Chapter I: Preface

This book is the outgrowth of long experience as a teacher of primary grades, followed by special study of handwork as a factor in elementary education. It is written with three objects in view:

First, to gather into a single volume various methods already in use in the more progressive schools, and for which the best suggestions are scattered through current periodicals:

Second, to organize these methods and present them in a simple form for the use of teachers who have had no special training in handwork processes:

Third, accepting conditions as they exist in the small town school and the one-room country school, as a basis of organization, to offer suggestions which may be easily adapted to the conditions of any school with a view to bringing present practice into closer harmony with the best educational ideals.

No claim is laid to originality, beyond the small details in which one person's interpretation of a large problem will differ from that of another.

The projects here outlined have been tested in the Public Schools of Columbia, Missouri, under conditions which are common to towns of about the same size.

The point of view has been influenced chiefly by the educational philosophy of Prof. John Dewey, especially as expressed in his essay "The Child and the Curriculum." The author wishes here to make grateful acknowledgement to Dr. Dewey, not only for the helpfulness of his writings, but also for the inspiration of his teaching.

Thanks are also due to Dr. Naomi Norsworthy of Teachers College, and to Dean W. W. Charters of Missouri University, for encouragement in planning the book and for criticism of the manuscript. Especial acknowledgment is here made to Prof. R. W. Selvidge of Peabody College for Teachers, formerly of this University, for hearty cooperation and helpful suggestions in working out the problems described in this book, and to the teachers of the Columbia Schools for their most efficient services in testing these problems in their classrooms.

E. V. D.

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI,

February, 1914.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. PAPER CUTTING AND POSTER MAKING 6

III. BOOKLETS 17

IV. CRITICISM AND STANDARDS OF WORKMANSHIP 24

V. THE HOUSE PROBLEM 27

VI. THE VILLAGE STREET 65

VII. SAND TABLES AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM 77

VIII. ANIMALS AND TOYS 102

IX. HOLIDAYS 112

X. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS AND SUMMARY 115

REFERENCES 123

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

House of the Three Bears _Frontispiece_

1. Paper Cutting. First Grade 7

2. Paper Cutting. Second Grade 8

3. Paper Cutting. Second Grade 10

4. Paper Tearing 11

5. Paper Cutting. Third Grade 13

6. Paper Cutting. Fourth Grade 15

7. Pamphlet Sewing 22

8. Japanese Sewing 22

9. House arranged on a Shelf 28

10. A Medieval Castle 29

11. House arranged on a Table--Front View 32

12. House arranged on a Table--Side View 33

13. House arranged on a Table--Back View 34

14. House Plan 35

15. Arrangement of Windows 36

16. Detail of Hollow Square 38

17. Borders 39

18. Looms and Samples of Weaving 41

19. Box House by Second Grade 43

20. Detail for Paper Weaving 44

21. Furniture from Wood Blocks 48

22. Furniture from Wood Blocks 48

23. Home of White Cloud, the Pueblo Girl 51

24. Detail of Stairway 54

25. Box House, showing Roof 55

26. Detail of Gable 56

27. Colonial Kitchen 56

28. House of the Three Bears 59

29. Cornstalk House 60

30. A Flour Mill 62

31. Box House and Stores 66

32. A Village Street 68

33. A Grocery. Fourth Grade 70

34. A Grocery. Third Grade 73

35. A Dry Goods Store 75

36. Home in a Hot Country 76

37. Home in a Cold Country 76

38. A Sand-table Farm. First Grade 80

39. A Sand-table Farm. Second Grade 80

40. Detail of Chicken Fence 81

41. Detail of Paper Tree 84

42. Overall Boys' Farm 86

43. An Apple Orchard 87

44. Robinson Crusoe 89

45. Pueblo Indian Village 90

46. A Home in Switzerland 92

47. Two Little Knights of Kentucky 94

48. How Cedric became a Knight 94

49. A Sugar Camp 95

50. A Western Cattle Ranch 96

51. The Story of Three Little Pigs 98

52. A Japanese Tea Garden 99

53. A Coal Mine 99

54. A Chariot Race 102

55. A Circus Parade 103

56. Three-ply Wooden Animals 104

57. Detail for Three-ply Wooden Animals
with Movable Parts 105

58. Notched Rest for Animals 106

59. Balancing Figures 107

60. Some Simple Toys 108

61. Adjusting Jumping-Jack in Frame 109

PRIMARY HANDWORK

PRIMARY HANDWORK