violin

Paul Ruhlman at Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts is director of one of the finest woodworking programs in the US, and this year one of his students made the violin shown in photos above and below.

Paul contends that the use of the hands is an important component of intellectual development as suggested by sloyd. A few independent schools like Buckingham, Brown and Nichols have preserved this essential understanding while public schools throughout the nation have eliminated the role of the hands in learning, largely to the extreme detriment to our children and our society. I could say more, but then a picture or two of what may be missing from most schools is worth a thousand words.

The irony in this is that while Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School is one of the most prestigious independent schools in the nation, educating children from the faculties of MIT and Harvard, and woodworking is one of its most beloved programs, there are so many thousands of schools where they just don't get the essential relationship between the hands and the development of intellect. Photos above courtesty of Paul Ruhlman, Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School.