Early Childhood (ages 2-6) — Mama Christina
In Christina’s class, we have been sharing a Snow Circle, and the Winter stories, The Rabbit and the Two Carrots and The Mitten. Both stories tell of friends caring for each other, sharing what they have as St. Martin from the autumn. I do love both of these stories. In the Rabbit and the Two Carrots, Rabbit wakes up hungry, and so she heads off to the now snow covered garden to see if there are any vegetables that may have gotten missed in the harvest. You know, if you grow a garden, this happens pretty regularly and the children find these left-behinds in our own Rose Rock garden after the summer months. Well, Rabbit finds 2 carrots. One she eats up and the other she thinks, “It is so snowy and cold outside, I am sure my friend Donkey must be hungry too. I shall take this carrot to Donkey”. So off she sets thru the forest to Donkey’s house; but, when she gets there, Donkey is not at home. For, he too has gone out to look for food. Rabbit leaves the carrot inside of Donkey’s stall and sets off for her burrow where she tucks herself up and goes to sleep. When Donkey arrives home, he finds the carrot that Rabbit has left and thinks, “A dear friend must have left this for me. It is so snowy and cold, my friend Lamb must be hungry too. I shall take this Carrot to Lamb.” And so it goes, each animal taking the trouble to feed their friends in the cold and snowy winter until the carrot once again lands with sleepy Rabbit who eats it all up.
Handwork (Grades 1-3) — Mrs. Ball
We have finished making our knitted bunnies. Many of the students were amazed that we could make a round soft thing from a flat square of knitting. Knitting has helped our students develop cross body coordination through the repetitive coordinated movements of making many stitches. Knitting and hand sewing require the children to think in three dimensions and develop an understanding of how materials behave. This new way of processing information allows the knitter to have improved focus and concentration. This meaningful work and fine motor skill movement plays a big part in helping develop thinking and language skills. Additionally the students grow into deep feelings of confidence and efficacy in their environment beyond handwork. Handwork by its nature is demanding and forgiving. One must stay focused on their work to achieve the desired outcome but should the crafter make a mistake we can go back and take out the mistakes.
Setting our knitting needles aside we are moving to hand sewing. Our first project is a drawstring project bag made from upcycled tshirts.t-shirts. This project is meaningful work that teaches our children practical life skills as well as to see the potential to give objects a new life. As the children finish their sewing they are learning about planning and anticipating. Many of the students have sewn to the end of their thread and then been confused about how to continue. It is a delight to teach these humans and see their learning progress.