Tuesday 15 February 2011

45. As brei dit doen, dink wat hekel kan doen!

Just call us the school knitwits: The homely skill that is making a return to the classroom

By Kate Loveys
Last updated at 12:12 AM on 12th February 2011

It was once a skill taught to nearly every schoolchild. Now one school is bringing knitting back to the classroom – and it has had a revolutionary effect.

Teachers say it has improved behaviour, helped pupils learn to write and encouraged them to have conversations rather than play with their phones.
A good yarn: Sisters Tabitha and Betsy Forsyth concentrating hard on their new skill. Teachers say knitting has improved behaviour, helped pupils learn to write and encouraged them to have conversations rather than play with their phones
A good yarn: Sisters Tabitha and Betsy Forsyth concentrating hard on their new skill. Teachers say knitting has improved behaviour, helped pupils learn to write and encouraged them to have conversations rather than play with their phones.

They have been so impressed with the impact of a lunchtime knitting club that they have started incorporating it into maths and history lessons.

During maths lessons, pupils at Worth Primary in Kent create a design to knit, then calculate the number of stitches they will need.

In history, knitting is used to help with their study of castles. They learn about clothing worn in the Middle Ages and how to make it.

After the Second World War, knitting was commonplace in schools. But with the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 it was phased out.
Pins at the ready: A knitting class in the 1950s. It was once a skill taught to nearly every schoolchild

Headmistress Lynne Moore said: ‘We think of it as a return to traditional values. It has dramatically  improved behaviour. ‘And it really helps communication. Instead of playing on their phones or computers, the children knit and talk to each other. They have proper conversations.'

Mrs Moore, 35, said an unintended consequence was that pupils’ writing skills improved. She said several started school unable to do up a button or hold a pen – but knitting improves their fine motor skills. It is so popular that a third of the 62 boys and girls aged five to 11 at the school regularly attend the lunchtime club.

One place where knitting was still being taught in schools recently was the Shetland Islands. But last year there was outrage when the council axed it to save £130,000 a year.

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356205/Knitting-making-return-classroom.html)

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