Problems in woodwork

This manual is designed as a guide to manual training teachers who believe that the object of education is the development of the child morally and mentally rather than the acquisition of skill, which so often is made the dominant feature in manual training. Not that the training to acquire skill should be neglected, but it should not be fostered at the expense of the child's broad understanding of nature and nature's laws.

No set of models can express the manual training idea, nor can any definite course of work be applicable to all the diverse conditions to be met with in one city, or even in one school; consequently, the exercises arc arranged merely as a basis from which to work.

The fact that a variety of materials is used aids in bringing the work into closer relation with that of the grade teacher.

This relationship tends to instill life into the work of the shop, which should be considered as a school laboratory where the work of the classroom is to be more fully developed.

The emphasis placed on the combination of materials gives a broader view of the subject of manual training. It broadens the child's horizon so that he is capable of appreciating the unusual rather than the more commonplace problems so often imposed on pupils of manual training. The problems suggested are presented in such a way that the trained teacher will have no difficulty to understand their construction. The fact that so much detail is omitted gives the teacher an opportunity to present the detailed operations in his own way, thus making the work more individual.