Primary Handwork

by Ella Victoria Dobbs

Several discrepancies existed which are mentioned here because they troubled some overconscientious visitors. The stars and stripes did not come into existence until centuries after Columbus died and therefore never waved over the Indian village which he found. But chronology does not trouble the first grader very much, while "my country" and "my flag" are ideas which are developing together. And when he is singing, "Columbus sailed across the sea, To find a land for you and me," the red, white, and blue forms the most fitting symbol in his representation of that land. The wild animals which infested the sand-table forest are not all mentioned in the histories as found on San Salvador, but they did exist in the child's idea of the wild country which the white men found on this side of the Atlantic. The children having truthfully expressed their ideas, the teacher had a basis from which to develop, correct, and emphasize such points as were of real importance, while the unimportant features would fade out for lack of emphasis.

Fig. 50.—A western cattle ranch.

On the occasion of the supervisor's visit the members of the class vied with each other in telling the story and explaining the significance of the various illustrations. The supervisor expressed a wish to own some of the cuttings, whereupon, at a hint from the teacher, the class which had gathered about the sand table scampered joyfully (but quietly) back to their seats. Scissors and paper were quickly distributed, and in about five minutes an empty shoe box was required to hold the collection of "Mr. Columbuses," kings and queens in royal purple, gold crowns, and necklaces, ships, fishes, etc., that were showered upon the guest. Needless to say many scraps of paper had fallen to the floor. The teacher remarked that it was time for the brownies to come. Down went all the heads for a sleepy time. The teacher slipped about, tapping here and there a child, who quickly began gathering up the scraps as joyously as he had helped to make them.

The supervisor bade them good-by, with a wish that all children might begin their school life under such happy and wholesome influences.

(2) Story of Jack Horner[3]—First Grade.—As the story was read the different characters were subjects for free paper-cutting exercises. An abundance of paper (scratch paper and newspaper) was supplied, and each child allowed to cut each figure many times, very quickly.

The story was also dramatized and acted out over and over again. Figure [1] shows the result of an hour's work in assembling the various characters and telling the whole story on the sand table and in a poster. The different figures to be cut were assigned to or chosen by the different children, the teacher taking care that no characters were omitted. Having cut figures of the various characters as they were met in the story, all were eager to reproduce the part called for, and in a few minutes more than enough cuttings were made to supply both sand table and poster with ample material. Two groups of children, one for the poster and one for the sand table, were assigned the work of placing the figures. The teacher superintended both projects, giving a few suggestions as needed, but throwing the responsibility upon the children as much as possible.

This problem was worked out by the same class which made the Columbus illustration just described. The Jack Horner story was illustrated in the spring, after much work of this sort had been done. The quality of the cuttings showed an interesting improvement over the cuttings made for the Columbus story, which came during the third week of the school year.

(3) Story of Three Little Pigs.—This is a long story, and three weeks were occupied in reading it and dramatizing it. During this time there were frequent discussions about how it was to be worked out on the sand table. Contributions in great variety were brought in: straw for the straw house, twigs for the house of sticks, bags of brick dust to make a roadway different from the sand, rose hips to be tied to a small branch to represent the apple tree, and various other articles.