Friday, March 13, 2009 Our First Crochet Lesson
Today I sat down with both Tom and Ali to begin teaching them crochet.
I followed Charlotte's advice and kept our lesson short (10-15 min.) so that neither of us would get frustrated. I also gave them each a lesson separately so that I could focus individually.
I followed the advice given here on teaching the basics to children and started by showing (visual) them how to make a slip knot and describing each step along the way. Then I let them try it out. It took a few tries and some extra showing but both of them got it and were able to make a nice slip knot.
Next I showed them the crochet hook and explained the different sizes and how they are lettered or numbered. It is best to start with as large a hook as possible and large yarn but all I had on hand was a size J hook and some wool yarn. Neither Tom or Ali seemed to be bothered by the sizes but if I can locate my size P or Q hook we may try that. I also showed the 2 different ways that the hook can be held (knife or pencil method) but they both automatically grabbed it and held it like I do (knife method).
Initially I started out from the slip knot and demonstrated a few chain stitches. I explained how we wanted to make "fat worms" not "hungry worms" and then showed how this was accomplished. After watching a few stitches being made I handed it over to them to try. After a little bit we found that it worked best for me to direct their hands as we made more stitches. This reduced frustration and correction so that they were able to make several stitches.
Most of our time was spent in proper hand position, holding the yarn and proper yarn tension. But all in all I think it went o.k.
I do think that I will also throughout the week be teaching each of them as well as Emi to finger knit. Working with yarn in this way will take some of the unfamiliarity away and they will be able to get results sooner. Finger knitting is what I first learned to do and spent many years making yards of rope.
You can watch a very good video of instruction for finger knitting here and here and a cute video of a different method here. You can also find some great projects to make using the rope made from finger knitting.
More helpful articles:
How to teach your child to crochet
Teach your child how to crochet
Teaching kids to crochet and/or knit
You can also find more info from my first post here.
 |
•
Comments (1)
• Post A Comment!
• Permanent Link
|
Saturday, March 7, 2009 Handiwork - Teaching crocheting
I'll be honest, I have neglected to focus on any handiwork diligently for the first 2 terms and so I find myself not having accomplished anything in this area for our 3rd term!
I had hoped to have Ali and Tom proficient in at least 1 area of handiwork by now, but there is no time like the present.
I have decided that crocheting is a good place to start, mostly because I'm still not a very accomplished knitter and because I have tons of yarn and crochet hooks.
Also I found these adorable patterns on Lion Brand yarn's website which I think will be a great motivation once they learn the basics of crochet. (you will need to register with this site to access the patterns)
I did a quick google search and came across this great website for teaching children how to crochet. This gives me a great starting point and their instructions are very user friendly and geared toward children.
So coming this next week I will be starting with the Slip knot and Chain stitch.
If you would like some pictures to show your kids or to help out you can find them at these sites:
Teaching Crochet to the Young
The Slip Stitch
Free Crochet Video Tutorial
And no post here would be quite complete without directing our thoughts back to Charlotte's ideas and thoughts on the subject of Handicrafts.
Ambleside articles on Handicrafts
"The points to be borne in mind in children's handicrafts are: (a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like; (b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do; (c) that slipshod work should not allowed; (d) and that, therefore, the children's work should be kept well within their compass."
CM Vol. 1, pg. 315-316
|
•
Comments (3)
• Post A Comment!
• Permanent Link
|
|
|
|
Page 1
of 1
Last Page | Next Page
|
AO/HEO Bloggers
Powered By Ringsurf
|
