The Handwork teacher

I am a mother to two beautiful girls and I teach Handwork and Fine Arts in our local waldorf charter school in Arizona.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

broken bones

Well I don't get squeamish around blood or broken bones, I can stay really relaxed in an emergency. So yesterday was one of those opportunities to test my state of being relaxed and reacting.
So a child Broke his arm while I was on play yard duty. we had 2 teachers on the scene, I stayed with the child and the other ran to the office. I sent the 2 Cholerics who needed a job to run after him and make sure he was calling 911, cause there was not way we were getting this kid in a car and driving to the hospital. I had several 8th graders shoving phones in my face and I kept telling them only one teacher needs to call and we already know that that is being done. I sent 2 more kids, the melancholics to run and get blankets and jackets to cover up this poor kid who was on the very cold grass in the yard.

yah it was interesting

Sunday, January 27, 2008

birthing handwork

In case I never told you this thought:


Handwork is a form of birth, you conceive the idea, you nurture it, you wait and dream of the what it will look like when it is all made, then the final push and you are done... a master piece!


my 3 and 7 year old's play space

Here are a few corners from our play area...not all. I didn't get all the shelves and the craft area. but here is a peek into our play time space.


the nature table is a constant flow of energy, changing with the season and day to day additions and subtractions of items.
nature tables at every corner
jump ropes, painting aprons, purses... a few of those my 7 year old made.
mobiles are endless hours of fun to make and share with friends who come over after school.


I thought I would share what my girls are up to, how they choose to make their play space and what interests them ...at the moment...this changes often and we rotate toys and in and out of the shed. Some things stay the same, but most will change around...perhaps just change location of the room and then sometimes the item is noticed and brought back into "action"
This was how the rooms were left this morning...

Saturday, January 19, 2008

felted gnome cave tutorial



felted gnome cave tutorial


First you need a foam mat for felting on, wool roving or dyed wool batting and last you need a felting needle.

felt your white batting into the base mat...the ground
make sure that the edges are nice and round...fold it over and tac it down to make it round.
next get your ground cover and tac it down
tac tac tac

now the cave. you will felt the cave flat and then make it round

fold your cave and place it where you want it.
tac it down

now you need to make the stones. you can roll the stone felt in your hands and felt them down

now the fire.
felt it flat and then pull it up and place into the fire pit


done!

display case



These are items made by the kids...1st through 8th grade. I put their work in the display case for a few weeks so that the parents can come into the office and see what the kids are doing. Then their work goes home. The felt people are made by the 7th grade, they just went home on Thursday.

Friday, January 11, 2008

7th grade wet felting


these are the hats they are making.