Читать книгу Primary Handwork - Ella Victoria Dobbs - Страница 7

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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 to try again.

Fig. 1.—Story of Jack Horner on poster and sand table.

Snowflakes in background. First grade. Columbia, Missouri.

For example, after telling the story of Mother Hubbard, the children may be interested in cutting out dogs. No picture or other guide should be used at first, since every child knows something about dogs. The first cuttings are likely to be very poor, partly because the children have not sufficient control over the scissors and largely because their ideas are very vague. In a general comparison of work they will help each other with such criticisms as, "This dog's head is too big." "That dog's legs are too stiff." They are then ready to try again. Only when they have reached the limit of their power to see flaws in their work do they need to compare it with the real dog or its picture. Only after a child has attempted to express his idea and has become conscious in ever so small a degree of the imperfection of his expression will he really be able to see differences between the real object and his representation of it, and thereby clarify his mental picture.

Fig. 2.—Paper cutting. Second grade, Columbia.

The child's imagination is so strong that he is apt to see his productions not as they are but as he means them to be, and he is unable to distinguish between the original and his copy of it. If the picture or silhouette is presented at first, his work becomes to a large extent mere copying rather than self-expression. If the teacher cuts out a dog and displays it as a sample, the class will be apt to see that piece of paper only and not a real dog. If the children are permitted to draw the outline either freehand or around a pattern, still less mental effort is required, and in cutting they see only the bit of line just ahead of the scissors and not the object as a whole.

Such methods (i.e. the use of outlines, silhouettes, etc.) will produce better immediate results. It will be easier to distinguish dogs and cats from cows and horses if a pattern is provided, but it will not produce stronger children. Such methods only defeat the chief purpose of the work, which is to stimulate the mental effort required to hold the mental image of the object in the focus of attention during the time required to reproduce it in the material form.

Fig. 3.—Paper cutting. Second grade.

It is also often asked whether the children shall always cut directly and without modification or whether they shall be permitted to trim off the imperfections of their first attempts. While any rule must always be interpreted in the light of immediate circumstances, it is generally best to cut directly, and after noting the defects, cut again. It is then possible to compare the several attempts and see if improvement has been made. Attention should be directed to the most glaring defect only, and an attempt made to correct it. For example, if the dog's head is too large, do not trim down, but cut another dog and try for better proportions. Compare the second attempt with the first, to measure improvement. Even little children can be taught to work in this thoughtful way, looking for the defects in their own work and making definite attempts to correct them. To this end much cutting from an unlimited supply of newspaper or scratch paper will accomplish more than a few exercises in better paper which must be trimmed and worked over for the sake of economy. If little children are allowed to trim off, they are apt, in the pure joy of cutting, to trim too much and lose the idea with which they started—a process which tends to vagueness rather than clearness. To prevent this it is often helpful to preserve both pieces of paper, i.e. the cutting and the hole. (See Fig. 4.)

Paper Tearing.—Paper tearing serves many of the same purposes sought in cutting, and has several strong points in its favor. Working directly with the finger tips tends to develop a desirable dexterity of manipulation. The nature of the process prevents the expression of small details and tends to emphasize bold outlines and big general proportions. Working directly with the fingers tends also to prevent a weak dependence upon certain tools and tends to develop power to express an idea by whatever means is at hand.

Fig. 4.—Paper tearing.

Posters.—The term "poster" as here used includes all mounted pictures made by children, such as cuttings, drawings, paintings, and scrap pictures.

A poster may be the work of one child or of a group. A single poster may tell the whole story, or a series of posters may be made to show a sequence of events. A series of posters may be bound together in book form. For poster making single sheets of paper, medium weight and of neutral tone, are needed. The sheets should be of uniform size for individual use so that they could be bound together if desired. For coöperative work and special problems larger sheets will be needed.