Knitting, Thinking and the Importance of Handicrafts in a Steiner Education

 https://educationfreedom.locals.com/upost/4672591/knitting-and-crafts-in-steiner-education

This article that I've shared in my local's account, on knitting, is a great read, and clearly explains why handicrafts are so important to life, and bodily development.  All of my children have followed a variation of this plan to become accomplished in a variety of  handicrafts, and on a more personal level different crafts continue to appeal to each of the children as they grow older.

Term 1 Highlights

This year so far, has been very full, and thus I have managed to neglect this page rather badly!  We tend to start the year a bit more slowly and relaxedly, spending a lot of time outdoors and doing activities, and whilst we did this, we didn't spend quite as much time as other years.

Arden flying his balsa wood plane.

Wandering around the Perth Hills.

Foraged some pears!  :)

We started this year with some colour painting, and focusing on what the colour expressed/felt to us.  Everyone came out with different ideas

Yellow finished.

Blue.

Green.

Orange.

Then we progressed onto modelling and drawing shapes.

Spheres.

We've been reading Uncle Tungesten, by Oliver Sacks, as a family this year, and it has led to some interesting spontaneous science.

A well-loved copy of the book!

Experimenting with burning string, to see how the idea of the first filament came about.

There was an attempt to dissolve chalk in vinegar, but during this process (the chalk *didn't* dissolve) we did more research and discovered modern day chalk, is actually gypsum.  Thus the lack of dissolving was explained!

Building out of blocks is always popular here!

Working on prisms.

Trying out a flight simulator.

Irving spotted this mysterious door way at the Perth mint- hard to see in this pic, but there are stairs and no door.  So we wandered in, and had an impromptu history lesson.  Apparently the door used to be the way they brought gold into the building, but eventually they stopped delivering it that way, and they bricked in the door.  Best bit, is that there is still a padlock on the gate!

Moving onto some Chinese calligraphy painting.

A beautiful sunset on a train ride home from the beach.

And some craft- Arden and I have been doing a little crocheting again this term, working on dishcloths.

Plus I finished a quilted skirt for the winter.  I'm looking forward to being toasty warm.

Otherwise Arden and  I have continued to work through our JUMP maths program.  He has taken up journalling in the mornings. Plus our final new section of work for the term was starting on Gilgamesh and learning about Mesopotamia.  We still have a little more to do on that theme.

Gabriel has been doing latin this term, WWI and WWII history studies, English-so far with a focus on grammar, Maths, and Art- currently he is working on 3D modelling using blendr.

-

2025

This was around the beginning of Arden's interest in Aviation.  It was the year before I believe that he started attending the Aviation museum's history club for young people, and then that had a flight simulator training club that follow on for those who were 13+.

This is our visit to the Aviation Museum and Bullsbrook, when we first learnt about the Aviation history club.
https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2017/03/beach-weather.html

Arden using the flight simulator at Edith Cowan University at their Open Day.

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2023/08/term-1.html

This year Arden is at TAFE studying a Diploma in Aviation Management.  He has also completed two Cert 3 courses. One in Remote Pilot(drones), and he has volunteered at a local Life Saving club to help monitor the coast using drones (for sharks) and he has completed a Cert 3 in Ground Operations.

Elements

Over the last portion of term 3 Arden and I worked on a block about the elements.  We did lots of activities out of Earth, Air, Fire and Water- some with better success than others but all of them were interesting and fun.

Here we are selecting cotton spools to try running on a slopey surface.

Trying our rolling the cotton spools and seeing if we can get any of them to rewind back up.

Here we are selecting crystals to float- seeing how many and what sort we can put in before our boat sinks.

We made a basic waterwheel.  This was lots of fun and we're thinking of doing a better quality one.  (This was done whilst Irving was napping- so we were aiming to be quick!)

This was the start of our shadow puppet theatre.

Trying out with the light

Adding some scenery.  Later in the evening we had a full puppet show- featuring a serious of sea creatures and other animals that Arden created.

Arden had been continuing to work on his crocheting skills. so he and I worked on creating pentagon dishcloths.  This is my dishcloth.

Here is Arden's.

