Virginia McGaw

“ If you have pupils old enough, or a class on which you can rely, nothing will delight them more than to do their own dyeing. A fourth-grade class in one of the Baltimore schools has successfully dyed all the raffia, cord, cotton, and textiles used in their classroom. The child dearly loves color; the possibility of having different shades to work with will arouse an intense interest in procuring these colors. It will be unusual if the pupils do not handle with care the materials and the dye pot. ”

“ Some one might ask, "While garden work is being done, does not the work of the classroom suffer?" No, it does not. When [Pg 123] classes are taught in sections, this outside work may be fitted in as a sectional part and the routine be kept intact.
In summarizing, the lessons developed from garden work were these: Science (soil physics and seed germination) ; geography; arithmetic; spelling; English; drawing, and construction. The greatest benefit to the teacher was the chance to study the child under natural conditions. ”

“ The most common stitch is known as the "lazy squaw," and is made by winding the raffia round the reed one, two, or three times, as space is desired; and then the needle is taken through the row below to make the stitch. Each stitch is a repetition of the one before and the mat, tray or basket grows with the effort. There are innumerable opportunities for design in Indian basketry, and it is here that the work of an artist may be realized and recognized. ”

“ CORD CONSTRUCTION Introductory Remarks
To a child one of the most attractive of possessions is a piece of cord. He has so many uses for it that it becomes part of the prized contents of his pocket. Since this commodity affords so much pleasure to the untrained child, how greatly may the pleasure be enhanced if he is taught how to make the number of beautiful things that may be wrought from cord or twine! ”

“ Every child should be trained to keep his eyes open and to adapt to his use the things he sees about him. Materials for baskets may be obtained in just this way. City children may take a trip to the country and gather the long grasses found in swamps and low places. Perhaps in the garden at home there is a clump of yucca; when the fall comes and the bloom is gone the leaves or blades may be cut, dried and stripped, and transformed into an attractive basket or tray. Again, the husks which are stripped from the corn cooked for dinner may be torn into narrow ribbons and dried for use. ”

“ REED BASKETS
The teacher should never begin the use of any new material for construction without having made the child familiar with its history; nor should a finished article be laid aside until the pupil has given the teacher a description of how it is made, and of what it is made. If this method is carried out the child will show a greater appreciation of what he is doing, will value the finished article more highly, and will place a premium on the raw material. ”

“ The hammock is now finished.
The question may arise: Why begin weaving in the center of the loom? The answer is: Because small children, and even older ones, sometimes, are not able to keep their warp threads parallel and as they approach the middle, where these threads give more, they naturally draw them in. This tendency is remedied to a great extent by beginning in the middle and weaving toward the ends, where the warp is confined in the board and keeps its place with no effort on the part of the child. ”

“ The little children of the South may gather the long needles that fall from the southern pine, and combine them with raffia or twine to construct a basket. Country children have a most adaptable and convenient commodity in the tough, flexible willows found on the banks of almost every stream.
The material most commonly used and easiest to begin with, however, is reed, which is pliable, and readily handled and moulded into simple forms by even small children. It is available when other materials are not to be had, for it may be purchased with the school supplies. ”

“ When you consider that between six and eight hundred children play in this yard at the same recess time every day, you can appreciate what it means to yield a portion of the limited space to vegetables and flowers; and, since these plants are never molested, how much the children are pleased to have their playground so decorated.
Nearly all the garden products may be correlated with the classroom work. The kindergarten children use peas in construction. The peas raised in the garden may be applied here. The first-grade children use lentils in construction. ”

“ As a preparation for the outside work we made a thorough study of soil composition and seed germination early in the winter. The children brought pieces of rock, pebbles, shells, wood, and leaves as concrete illustrations and with these before us the following lessons were developed:—
That soil is made from the wasting away of all kinds of rock. That soil is made by decaying wood. That soil is made by decaying leaves. That the above composites combine to form productive soil. ”

“ So much interest is shown in this phase of industrial work all over the country that I doubt that there is anywhere a teacher who does not wish to add the study of it to the curriculum, unless she is already working along these lines. Feeling sure of the sympathy aroused in every teacher's heart, I have included among the illustrations of this article three scenes from rural school life. ”

“ As a plastic art it lies between paper construction and clay modeling on one side, and wood and iron work on the other.
A keen interest in the art may be awakened by arousing in the child a desire for a basket for some practical purpose. In the autumn, the collecting of seeds for next spring's planting, the [Pg 72] gathering of nuts, the need for something in which to take the lunch to school, or, perhaps, a wish to make a pleasing gift for the coming Christmas, will immediately suggest its utility. ”

“ They speak so vividly for themselves that I feel that each one carries with it its own message and appeals so strongly in behalf of the deepest love of nature in even the youngest child as to point to the possibilities of what might be when this love is fed and made to grow with the physical nature of the child. ”

“ Our own American Indians were, and still are, such adepts in the art of basket-making that, for beauty and artistic effect, their baskets are excelled by none.
The perfection attained in this art by the uncivilized is marvelous. Adapting the materials about them to their use, they produce masterpieces which the civilized man beholds in wonder and amazement. ”

“ When sure that the stain is well rubbed in and dry, apply butcher's wax, and polish with a soft cloth. Some articles need two coats of stain, and an equal amount of polish.
In all work impress upon the child the fact that what is worth doing is worth doing well, or it should not be done at all.
Each model given works out a problem in handling the knife and cutting the wood, and each problem leads up to the one that follows.
We will begin with the simplest thing one can make—a puzzle.
1 Puzzle
Problem—To cut with the grain of the wood, and how to cut corners. ”

