The picture above is the result for four five-minute beginner crochet lessons with Pamela this week. Trying to teach Pamela to crochet takes us both to the edge of our collective competency. I don't know about her, but I feel like a pig on roller skates. Short lessons are a MUST because only five minutes of effort is exhausting. The longest we have every lasted in our first week of lessons was six minutes and forty-five seconds. Here are some tips that have worked for me this week:
- Crochet as a lefty just long enough to be able to demonstrate it to her.
- Scaffold the task by assigning roles: she manipulates the hook while I control the yarn and tension.
- Keep the lesson as short as our mutual patience can tolerate.
- Use declarative language to describe my mental process and preview what she will be doing in the future. "The yarn is too loose. I need to fix my tension."
- When something goes wrong, describe what happened, "Oops, I am holding the yarn too tight."
That is amazing Tammy ... and exactly how my grandmother taught me to crochet ... with her holding the yearn and me driving the hook! She'll be a blanket making woman before you know it!!!!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to know this scheme has the potential of working. My next step, once she has this nailed, is to have her hold the chain with her right thumb and middle finger while hooking with the left. The final step will be controlling the tension with her remaining right fingers.
ReplyDeletePamela wants to make blankets for her "babies" (shh . . . dolls) who are toddlers now!