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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introductory Note
Chapter
01. A Talk About The Materials Used
02. Some Uses For Cord And String
03. A Few Suggestions For Raffia
04. Coarse Sewing
05. Paper Cutting And Folding
06. Some Stories In Clay
07. Weaving
08. Bead-Work
09. How To Furnish A Doll's House
10. Simple Upholstery For Home Use
11. Crocheting And Knitting
12. Some Special Work For Boys
13. How To Use Nature's Materials
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
THE child is naturally a worker. He will destroy if he does not know how to make. Destruction interests him as much as construction. He likes to see "the wheels go around," and it matters little to him if the gratifying of his desires is advantageous or not to the article in hand.
Mothers, who were the earliest and should be the best teachers, long ago found that the happiest child was the busy one. They discovered also that to keep him at work he must be interested in the thing he is doing. To accomplish this they must provide that which he feels to be worth the effort. It must be something which he understands and which he can finish in a short time. A stupid, difficult "stint" such as poor Little Prudy had to finish daily is not calculated to increase a love for work. The wise and patient mother has it in her power to create an interest in the daily work of the household. Even such homely tasks as sweeping, dusting, and sewing may be taught to the children and prove pleasurable and profitable to them.
Handwork has its place in education as well as in the daily life. It should ever be a blessing, not a doom. It may give in both places rich returns, which should affect the child in the development of his thought, of his emotional life, and of his character. The results of the work are the child's, but the mother and the teacher must study how best to give the full joy of work to the children.
This book considers the needs of both the mother and the teacher. It has been written by two teachers who know and love children and who have practically worked out with them the things of which they write.
It tries to meet the child's constant cry, "What shall I do?" with a direct reply full of help and of interest.
Mere formal models are not mentioned, the book dealing with attractive and useful articles. It sets forth the best way of making such articles and it tells what they should cost. Simple crafts from many industrial fields are chosen in order that variety in work may increase the child's interest in the world about him. The teacher who has the handwork in the early grades finds here a series of valuable suggestions, while the mother is fortified with delightful occupations for rainy days. This little book should therefore increase the helpfulness and happiness of many little workers in the school, the settlement, and the home.
MARY SCHENCK WOOLMAN
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