st teachers considered this important
question. Let us give up training the _mass_ and begin to train the
_individual_. Through our interest in them they may find their life
work. If a child in the first grade is prepared to do any industrial
work of a higher grade, no matter how dull he may otherwise be, by all
means let him do it. It is his way of expressing what lies within him.
Not only will his hand and mind be trained thereby, but his heart will
be filled with the joy that always comes through achievement.

[Sidenote: _Value of hand training_]

[Sidenote: _If you would develop morality in a child, train him to
work_]

[Sidenote: _Making citizens_]

Hand training has been found to be of great value in all other work. The
children are brighter, and seem better able to grasp an idea. The slow
children are also stimulated, and in doing the simple work well are
preparing for that which is more difficult. Impression and expression
should go hand in hand. We know nothing of "the bad boy," now that we
have found something for his restless fingers to do. "The habit of
methodical work is the basis of all ethics." In teaching children to do
their best, we are training citizens. Some one has facetiously remarked
that, "In the making of a good citizen it is necessary to catch your
citizen early." We cannot get hold of the anarchists, but we can get
hold of their children, and in the training of them to work lies their
salvation. Formation is better than reformation.

[Sidenote: _Formation, not reformation_]

[Sidenote: _New applications for old teachings_]

Verily, there is nothing new under the sun. We hie ourselves to the
summer schools, and return laden with new ideas--when lo! it dawns upon
us that all we have done during the hot days has been to make a new
application of what Froebel taught the world before we were born. So in
this introduction, an old story has been retold, but I hope that it will
come with a new meaning to my fellow teachers.

Chapter Three

FIRST STEPS IN WEAVING

[Sidenote: _Felt mats and slats_]

[Sidenote: _Demonstration cards and diagrams_]

The principles of weaving are very easily learned with felt mats and
slats. One-half a yard of felt two yards wide will make thirty-six mats
six inches square. These are very durable, and can be used year after
year, if protected from moth during the summer. Some prefer leather or
oil-cloth mats, backed with heavy unbleached muslin, but t