Early Buddhist schools were groups of people who followed the teachings of the Buddha and tried to put them into practice. The Buddha had different kinds of teachings and these schools tried to understand them and use them to help people learn and live better lives. Some of the early schools were the Theravada, Mahasanghika, Sarvastivada, and Dharmaguptaka. They all had different interpretations of the Buddha's teachings, but all were based on the same core ideas of loving kindness, non-harming, and wisdom.