E INSETS. (MONTESSORI SCHOOL,
RUNTON.)]

The new movement of the hand which the child must coordinate is of
particular importance. He is taught to _touch the outline of the
geometrical figures_ with the soft tips of the index and middle finger
of the right hand, or of the left as well, if one believes in
ambidexterity. (Fig. 24.) The child is made to touch the outline, not
only of the _inset_, but also of the corresponding aperture, and, only
after _having touched_ them, is he to put back the inset into its
place.

The _recognition_ of the form is rendered much easier in this way.
Children who evidently do not _recognize the identities of form_ by
the eye and who make absurd attempts to place the most diverse figures
one within the other, _do recognize_ the forms after having touched
their outlines, and arrange them very quickly in their right places.

The child's hand during this exercise of touching the outlines of the
geometrical figures has a concrete guide in the object. This is
especially true when he touches the frames, for his two fingers have
only to follow the edge of the frame, which acts as an obstacle and is
a very clear guide. The teacher must always intervene at the start to
teach accurately this movement, which will have such an importance in
the future. She must, therefore, show the child _how to touch_, not
only by performing the movement herself slowly and clearly, but also
by guiding the child's hand itself during his first attempts, so that
he is sure to touch all the details--angles and sides. When his hand
has learned to perform these movements with precision and accuracy, he
will be _really_ capable of following the outline of a geometrical
figure, and through many repetitions of the exercise he will come to
coordinate the movement _necessary_ for the exact delineation of its
form.

This exercise could be called an indirect but very real preparation
for drawing. It is certainly the preparation of the hand to _trace an
enclosed form_. The little hand which touches, feels, and knows how to
follow a determined outline is preparing itself, without knowing it,
for writing.

The children make a special point of touching the outlines of the
plane insets with accuracy. They themselves have invented the exercise
of blindfolding their eyes so as to recognize the forms by touch only,
taking out and putting back the insets without seeing them.

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