HANDWORK AND PRACTICAL ARTS

Handwork

Grades One through Five 
Handwork teaches the children to carry through with a task, a practice that is essential to the development of thinking. In grade one, boys and girls learn to knit, developing their hand-eye coordination while bringing together a long string of yarn to make a recorder case or a small animal. In grade three, the students crochet a bag or a winter hat. Other skills are also taught throughout Grades One through Five, including hand sewing, felting and embroidery. Students complete many beautiful projects that are of a practical nature yet each piece is always done with an appreciation for and development of aesthetic qualities.

Practical Arts

Grades Six through Nine
The formal woodworking curriculum begins in grade five, when students develop a feel for their material by rasping and sanding a darning egg out of a square block of wood. Once this project is completed, the students can move on to concave shapes like bowls, which involve digging into the wood. Grade six projects, typically forks and spoons, begin to reflect the style of individual children. Junior High students build furniture, usually chairs or stools, and are introduced to power tools.