Advice needed on structuring a class

[callen610]

Good morning! I'm a 6th grade teacher in a middle school. The staff has been encouraged to sponsor a club this year to improve student involvement, sooo......of course I thought of a Crochet Club! However, I have a few questions. I would like to have a few shorter sessions rather than a year-long commitment. I think this would be better for the students - they sometimes have short attention spans and it will allow me to focus on fewer students.

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. How many students max should I accept?

 

2. Are 6 weekly sessions (30 minutes each) enough for students to get some practice and start a project?

 

3. Does this structure make sense?

 

Week 1 - Chain

Week 2 - Single Crochet

Week 3 - Double Crochet

Week 4 - Start project (Choice of dishcloth or scarf)

Week 5 - Work on project

Week 6 - Work on project

 

Thank you for any feedback!

[mathwizard]

I would say if they are all in the sixth grade then no more than 10 or find yourself a helper. 30 minutes of chaining might bore them so you might try combining chaining and single crochet in week one. This would give you more time for the project. Make sure to give them homework to practice their stitches. Chain 25 sts and do a row or two of sc. The rest of your schedule with the combined class and increase in project time frame should be good. I hope this might help you.

[frogrockr]

Hi,

 

Not having children myself but having been involved in groups etc teaching children (horse riding... dog show handling .. crocheting) I would think you may actually be moving a bit slowly.

 

If it were possible to have the first session be your three basics : ch, SC and DC, so then they can actually have made their first item (ie a scrunchie?) by the first lesson would be a huge boost to their interest rather than just have made chains.

 

 

Your next session could be on a more advanced technique - ie a simple motif or granny square?

 

And then perhaps joining all the squares could be a group charity project?

 

 

Manda

[callen610]

Thanks for your feedback! I think you are both right.....I may be going too slow.

[Midds]

I that you are planning to teach kids the art of crocheting!

 

From my experience in teaching crochet classes this is what I would recommend:

 

Smaller groups work better, the younger they are and 6th grade is pretty young. Some catch on fast and others not so fast.

 

You may need to extend them longer than 30 minutes because if you really get hung up helping one student that is having more difficult of a time you will not have the time to help all the others, which would leave you running the classes long, some students leaving confused, and possibly parents upset because they were not done on time and they may have other obligations.

 

I would only teach the ch and sc in the first session. If you give them too many new st at one time they will become confused and leave frustrated.

 

I would agree to give them homework to practice. When I teach I focus on a st and then give them a project that they can use with that st only. ie - sc: potholder (my students make 2 pcs and then I show them how to put them together using a sc as well). The next class you could focus on say hdc and teach them a whole project using a hdc. Then maybe another homework project to practice. Then the next time the dc and a project using only that. Then towards the end you could help them with a project using all the stitches together so that they practice them together.

 

So that they do not feel lost once they get home I would recommend the book by Coats & Clark called Crochet Made Easy. You can find them at Wal-Mart, HL, Michael's. The booklet is a half page size booklet and is less than $3. It has great step by step instructions and illustrations to help them remember.

 

If you stretch the classes to at least an hour the kids could come back and if they have questions they wouldn't feel rushed to ask the question and move on to the next technique, which would give them more confidence and they would be more likely to stick with it once the classes are done.

 

Good Luck! Let us know what you decide and how it goes for you.

[callen610]

Midds,

Thank you - that is really terrific advice!

[prr953]

Hi All,

 

I just recently joined and found this thread.

 

I taught an afterschool crochet class/club at a Catholic elementary school (free, I was the art teacher there). I restricted enrollment to Grades 3 and up. Several girls and boys signed up. After a couple of classes, a few decided that crochet was not for them. I told them that I was proud of them for trying something new and that if they changed their mind and wanted to come back, they were always welcome.

 

To my surprise, learning to hold the yarn and hook took up the entire first class (1.5 hours and about 15 kids with two adult helpers)!

 

By the second class, most were ready to chain and some were ready to sc. The two adult helpers worked with the kids once they mastered the sc. I worked with those still struggling with the beginning steps. These were all extremely bright kids with no dexterity issues.

 

The first "project" was a simple square made entirely of sc. If they wanted to keep their first square, they had to promise to make a second because we were assembling the squares to make blankets for Project Linus (thus, "free").

 

The skill levels of the children varied. Some never got past the chain and were encouraged to make "shoelaces" until they were ready to advance. Others picked up quickly and went on to dc and shell stitch with one or two actually making entire afghans on their own. Those who were getting discouraged with their (lack of) progress, were encouraged to help design the blankets by sorting the finished squares and/or making pleasing combinations of squares.

 

This was three years ago, and several of the kids still work with yarn (crochet and knit) and ask when I will be teaching the classes again. Many of the parents expressed an interest in learning, too, so all of your previous submissions have been very helpful to me in my plans to organize adult classes. I hope that I have been able to help someone in some small way.

 

Here is a picture of the gang (which is on the Project Linus website):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ritziethings/2896014960/