Teaching Finger Knitting to Children

I had long ago heard that the Waldorf educational philosophy teaches children to knit around age five in order to cause great stillness in them--and I think some modern Montessori schools do the same. You know that incredible stillness you see in little boys when they are playing an intricate video game? Or the stillness you see in children watching TV? (Although that latter one is bad stillness, as I believe I've read that brain waves are more still when one is watching TV than when one is sleeping.)

Knitting supposedly causes children to quiet themselves and then they can listen to an adult reading to them. So, I wanted to try it.

(Note, I like some of the external trappings of the Waldorf philosophy, like using natural products in all that children touch: wood, stone, wool. The allowance not to push reading too early. But Waldorf is based on what I see as anti-Catholic New Age beliefs, so I can't recommend it wholeheartedly. [Helpful article here.] In contrast, Montessori educational philosophy was founded by a devout Catholic and recommended by popes. [Article here.])

I used to know how to knit, enough to make potholders, purses, and stuffed animals, but have long since forgotten. So I searched around online and saw some Waldorf recommendations: Use natural materials, so I bought 100% wool yarn ("stickier" than synthetic yarns) and bamboo knitting needles, size 10. Also, Waldorf teaches finger knitting first because an even younger children has the fine motor skills to do it and the result is very fast and satisfying. During nap time I taught myself how to finger knit using this mom's blog I found with good pictures. When John woke, I taught him finger knitting and he was off like a shot.

After a few minutes, he moved away from the couch to the chair, saying, "Mama, I want to sit away from you so I'm really doing it all by myself."

Note the concentration. The stillness captured in that photo represents an entire hour, not just that moment. For the hour, I read to John from Pinocchio, which we were trying to finish before seeing the play on Thursday. Each time I'd stop reading, he'd ask me to continue. Unlike every other time I am reading to him, John was not doing gymnastics on the sofa, standing on his head, doing somersaults, making weird and loud noises, repeatedly "accidentally" falling off the couch, running around the room, unbraiding my hair, or any such behavior.

What was he doing? Sitting with perfect stillness and silence, except when he'd have to request I keep reading. After an hour, I had to stop reading in order to make dinner.

He made a finger chain even longer than I am tall. He declared from the beginning that it is a scarf for Daddy and he has told me all the manners in which Chris could wear it.

John is so excited, he talked about knitting all evening and literally hasn't let go of his chain, including sleeping with it and bringing it down to breakfast this morning. Last night he had me make him a box in which he could "store everything I'm going to knit." Upon waking today, he came downstairs and asked me, "Please set me up with my knitting. I am going to knit."

The next step (whenever we get to it) is to teach John needle knitting, which I want to learn first. Thankfully, I have a lovely friend at my parish who just so happens to be amazing at teaching children to knit. In fact, when I Googled "Montessori teach children to knit," I came up with a blog post written with my friend's material, the same blog post to which she had pointed me earlier! I also found this post which seems to have very clear photographs of hands doing needle-knitting.

I am jubilant with the implications of this new skill, wondering what our next homeschooling week will look like. I think of each week at Catholic Schoolhouse when I watch the first-second grade class (boys most especially) having the worst time sitting still for three long hours (or sometimes for three long minutes). I think of every homeschooling day at our home and how much time I spend admonishing John to be still, causing the tension between us to rise higher and higher. I ponder what percentage of children in our country are on psychotropic medications that don't need to be (alarming New York Times article here). I don't know whether that percentage is big or small, but I don't think it's zero because, as a stimulant-prescribing doctor in the cited article says, “We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid.”

I'll keep my loved ones apprised if we move into needle-knitting!