a scarf joint

The photo shows having used a plane to form a scarf joint for assembling pieces of plywood into a longer piece. I set this demonstration up yesterday so that my students at Clear Spring School could try their hand at joining the parts for building a Bevins Skiff. "This is hard," one said. But in less than an hour of attentive effort, a boat side can be formed from two pieces of ply. We used a construction grade plywood for the demonstration joint, and a better grade of marine ply will give better results.

To finish the joint, one piece of ply flips in relationship to the other, and a mixture of epoxy and wood flour is used to finish the joint.

Yesterday one of my students (first grade) told me she wanted to make a skateboard. The only wheels we had in wood shop were the ones we use to make toy cars. I am not certain how long her skate board with wooden wheels will last, but make it, she did.

My upper elementary students had decided to make toys for children from our pre-primary school. They organized themselves into an assembly line, with some drilling wheels, some drilling axle holes, some sanding and some assembling, as other students made super-heroes from wood. Very little instruction was required. Were they learning? And what? And were they each learning at their own pace, and at their own level? You bet.

Make, fix, create, and adjust schooling so that each student learns lifewise.