tools and tool boxes

Yesterday in woodshop, my 4th, 5th and 6th grade students made tool boxes. My 1st and second grade students made wooden mallets and will begin tool boxes next week. The idea I have is that they should be able to do home work. I am also working on the design of a small tool box that would serve also as a device to hold wood as it is being cut.

Readers should know about some bargains when it comes to equipping tool boxes for student use. Handi saws are available from Amazon for 6.95 including both fine and coarse cut blades. It's the one I'll suggest my students add to their tool boxes. The blade is rather short, but it will cut wood.

Common eggbeater drills are available from eBay for as low as $10.00 plus postage. Add a hammer, a tape measure, a shop made square and a wooden mallet. These tools will fit in the tool box and leave room for still more, like screwdrivers and pliers and the other tools children need for fixing things and for taking things apart.

Our students at all grades are studying citizenship, and there is a close association between being a citizen and being a craftsman. Each is an expression of deeply held personal values, and each, when rightly practiced carries an understanding of commitment to others and to self.
A short article about the Wisdom of the Hands program has been published on the National Association of Independent Schools website: http://inspirationlab.org/story/6458

Make, fix and create...