of simple handwork as well as with the more usual school subjects.
Basket-weaving, clay-modelling, raffia-work, fretwork, bent-ironwork,
strip-woodwork, rug-making, painting, and brush-work, as well as
different forms of needlework and embroidery, are all branches
of handwork helpful in different degrees to these children.
The importance of handwork to them is felt so keenly, that the
special-schools time-tables usually show a morning devoted to headwork
followed by an afternoon occupied by handwork.

But as well as the difficulties attendant on teaching in
special-schools, there are some very real advantages. Foremost,
perhaps, is the opportunity it affords of knowing and understanding
each child in a way that is not possible when the class consists of
sixty children. Very closely allied with this, is the great advantage
of freedom in the preparation of syllabuses, in the choice of subject
matter and the manner of teaching it. Time-tables must be approved by
the proper authorities, and the superintendents and inspectors must
be satisfied as to the character of a teacher's work, but, when those
conditions are fulfilled, originality on the part of teachers is
welcomed, and completely happy relations between teacher and children
are possible. It can be readily understood that with a class numbering
twenty-five, each child can take a much larger and much more active
share in the work, can be free to express his own views, ask his own
questions and work out his own ideas in a way impossible with a class
of sixty. When, in addition, it is remembered that the teacher is
free to frame her plans of work according to the actual needs of
the children, as shown to her through discussions and questions,
the reason why the work attracts women in spite of its obvious
difficulties is apparent.