ward which we are working. Much time
must be spent in study and experimentation before a satisfactory
reorganization of the curriculum can be worked out. Without waiting until
this work shall be wholly completed, it is possible at once to vitalize
the most formal course of study through the use of freer methods, which
permit and encourage self-directed activity on the part of the pupil. The
use of such methods will not only tend to create a deeper interest in
school work, but must also help toward the great problem of
reorganization, by throwing into stronger relief the strength and weakness
of our present common practice.

CHAPTER II

PAPER CUTTING AND POSTER MAKING

Paper and scissors form a fascinating combination to all children, and
offer a very direct means of self-expression. In the language of a small
boy who attempted to tell how to do it, "You just think about something
and then cut out your _think_." The teacher is concerned chiefly with the
"think" and the way in which it is expressed. The children are interested
in paper cutting chiefly from the pleasure of the activity. Beyond the
immediate pleasure in the process, the cuttings are valuable only as they
indicate the clearness of the child's ideas and measure his ability to
express them. The process is educative only in so far as it helps the
small worker to "see with his mind's eye" and to give tangible shape to
what he thus sees. It is important, therefore, that the work be done in a
way that will emphasize the thinking rather than the finished product.

The first question arising is, To what extent shall a pattern be used?
Shall the teacher cut out the object and bid the class follow her example?
Shall she display a silhouette or outline drawing of the object she
desires the children to cut, or shall they work without any external guide
to justify or modify the mental picture? Shall they be given a pattern and
be allowed to draw around it?

All of the above methods are used to a greater or less extent. Long
experience seems to indicate that the first cutting of any object should
be unassisted by any external representation of it whatever, in order that
the attention of each child may be focused upon his own mental picture of
the object. When he has put forth his best effort from this standpoint, he
should compare his cutting with the real object or a good picture of it
and be led to see the chief defects in his own production and then allowed