5.—Suitable Occupations.

1. Kindergarten occupations have for some time been used in our Infant schools, and manual instruction has also been given to the elder boys in many schools for older children, while the elder girls have similarly been taught cookery and laundry-work; but the scholars in the First, second, and Third Standards have, as a rule, had hitherto no manual training, except in so far as it has been supplied in the forms of needlework and drawing. Manual instruction is a valuable part of school training, and my Lords desire to encourage managers of public elementary schools to introduce, where circumstances permit, a suitable course of manual occupations for the three lowest standards.

Kindergarten occupations as used in the infant-school are not suitable for the children in schools for older scholars. The mat-weaving, sticks tow, embroidery, tablet-laying, and building with bricks or cubes, which serve to give young children ideas of form and number, as well as to train hand and eye, seem trivial to the ordinary child of nine or ten years of age. On the other hand, few of the common workman's tools can with safety be put into the hands of children under the age of eleven.

3. The manual occupations satisfying these conditions, which has been most commonly adopted as specially suitable for the First, Second,. as Third Standards are: (a.) Modelling in clay, (b.) Modelling in cartridge or cardboard paper. (c.) Cutting out in paper or other material, (d.) Drawing and colouring designs (some original). (e.) Brush-drawing from the object and from recent impressions. Other equally useful occupations may no doubt be devised, and any occupation that is proposed, if it likely to prove satisfactory, will be readily accepted by the department.

4. It appears that the various manual occupations which have [unclear: hither-] to been introduced for the lower standards because of their suitability resolve themselves into exercises in the studies of (i) form, (ii) colour, (iii) measurement, which should be, where possible, connected with other subjects of instruction.

(a.)	For acquiring a knowledge of form, the most effective occupation is clay-modelling. It demands accurate observation of the of the which is chosen as a model, and the accuracy of the obsavation will largely depend upon previous instruction as to the build or growth of the object in its natural state. Sometimes lesson on modelling has followed one on natural history or science; sometimes the children, after an object-lesson upon the formation of a fruit or the germination of a seed, have modelled the object, thus at once testing the correctness of their impression and driving it home. Clay-modelling has been used to illustrate the geography lessons; for example, the children construct a model of the river basin in which they live; and again, illustration has been found for the history lesson m obstructing a model of some neighbouring encampment, where square or circular, Roman or British. As a knowledge of form depends upon a close observation of light and shade, a lesson in modelling greatly furthers instruction in drawing. Clay modelling, however, lacks the charm of colour.
(b.)	Colour may be studied in the following ways. When care is taken to provide a variety of tasteful shades of coloured paper, it is possible to combine the drawing, cutting out, and mounting of a number of good designs, many of which may be in respect both to pattern and arrangement of colour the original work of the children themselves. The drawing may be done partly by aid of rulers and templates and partly freehand The use of templates makes it possible to stamp on the mind certain beautiful curves at an earlier age than children can draw them freehand. This kind of exercise has been very fully developed by some of the officers under the London School Board. The advantages of it are that it promotes accuracy and good taste in colour and design, and also a sense of harmony and proportion. The defect of it is that the manipulation is somewhat monotonous, and that it does not lead to much increase of knowledge of varied objects.
(c.)	Brushwork demands a clear perception of form and some knowledge of natural objects, and cultivates delicacy of touch; but it does not train the student to great accuracy or cultivate the sense of colour. Children, however, can express their impression of a flower, as, for instance, a bluebell and its leaves, much more easily by the brush only than by the pencil, and, if their observation has been very inexact, the error becomes obvious when they try to draw their impression.page 35
(d.)	As an exercise in accurate measurement, cartridge paper or cardboard modelling leaves little to be desired. This work is an excellent training in exact measurement and in cutting true to measure, and it furnishes an elementary notion of construction, The manipulation, however, in this exercise also is somewhat monotonous. This kind of work lends itself readily to the illustration of instruction in simple geometry. The beginner may learn to cut out in cardboard, or, more readily still, in stout drawing-paper, simple plane geometrical figures, and, after a time, he may proceed to simple geometrical solids. The cube, the cone, the cylinder, the wedge, the prism, and the pyramid can all be drawn, cut out, and put together without much difficulty. The manufacture of various useful articles, such as blotting-books, frames, trays, and the like, can be combined with the formation of geometrical figures.
(e.)	As no one of the branches of manual occupation is complete when taken by itself, the most satisfactory results will follow where it is found possible to make them supplement each other.

5. Lastly, very great care is necessary in leading the pupils to acquire correct method in handling brushes, tools, and all the implements required. Another point which demands attention is that of the general posture of the children during their lessons. Where much stooping is necessory the work should be occasionally interrupted and a short extension drill given. Unhealthy and cramped postures should be avoided. Whilst fairly accurate work should be aimed at, you must beware of expecting very fine work requiring minute finish, or any work which is likely to strain the eyesight of young children.

6. My Lords have noticed with satisfaction that many of the larger School Boards have appointed superintendents or instructors of manual training, and have issued by their help excellent schemes of manual occupations for the lower standards. Some of these courses have already been published, and, while it is contrary to the practice of my Lords to draw up any lists of educational works, you may remind managers that particulars of such schemes can easily be obtained through the usual channels of trade.