Crafting in Education: Handwork in Homeschooling
By Heather Fontenot
When I first chose to home school my children, I felt a sense of ease knowing that Waldorf education was the road that our early journey would take us on.
I had been involved in the Waldorf community since my oldest child was first born, reading such books as You Are Your Child’s First Teacher, Heaven on Earth, and Under The Rainbow Bridge. I felt as though the educational journey started early in life, providing children with the artistic and creative resources that they needed to thrive.
Our journey has now evolved to one of a first grader, a preschooler, and a new infant on the way. While there are days that certainly feel like more of a challenge then others in keeping the creative projects flowing, crafting in our home has taken on a wonderful part of all of our daily lives.
The Waldorf community stresses the art of free play in their classrooms, and that is perhaps the best beginning to any child’s artistic learning. Baskets of fiber, buttons, wooden blocks, and other natural materials are easy to collect, found in nature, and always a joy to watch young children sift through. When a child is very young, there is little need to instruct them on what to do with the materials that they find, but rather just to sit back and allow the little one the freedom to explore and use the materials as they see fit. I always believed that my children’s natural love of wool, knitting and especially weaving came from those early introductions to natural and brightly colored fibers.
As they grow, those same materials become the basis for early education, sorting buttons and long pieces of yarn into correct color groups, using buttons to teach values and early mathematics, and exploring the joys of the rainbow.
While Waldorf believes that there is an inherent beauty and need for free artistic play, there is also specific scientific research that suggests that creative play helps to foster mobility and mental dexterity.
In the book Waldorf Education: A Family Guide, the authors state, “Recent neurological research tends to confirm that mobility and dexterity in the fine motor muscles, especially in the hand, may stimulate cellular development in the brain, and so strengthen the physical instrument of thinking.”
In our family, handcrafting takes the form of a very special 90 minutes in each of our days. Our baskets are filled with projects and books that help guide us, and the time is spent quietly knitting, crocheting, weaving, and doing embroidery or sewing. It feels like the most simple and calm moment of our day, and I think that none of us would feel complete without it. There is something about watching my 6 year old mend his own pants, sew the new baby he is so anxious to meet a toy bird, or produce a small quilt to hang in his room that brings me an abundance of joy.
For me, I believe that handwork, crafting and creativity do not need to be complicated, over thought or stressful. Keeping good art supplies handy, allowing for time that children can have to engage in the creative pursuits that they choose, and encouraging them through modeling and praise are the best ways to foster an artistic nature.
I remember being fearful, when we first started out, that I did not have the artistic knowledge to teach my children what they needed, but I soon came to realize that although I may not be a master knitter, sewer or painter, what my children really need to see is my engaging as they are, learning as they are, and exploring as they are. Through teaching my children, and including crafting in our daily rhythm, my own passion for artistic pursuits has grown, and I find myself learning about such subjects as book making, lino block printing, and other magical arts. Life as a parent should be fun and exciting, and working with my children, rather than always trying to teach my children, has helped me immensely to bring art, crafting and a sense of true creativity to our home.
I wish the same for you.
Heather Fontenot, co-editor of Rhythm of The Home, lives with her family on the Front Range of Northern Colorado. She has a passion for natural and creative living, and spends as much of her time outdoors as possible. She loves to knit, sew, garden, photograph, read and home school her two sweet little ones. She writes the blog, Shivaya Naturals, where she chronicles her life as a mother, artist, and gluten free baker.
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