The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-05-04

i throughout the system. yet in all cases
! the work is planned with view to the
/ Ltilitarian as we'll.
/ SO far as information on the subject Is
| available the Maryland State Normal
t School is the first school in the State To
i adopt a course of manual training based
/ On purely educational principles. Although
/ sewing and carpentry had been intro
/! duced some years before. in 1894 a manual
II aiming or sloyd room was fitted out
| with the necessary benches and tools for
| {. class of twenty. the students being
4 formed into classes to conform to the ac-
commodations of the room. An outline
] course Of educational manual training
was put into operation. with paper-fo1d-
/ irg. cardboard construction. whiting and
/ bench work in wood, SO arranged as to
i give to prospective teachers not only edu-
/ cation for their own minds through the
/ hand but to fit them to take up the work
/ systematically in their own schools.
The state has since made provision for
i II anual training in the counties What is
recognized as the best of existing State
aid laws was enacted in Maryland April,
1895 1t is calculated to stimulate the pro-
gress of new education in the State. This
law provides for the establishment of n
manual training department in one of the
/ fiSh schools in each county. and of a
separate industrial school for the coIored
/ pupils OF each county, by the appropria-
ton OF S1,5Qo to each school the first wear
and 500 per pupil per year thereafter. I'd
to $l,500 per school per wear
a county wishing to avail itself OF such
advantages opens a manual training
school or department. reports the loot
to the inspector of manual training school.
OF the state, who visits and examines
tne school, Upon his approval of the
IltneSS OF the room to proper heating
ilshtlng and ventilation, suitable equip
ineht ana the required average attend
ssnce OF pupils a certificate is issued by
! ,,-y,o
ply to the Comptroller of the State Treas
urH 1or the appropriated sum Sixteen
counties are now receiving this appropria-
tion- There is one serious defect, how
ever IN this otherwise good law It
1atis TO arrange for the further examina-
ton OF these schools and their work
An effort is being made to extend this
law to supply manual training to the
primary and grammar grades in the coun-
try schools. AS 1t is. some voluntary
work IS being done by a number of the
tea cheers.
The system employed is one outlined
py The inspector and adopted by the
state Board of Educat ton and was rec
commended to the schools of the State by
the Governor in his recent message The
course is based upon the .'solyd' method
The Swedish word "sloyd'' means 'skiil,''
out in its application in education it
means not so much the turning out of a
finished and polished model as OF q well
developed individual.
Work in wood affording as it does
such a variety of textures to work in
the use of many different tools. and
admitting of a great number and variety
OF useful models at small expense. has
been found to answer all the chief de-
mands OF educational training So in
THESE county manual training high
schools woodwork is the principal fea-
ture Some preliminary exercises ara
nrst given in paper-foldins and card
board construction to give practice in
; accurate drawing and measuring before
taking up the more difficult work in
wood. These exercises in paper-foIding
ana cardboard construction can be done
in the primary and grammar grades
!, Progressing always, but always SYSTEM
. atlcally, to the more difficult and COM
pick, these exercises are followed by n
series in elementary whiting. Bass
wood, the lightest and softest of woods,
OF 3-lb inches thickness. is used. and
:; simple articles are made requiring the
consideration Of but two dimensions. The
only tool employed thus far is a sloyd
knife, much like a shoemakers knife
This leads to more advanced whiting
in heavier and different woods and in
wolves three dimensions. the knife be-
ing still the only tool, except in one or
two cases, where a gimlet is required.
Then comes the true wood-sloyd, in
which all kinds OF woods are used, and
the saw, plane. auser. hammer. spoke
shave chisel, ETC.. are employed to make
moro complex models. After these tools
are mastered and the kinds of woods
, , well acquainted with, a certain amount
, Of individual choice is allowed the pu-
Pill as to what model he shall next
make. Pupils are allowed to go on as
fast as they can do good work and every
model must be entirely the pupils own
work Working drawings required
throughout the course, and all exercises
are planned with view to logical Sc
quence The pupil is led to see that
nothing should be made except from a
, carefully prepared plan: that he must
proceed Systematically, Jtnd put into
hand-work what his mind mas read IN
the drawing.
!, There is no special or technical end
in the introduction of manual training
in Maryland. Manual training Is not the
beginning OF an apprehension. The pu-
pills are not to be trained to be skilled
artisans nor is the end and aim OF these
manual training schools to turn out in
Vulnerable knick-kna cks of no use to the
! child or anyone else. (Of course, there
are eNtenuatng circumstances in the,
; case of the industrial schools for col
ored children. There is wisdom in Civ
ing these children opportunity to
learn those things which will afford them
manual employment Iater)
1t is not the skill alone which is devel-
oped through manual training which is
of the highest value Factories produce
more perfect models than the child could
ever make, but the factory sets a value
only on the thing made without regard
to the workman while education looks
to the development of the little work
man.
A distinct line has been and must al
ways be drawn between educational man
ual training employed in the schools
as a part of the system of general edu-
, cation. and the manual training. indus
trial. trades, technical and textile schools
The system in Maryland excludes en-
tirely the trades ideas" The purpose
of educatio is to teach US how to live
not how to make a. living In the
. sloyd system of manual training a series
of models Of use in some way in the
pupils home or schoolrcon or play af-
fords opportunity to the pupil to become
| acquainted with tools and materials and