11 Nov Learning Cardboard Sloyd in a Charlotte Mason Education

For the past several months, in our homeschool, we’ve been working on paper sloyd. Sloyd is an important part of a Charlotte Mason education, yet we had neglected it in our early years of learning. However, once we dug deeper and learned more about it, we began to take it more seriously, and it became a subject that we thoroughly enjoyed. As we gained skill and expertise in paper sloyd, I began to think of the next step. Sloyd is a progressive subject, and paper sloyd is only the beginning. So what comes after 2-3 years of learning paper sloyd in the elementary years? According to Charlotte Mason, and several other experts from her time, the next step is cardboard sloyd.

The Importance of Cardboard Sloyd

Cardboard sloyd is a natural progression from paper sloyd. It uses cardboard (or probably what we would call cardstock now-a-days) and a knife, rather than paper and scissors. Using folding, measuring and cutting techniques, a student will learn to create useful household items or gifts.

Charlotte Mason describes sloyd as “the most valuable and most educative of all the handicrafts.” As for cardboard sloyd in particular,

“It should be clearly understood that it is Card-board Sloyd that is considered essential for the full development of the child, and not Wood Sloyd, which is of secondary and later importance.”

J.W. Devonshire, Junior Principal of the Croft School, Betley, nr. Crewe.

The Benefits of Cardboard Sloyd

Devonshire goes on further to describe the varied and extensive benefits of learning cardboard sloyd: “Some of the immediate results of Cardboard Sloyd training are, deftness of fingers, accuracy of eye, and perfection of finish, all unconsciously acquired by the enthusiastic worker. In the opinion of experts no other handicrafts afford so good an ethical training as that gained through a course of Sloyd. The exactitude and truthfulness of the work promotes the tendency to veracity and uprightness in conduct; firmness in the use of tools leads to decision of action; while the discrimination between good and bad work, gained by experience goes far towards choosing between what is valuable or worthless in life.

Moral progress in the individual necessitates self-respect and self-confidence in the individual; therefore the feeling that he can create and complete his own model unaided is of the utmost educational value to the child.

Self-confidence should not in any way counteract the no less important virtues of admiration of good work in others, and a desire to give of one’s best to them.”

Knowing all of these benefits is what really drives me to continue sloyd with my children. Yes, we really enjoy it, but it’s a little extra motivation to know that it has lifelong effects!

Practice Makes Perfect

As we move into cardboard sloyd, students will build on the skills that they learned in doing paper sloyd. With some practice, children are now expected to depend on themselves and their already-developed skills. They should not be using “crutches” like rulers, measuring sticks and angles. In practical, this means that children will eventually be expected to draw a straight line, with even thickness, without a ruler. They will be expected to learn to judge distances without a ruler, and they will be expected to cut with a knife using the guide of the line and eye alone.

I will admit, these requirements seem like lofty goals. After I laughed out loud, and had a brief moment of panic, I took some time to think this through. We know that practice makes perfect – we’ve witnessed it with our children’s copywork, for example. From the very beginning, we require perfection in execution. If a child’s work begins to slip, we immediately stop them, not allowing it. We return to it day after day after day, and as times goes, we see beautiful results! This system, outlined by Charlotte Mason, works wonderfully, and the same results can be obtained with sloyd.

Vital Training and Safety

This sort of training, done with cardboard sloyd, is of the will power, training of the eye, and dexterity of the hand. These trainings are vital to sloyd. For example, if you use a ruler, the mechanics of the hand are not under the control of the will, and you therefore lose the benefit of the exercise. It is actually also a safety guide as it keeps little fingers away from the knife blade. Any time a child is holding a ruler to guide the knife, there is the possibility of the knife slipping and cutting the hand. If we remove the ruler, and move the hand away, this possibility is also removed.

Use the Diagrams as a Guide

The diagrams in the books are great as guides. Children should learn to follow them, along with the instructions – and I’ve found that it often takes some deciphering! I show my children the diagrams in the books. They will study them as needed, but I never touch their models. The children occasionally need a little guidance, but it’s healthy to allow them the space to figure things out and make errors.

Book Suggestions

I have found 3 books that can be of use when learning cardboard sloyd.

• Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades by Ednah Anne Rich (This book is probably similar to what was used in Charlotte Mason’s day in the early education years. It spans 3 years. The first year is done with paper and scissors and is a great for beginners. The second and third year move on to cardboard and Bristol board – what we know as cardstock – models using a knife.)
• Paper Modelling by Mildred Swannell (This book is in a different style from the previous book, and is a little more advanced. Although it is called “paper” modelling, I definitively use cardstock with these models.)
• Cardboard Modelling: A Manual With Full Working Drawings and Instructions by William Heaton (This book is believed to be the book used by Charlotte Mason in her schools.)

Enjoy the Process!

We have found sloyd to be a source of great enjoyment in our homeschool. My children have thoroughly enjoyed learning to use new tools, and the models that they have created. Similar to other forms of handicrafts, and useful arts, sloyd can be a source of delight.

“To the brain-worker, the highly strung or physically delicate, the quiet influence of a handicraft is of great benefit — a delightful hobby, and a most restful recreation.”

Cardboard Sloyd, in L’Umile Pianta: For the Children’s Sake, April, 1906, p. 3-6

If you are just starting with paper sloyd, you will find some guidance at A Practical Guide to Your First Year of Paper Sloyd. In this blog post, we go through the first 14 models of paper sloyd.

My children and I are working through the book suggestions. We are creating videos as we go, and will post them each week on our Happy Handicrafts channel on YouTube. I hope you and your family are able to follow along, and enjoy the process as much as we do!

Resources

Devonshire, J. W. Harmonious Relations Between Physical Training & Handicrafts, in L’Umile Pianta: For the Children’s Sake, March 1905, p. 8-11

Cardboard Sloyd, in L’Umile Pianta: For the Children’s Sake, April, 1906, p. 3-6

Russell, C. (1894). On Some Aspects of Slöjd, in The Parents’ Review, volume 4 (pp. 321-333).  London: Parents’ National Educational Union.