Arden has found crocheting a bit trickier than knitting, so we have decided to take a break from it for now and we are doing some more knitting.  Presently he is follow a pattern to make a knitted monster, and I am looking at doing a vintage roll-neck top with beading.

Arden and I finished the term working on Aesop's fables; doing some written work and practising his cursive, as well as doing some modelling.  Irving really enjoyed getting into this too.

Gabriel has continued to work on his zebra out of zebra fabric!  It has progressed a bit since here and he is hoping to finish it soon, and work at making a hand-sewn tie.

Willow is getting ready to make herself a Halloween circle skirt.  She selected this creepy fabric :)

And this is the pattern she is following.

I'm in the process of trying to make myself a vintage bra out of one of Damien's old cotton shirts.  I'm following the pattern from VaVoomVintage, hopefully my first try will be a success, but I'm realistic that there are a few skills in this that are new to me.                                                                             

Here we have an interlude into some spontaneous science.  My smartrider broke- so we chopped it into pieces looking for the chip- which is in the right of the picture.

Willow spent the last term working on science- reading about natural fertility  in the first half, and learn about immunity and eugenics, genetics and Francis Galton in the second half. Gabriel has also been working on science and has been looking at carbohydrates, sugars and proteins.  He's finishing off a block on European geography right now.

 When we headed to Fremantle to pick up everyone's pottery, we made a day of it and visited their gallery and the Maritime museum.  The Arts centre had a lovely Indian exhibition of fabric.

A kit for Indigo dying and making Jeans.

 We stopped for a look at the Submarine, before heading in to see the Pearl exhibit which was both beautiful and interesting.

Currently we're on holdiays- and enjoying the pleasant spring weather as well as trying to get through a few things.  Willow applied to attend WAAPA last week- she is hoping to get into a Diploma in Classical Voice next year- and we've been rushing around madly getting things sorted for it.  Gabriel had some basketball classes last week.  This week we headed to the Awesome Festival and went to The Exhibit on Lynley Dodd. 

Winter Works

We had a lovely long holiday break in the middle of the year following on from the success of previous years since Irving's birth.  Last year we took 4 weeks, but this year we took 6 again, given that we found that, that amount of time seemed to benefit us all the most in terms of feeling refreshed for the second half of the year.

We started the official holiday break with a visit to Winterland in the Cultural Centre and a session of iceskating.  Damien took the older kids along, andI hung out with Irving  and some friends.  Everyone was pleased with a surprise visit from channel 9,meaning they got to be on TV and bonus skating time!

Arden has been doing quite a bit of nature study this year, and we've spent quite a bit of time bird watching in our local area.  Swan River is one of our favourite places for a walk, and Arden has been enjoying watching out for water birds.

Each week for the last four years we've been doing a home education session of basketball.  Currently we head out to a session at Leederville, and over the years it has become our ritual to stop off for a coffee on the way home.  Recently one of the lovely staff at La Veen, made Gabriel a special hot chocolate.

During the holidays I booked Willow, Gabriel and Arden into a session of pottery at the Fremantle Arts Centre.  It was our first time there, and unfortunately for Arden and I, it absolutely poured the day we went.  Other than that everyone enjoyed it and found it quite beautiful.  We are yet to pick up the finished works.


Fremantle Arts Centre.

Irving turned two in the holidays and we celebrated with a rose petal and poppy seed cake.

Willow and I went to a green wood working class and learnt to split a log and make a spoon from scratch.  These are our finished pieces.  Willow refers to hers as a caveman spoon.

This is my second spoon in progress, I haven't quite totally finished it, as I need to pick up some sandpaper for the finishing touches.

Some of Arden's form drawing in action.

Arden making geometric shapes from his JUMP maths.

Willow making kitty pancakes.

Arden's first attempt at crocheting.  Learning to make a chain.

Irving having a go too!  :D

Arden crocheting in action.

First projects completed dishcloths by Arden and myself.

Next crochet piece, a pentagon.

Mine in progress.

The start of an afghan that I'm knitting ( this has been a bit delayed by a need to concentrate on the pattern and Irving being a bit too busy).

 Purple cords for Irving.