Scientific Sloyd; A New Original System Founded on Geometrical Principles, for Teachers Colleges, and for Primary, Elementary, and Grammar Schools (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1902 Excerpt: ... A FEW WORDS UPON "MANUAL TRAINING" The origin of the present systems of ' Manual Training" adopted in England aod America emanates from the centennial exposition in Philadelphia, where it was inspired by the Russian exhibit. The method consists of a repeated training of different exercises--the chisel being the principal tool--and there is given room for only very few completed articles; the making of some useful objects being reserved until the pupils have accu mulated and stored up a lot of different exercises. Just as if you would prohibit a child from writing words and sentences until it has reached the highest possible degree of penmanship in forming the different letters. Such mere technical exercises will surely tend to transform the children into small machines, mechanically moving their hands on purpose to obtain sufficient skill for bread-earning in the future. They can not be expected to take any considerable interest in those mechanical exercises, the final usefulness of which it is rather hard for them to comprehend, wrapped up as it is in the dense cloud called "the Future." All children are naturally practically disposed and want to turn.to immediate use the fruit of their labor. To postpone their enjoying of these fruits until an indeterminable ' Future" is to divert the childish disposition into a wrong channel and kill at the birth their childish delight in their own work. To take an example: If an artist--say a painter or a sculptor--never was expected to accomplish any work until he were able to produce his masterpiece, but always had only to go on practising and practising for a distant and uncertain goal, how could he develop any zeal for his undertaking, and how could he ever be expected to complete something great? And yet he would b...