Doing Sloyd...only one way to learn it...you do it.
When I became familiar with the educational system, Sloyd, in which woodworking was used as a "formative" or developmental resource in general education, it was obvious that it needed to be tested in a modern school setting. While the woodworking program at Clear Spring School is based on an educational philosophy shared with Sloyd, we do not make an effort to eactly duplicate the program designed in the 1880's. Consistent with Otto Salomon's advice, the projects and curricula at Clear Spring School are adjusted to best meet the needs of our children and their learning environment.

There are a number of basic sloyd projects that have been useful, however, for getting immersed in Sloyd as an educational concept, and because the projects provide objects of use and beauty in the classroom and home.

Every other year with our first and second graders, we make pencil sharpeners. This was written up and published as an article in Woodwork Magazine number 94 in August 2005. It can be downloaded from my website with this link.

The two photos above and below were taken in yesterday's lesson. In Educational Sloyd Otto Salomon suggested that in learning, students should move from the concrete to the abstract. In my experience, education needs to move constantly back and forth between the two. What we learn from books and from the presentation of theoretical material needs to be measured against reality, and direct experience is always required to temper and gauge the validity of the hypothetical. In learning Sloyd and its value as a teaching tool, there is no substitute for the time spent with children in the classrom.