Value of hand training
If you would develop morality in a child, train him to work
Making citizens
Hand training has been found to be of great value in all other work. The children are brighter, and seem better able to grasp an idea. The slow children are also stimulated, and in doing the simple work well are preparing for that which is more difficult. Impression and expression should go hand in hand. We know nothing of "the bad boy," now that we have found something for his restless fingers to do. "The habit of methodical work is the basis of all ethics." In teaching children to do their best, we are training citizens. Some one has facetiously remarked that, "In the making of a good citizen it is necessary to catch your citizen early." We cannot get hold of the anarchists, but we can get hold of their children, and in the training of them to work lies their salvation. Formation is better than reformation.
Formation, not reformation
New applications for old teachings
Verily, there is nothing new under the sun. We hie ourselves to the summer schools, and return laden with new ideas—when lo! it dawns upon us that all we have done during the hot days has been to make a new application of what Froebel taught the world before we were born. So in this introduction, an old story has been retold, but I hope that it will come with a new meaning to my fellow teachers.