Yet another craft which is connected with the three-dimensional work discussed in Chapter Nine is woodwork. We have long accepted the idea that girls should start learning needlework at an early age. Even though we now appreciate that the eyes of young children and their inability to coordinate hand and eye easily, make fine sewing unsuitable work for Infants, we usually start formal needlework lessons at the beginning of the Junior school, feeling that this essential skill ought to be practised almost throughout a girl's school life. In the Secondary school, we regard woodwork and metal-work as reasonable occupations for the boys while the girls are doing needlework, but for some reason we feel that n is early enough to start work in these crafts. I can see no valid reason for this, any more than I can see a valid reason, other than tradition, for the arbitrary division of these crafts between the sexes. There are many girls who enjoy both woodwork and metalwork, and when boys are not afraid of having their masculinity questioned many of them enjoy needlework. It is an altogether ridiculous state of civilization which regards it as normal for a grown man to be almost incapable of repairing his clothes, and for an adult woman to be incapable of doing necessary odd jobs in the home. Both sexes need both skills.

Whatever the craft, however, I am certain that foundations should be firmly laid before the age of n, before children are hampered by the self-consciousness of adolescence. I realize that a number of Infant and Nursery schools are giving their children the opportunity to work with saws and hammers. This beginning is not, for the most part, being taken up by the Junior schools. If we give Juniors more chance to do this kind of work, the results might surprise us. I doubt if a high degree of finish would result, but if children could enter the Secondary school with some knowledge of the basic skills of the craft, the specialist teachers in the Secondary schools would have something to build on.

Many people feel that it is impossible to teach woodwork without a room set aside for it and very considerable expenditure on tools. These would be good to have, but, as many Primary school teachers, accustomed to making bricks with the minimum of straw, will know, much can be done with very little, given enthusiasm and the will to succeed. In some ways, this kind of craftwork, carried out under difficulties of all kinds, is a good preparation for adult life, where crafts like woodwork are often carried out on the kitchen table or the garage floor. In my own experience, when tools are short in school, many children will bring their own—or father's.

What equipment do we really need? In the first place we need old desks or tables of some kind which we can use as benches. Usually one can find something of the kind somewhere in school. We need saws and hammers of various kinds, drills, clamps, screwdrivers of different sizes, try-squares, pincers and pliers. All these need to be in as large a quantity as we can afford. Usually one can build up a stock over the years. We also need an endless supply of sandpaper, nails and screws of all kinds and sizes. In addition, it is helpful to keep a few chisels hidden away, for use in special pieces of work and by children who know how to handle them carefully. An oilstone for sharpening will also be needed.

It is a good idea to have a supply of odds and ends of wood for work of the children's own choice. Sometimes the shape of an odd piece of wood will start off an idea. One can often obtain these sorts of pieces free or very cheaply from a local sawmill or wood yard. When a definite piece of work is planned, however, it may be necessary to buy wood specially for it.

The course of work will consist, as in other crafts, of a mixture of experimental work of the children's own choice, and directed work planned to cover some particular aspects of woodwork. How much can be covered will depend on the teacher's own skill and knowledge.

In the Infant school and in some of the work of the Junior school, woodwork will be one of a number of activities in which both boys and girls will have the opportunity to take part. Work will be of their own choice, and teaching in the use of the tools and materials will be individual and incidental. From this kind of work, if it continues into the Junior school, they should learn the following facts about wood:

1. Some woods are hard and some soft.

2. Wood has a grain which needs to be taken into account.

3. Wood has knots which must be avoided.

4. Wood splits if you use it in certain ways. Children should discover from experience some of the causes of splitting.

They should also acquire the following skills:

1. Ability to saw along a line and to use the full length of the saw blade.

2. Ability to hammer a nail into wood without bending it.

3. Ability to use a drill to make holes.

4. Ability to use pincers to remove nails.

5. Ability to use sandpaper to advantage.

6. Ability to join two pieces of wood in a number of different ways.

7. Knowledge of how to measure off one piece of wood against another to get two pieces of the same length.

8. Increased ability to measure and estimate.

Intelligent children will, in fact, discover much more than this, and usually show considerable ingenuity in making the cars, ships and aeroplanes which form a large proportion of their choice. The things they discover will often form the basis of more formal teaching, planned to make sure that they have actually learned and practised the necessary skills. More formal work should include at least the following: