Fig. 5b
With regard to the arrangement of the toys in this book, roughly they are described in order of difficulty, but for convenience sometimes this order has been departed from. For example, match-box toys have been grouped together, cork animals, etc. The teacher must select her own models from different parts of the book and use them in accordance with her children's ability and her own taste.
Another important principle to follow is this. The teacher should give as few directions as possible, be as silent as it is possible for a teacher to be. The child has an excellent opportunity in these classes of learning from his own mistakes. This opportunity must not be taken from him; he must be given the chance of finding out his own mistakes. Moreover, every difficulty should not be anticipated for the child; nor should too many warnings be given. Let the children set to work as soon as possible and use their tools without too many instructions about them. Let them ask, let them have the pleasure of discovering; every child wants to learn, but not every child wants to be taught.
All models should be made as large as is reasonably possible; this should be insisted on from the beginning. Lastly, great accuracy (though much to be desired) must not be expected from the child; careful work must be insisted on, but one must learn to recognise the careful work of a child (which is so different from that of the grown-up person) and not heedlessly blame him or her for not reaching perfection.
Accuracy is so often the outcome of 'lack of vision.' The child so often has that 'vision,' that imaginative outlook on life that floods the mind with ideas, but lacks accurate power of expression, while the grown-up person has the accurate power of expression, but has lost the fresh imagination of youth and all its ideals. We must see to it that we do not dim our children's vision.
[CHAPTER III]
PAPER WORK FOR INFANTS
Materials. White paper of any kind that is not too thick and bends easily, e.g. cartridge paper, plain white foolscap, pages from exercise books. Pieces of coloured paper are introduced into some of the toys. It is better, however, to encourage the children to colour the white paper with chalks. One must remember, however, children's delight in coloured paper and let them have it sometimes. A wall-paper sample book will provide coloured paper, and gummed coloured squares are supplied to most schools. These gummed squares are really too thin for effective toy-making, and there is the temptation to the child to lick them when making models from them.