Cereta was born in September 1469 in Brescia to a high-class family. She was a sickly child who suffered from sleeplessness. She was the first-born of six children. She had three brothers, Ippolito, Daniel and Basilio and two sisters, Deodata, and Diana. Her family was very popular in Italy due to her father's status. Silvestro Cereto was an attorney and a king's magistrate and her mother, Veronica di Leno, a famous businessperson. Since her father and Cereta believed in education, at age seven her father sent her to the convent. There she devoted her life to intellectual pursuits and began her academics; she learned religious principles, reading, writing, and Latin with the prioress. The prioress had a big influence in Cereta's life as her teacher, and mentor. The prioress taught Cereta to use late night to predawn hours while everyone else slept to embroider, write, and study. At the age of seven, her teacher guided her courses in Latin grammar. She also taught her how to draw pictures utilizing a needle, which she practiced herself day and night. After two years at the convent, her father requested that Cereta come home to take care her siblings at the age of nine. After a few months at home, she went back to the convent for more schooling. At the age of twelve, her father summoned her again to come home to take on various household responsibilities. Among them, supervising her brothers' education and serving as her father's secretary. It is likely that her father guided her post-elementary studies. At this time, Cereta showed great interest in mathematics, astrology, agriculture, and her favorite subject, moral philosophy.