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PRIMARY HANDWORK
* * * * * *
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO . DALLAS
ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
* * * * * *
[Illustration: HOUSE OF THE THREE BEARS
Built by first-grade class. Columbia, Missouri. See page 58.]
PRIMARY HANDWORK
by
ELLA VICTORIA DOBBS, B.S., A.M.
Assistant Professor of Manual Arts
University of Missouri
New York
The Macmillan Company
1923
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1914,
by The Macmillan Company.
Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1914.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
DEDICATED TO
THE LITTLE CHILDREN OF AMERICA
WITH THE WISH
THAT ALL THEIR SCHOOL DAYS
MAY BE HAPPY DAYS
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
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In setting forth the plan and purpose of this little book the author
wishes to lay equal emphasis on its limitations. The outlines and
suggestions which follow are designed for the use of grade teachers who
have had little or no training in handwork processes but who appreciate
the necessity of making worthy use of the child's natural activity and
desire to do. The outlines are arranged with reference to schools which
are not provided with special equipment and which have scant funds for
supplies. The projects require only such materials as empty goods boxes,
and odds and ends of cloth and paper, which are easily obtainable in any
community. No extra time is required for the work, and it may be
successfully carried out by any teacher who is willing to devote a little
study to the possibilities of things near at hand.
These outlines do not form a course of study to be followed in regular
order nor in set lessons coming at a definite time. They are, rather, a
series of suggestions to be used wherever and whenever they will serve a
worthy purpose. They are not to be regarded as a _special_ subject,
having little or no connection with the regular class work, but rather as
an illustrative method of teaching the regular subject matter whenever the
teaching can be done more effectively by means of concrete illustrations.
It is proposed to make greater use of construction as a medium of
expression, and place _making_ more nearly on a par with talking, writing,
and drawing.
Any of the projects outlined may be modified to suit varying conditions,
and the emphasis placed according to the needs of a particular class. All
the suggestions are given in very simple form, chiefly from the standpoint
of the first grade, for the reason that it is easier to add to the details
of a simple problem than to simplify one which is complex.
It is not the purpose here to emphasize the training of the hand or the
development of technique in handwork processes to the extent commonly
expected of a course in manual arts, though considerable dexterity in the
use of tools and materials will undoubtedly be developed as the work
proceeds. While careless work is never to be tolerated in construction any
more than it would be tolerated in writing or drawing, the standard is to
be only such a degree of perfection as is possible through a child's
unaided efforts. It is proposed to provide him with things to do of such
interest to him that he will wish to do his best, and things of such a
nature that they will please him best when they are well done, and so
stimulate a genuine desire for good work. To this end the suggestions
relate to things of immediate value and use to the children themselves,
rather than to things commonly comprehended in a list of articles which
are useful from the adult point of view.
The work is to be kept on a level with the child's experience and used as
a means of broadening his experience and lifting it to a higher level. It
must also be kept on the level of his constructive ability in order that
he may do things _by himself_, and develop independence through feeling
himself master of his tools. Neither patterns nor definite directions are
provided for the details of the projects outlined, for the reason that it
is desired to make every project a spontaneous expression of the child's
own ideas. To this end the outline serves only as a framework, to be
filled in as the worker desires. The ready-made pattern implies dictation
on the part of the teacher and mechanical imitation and repetition on the
part of the pupil,--a process almost fatal to spontaneous effort. While it
is possible through a method of dictation to secure results which seem, at
first, to be much better than the crude constructions which children are
able to work out for themselves, it is only a superficial advantage, and
one gained at the expense of the child's growth in power to think and act
independently. It is an advantage closely akin to the parrotlike
recitation of the pupil who catches a few glib phrases and gives them back
without thought, as compared with the recitation of the pupil who thinks
and expresses his thoughts in his own childish language.
These outlines are intended not only to emphasize independence in
self-expression, but also to foster a social spirit through community
effort and develop a sense of responsibility through division of labor. A
child's shortcomings will be brought home to him much more vividly if he
fails to contribute some essential assigned to him in the construction of
a cooperative project, and thereby spoils the pleasure of the whole group,
than when his failure affects only his individual effort in a group of
duplicate projects.
These outlines are intended also to suggest a method of opening up to the
children, in an attractive way, the great field of industry. Their deep
interest in playing store leads easily to a study of the source, use, and
value of various forms of merchandise and the essential features of
various trades and occupations. Problems of this sort are fascinating to
children in all the lower grades, are rich in valuable subject matter, and
suggest things to do which are both interesting and worth while. Without
attempting to exhaust any phase of the subject, they awaken an intelligent
interest in the industrial world and tend to stimulate thoughtful
observation. They help to give the children correct ideas about industrial
processes as far as their knowledge goes, and to create a desire for
further knowledge. This general information lays a good foundation for
later and more serious study of the industries and the choice of a
vocation.
These outlines are offered as a means of bridging the gap between the
formal methods and outgrown courses of study still in use and the richer
curriculum and more vital methods toward which we are working. Much time
must be spent in study and experimentation before a satisfactory
reorganization of the curriculum can be worked out. Without waiting until
this work shall be wholly completed, it is possible at once to vitalize
the most formal course of study through the use of freer methods, which
permit and encourage self-directed activity on the part of the pupil. The
use of such methods will not only tend to create a deeper interest in
school work, but must also help toward the great problem of
reorganization, by throwing into stronger relief the strength and weakness
of our present common practice.