“ When we begin to sew we do not wrap the grasses as we wrapped the strands of raffia, but simply use as a sewing thread raffia of a contrasting or blending color. To form the button, wrap the threads three or four times around the root ends of the bunch, fasten tightly, then coil to form the center. Take the needle through the center and over the coil as many times as you think necessary to make the button firm. These stitches are the beginning of the spiral rays which radiate to the edge of the basket. ”

“ Each child should have a five-inch square, a slender stick five inches long, a pin, a ruler, a pair of scissors, and a lead pencil.
The children are supposed to know that every piece of paper, laid in position, has a back edge, a front edge, a right edge, a left edge, a right-back corner, a left-back corner, a right-front [Pg 28] corner, a left-front corner, and that, in tracing, the forefinger of the right hand is used. ”

“ Raffia for sewing.
Make a design in pencil, ink, or colored crayon.
Here the adaptability of material gathered about the home is illustrated. The tall, fine marsh grasses may be collected, spread out for three or four days where they will dry, and then utilized. You will find that almost every blade of this grass varies in color. The root end may be brown, while toward the tip the leaf shades into a light green, or white, or vice versa; this blending, when the grass is bunched, is most artistic.
Bunch a sufficient number of blades to make a coil a half or three-quarters of an inch in diameter. ”

“ Though handed down to us through many ages, this ancient occupation has never lost its fascination. The adult and the child of to-day are as eager to learn its secrets as were those dwellers on the banks of the Nile, hundreds of years ago. ”

“ But, should the teacher be able to obtain the proper materials, basswood a quarter or three-eighths of an inch thick, and whittling knives are the requisites.
The reader will notice that the wood mentioned for each model is bass. Why? Because bass is the wood generally used for carving. The tree is the same as the linden and the lime. It is found in northern Asia, Europe, and North America, and grows to an immense height. The wood is soft, light, close-veined, pliable, tough, durable, and free from knots, and does not split easily; all of which qualities favor its suitability for carving. ”

“ That President Silvester was a pioneer in the thought that "agriculture should enter into education" is shown by the following quotation from his introduction to my article of 1906:—
"The time must come when the child of rural environment must find in the only school which ninety per cent will ever attend, a training which will give it an intelligent adjustment to its environment. ”

“ The onion planted produced seed, while the seeds sown yielded the small sets for the next [Pg 119] year's planting. Thus by the act of one child the fact was clearly demonstrated to the class that fruit produces seed, and seed produces fruit.
The supervisor had given us a wren-box, made by a child in a more advanced class as manual work. The children were delighted with the gift; they built a framework around a stout pole in the center bed and set the wren-box on the pole. They then suggested that a vine should cover this framework. ”

“ In adapting a commodity to circumstances in this way, the broader knowledge of how the colors in clothing are obtained will develop and there will be created in the child a new idea of life and of man's work. ”

“ At each end where the weaving stops, take a needle threaded with a length of cord and run in and out along the warp threads, first to the right and then to the left of the final woof thread. This makes a secure finish and holds the woof threads in position. Next unfasten the rings and remove the hammock from the loom by tearing the tag-board along the lines of perforations. Finally, where the cords pass through the ring, hold them close to the ring and wrap them with a piece of cord for the distance of an inch, then fasten off by forcing the needle up through the wrapped space toward the ring ”

“ He must be taught that only when a thing is well done has it any use or value, therefore the best effort is necessary to the success of his work. If he ties a knot, it must be properly tied or it will not hold. ”

“ With a radius of one inch describe an inner semicircle (5-6) parallel to the outer one. Again, with a radius of one inch describe a third semicircle, parallel to the other two. Set the compass at half the radius and divide each semicircle into six equal parts. Connect these points of intersection by straight lines (9-10) . Make [Pg 45] a stencil that will fit in one of these sections. Using the stencil, draw the same figure in each section. Carefully cut out the stenciled space. Next lay the construction paper on the Japanese rice paper and trace on it the stencil design. ”

“ In connection with these pictures let me say a few more words to the rural teacher. You may think yourself much poorer than your city co-worker, but the fact is that you are the one of affluence, she is the struggler. ”

“ The model given is made of marsh grass, sewed with raffia of natural color, and the design is made in pink hemp. Its base is five inches in diameter; its depth one and one-fourth inches.
Corn husks may be used instead of grasses, and are unexcelled for beauty and artistic effect. Use the inner husk from the ear when green; though the husks will dry, the varied color will not be lost. When made up with a contrasting color of green or golden brown raffia they are most attractive. Grasses may be kept a long time ”

“ All ends must come inside the basket; after it is dry, trim them off. You will find that in working with the wet reed your basket may seem not to have the proper shape. Soak it well and you will be able to mould as you wish it. Add a handle. ”

“ Place the cleats on the back half an inch from the opening, the longer fitting in between the two shorter ones. Glue them on, then nail them. Against these cleats glue the back (1) before nailing it. Next glue and nail on the two supports against the back and on a level with the lower edge (Figure 4) . On the fourth side, where there is no cleat, is the opening through which the picture is slipped. When the frame is satisfactorily sandpapered, oil and polish it.
9 Japanese Box
Problem—To construct a box having lid and bottom extend beyond sides. ”