was supplemented by manual skills like sewing and needlework rather than the less useful skill of writing. For example, the French historian J. Perrel found that in South Central France, there were many regions with more girls than boys schools. But the popularity of schools for girls seems to have been their instruction in religion and needlework, especially lacemaking.

— Schooling in Western Europe by Mary Jo Maynes (Page 28)