book but
they are permanently impressed upon the child's character. That such an
education must react upon the parent is obvious. The child's life is
full of aim and he does everything with a purpose, and in such a child
only the most depraved parent will fail to take interest, and children
have this characteristic, that they force their knowledge upon the
notice of their parents whenever they can. The boy who begins to learn
house painting soon expresses the wish to paint his own home; if
carpentry, he wishes to build a shed; if joinery, he wishes to make a
table; and how often one notices a home where tidiness and order are due
to the educated child, and where taste in furnishing is accounted for by
the daughter's cultivated aesthetic taste. Children then, so trained as
the Sloyd system provides, may contribute enormously to the happiness
and brightness of the home life. Instead of regarding them as a burden
their parents will behold them with delight and pride, and instead of
looking out for "something for them to do," indifferent whether it be
driving a cart, selling in a shop, or clerking in a lawyer's office,
they will find that the child himself has a definite idea of where his
after course should lie, and they will do their utmost towards assisting
him to follow it.

[Illustration: _To perceive the amount of distortion, fold the paper
along the axis of the diagram, and hold it between the eye and the
light._

_From "Theory of Sloyd"_--SALOMON.]

It cannot be supposed that Sloyd will succeed in the midst of
incongruous surroundings. To train the eye to a sense of the beautiful
in a dirty schoolhouse is somewhat difficult. The glorious handiwork of
God will not be taught in the playground which, with its mudholes, ruts,
and filth, more resembles a cattle yard than anything else. A school and
its grounds must at least show that the authorities themselves really
appreciate the lessons they are endeavouring to have instilled into the
minds of their scholars. So, too, a similar system must underlie the
method of teaching the ordinary lessons at the school desk. How many
children will say "I love history but I detest dates"? What value are
the dates? Let history be taught as Fitchett teaches it in his "Deeds
that won the Empire" and the end will be accomplished, patriotism will
be inspired, and the nation loved. Dates, names of deeds, causes of war,
international policies may easily be introduced incidentally. Let