Teaching Children to Knit Series- The Plan

Teaching Children to Knit Series
-The Plan-

I am teaching my own daughter and the children at our homeschool co-op how to knit over the next 10 weeks.  Something I've never taught before, so this will be a fun, learn-as-you-go project!
Here's my plan and I will update the blog each week with things I've learned and progress we make :)

              Younger Kids                                     Older Kids

Week 1- History & Finger Knitting                      -History & Finger Knitting

Week 2- Finger Knitting                                      -Casting- On-Types of yarn

Week 3- Types of yarn- work on project             -Fixing Dropped Stitches-
                                                                                  work on project
Week 4- Make French Knitting Machine              -Binding Off

Week 5- Work on project                                    -Purl Stitch &
                                                                             Reading Patterns
Week 6 -Yarn Hearts                                           -Washcloth with Ribbing

Week 7- Make Pom-Poms                                  -Make Pom-Poms

Week 8- Spinning & Wool                                    -Spinning & Wool

Week 9- Pick a project                                         -Pick a project

Week 10- Wrap up- help with chosen project        -Wrap up-
                                                                             help with chosen project


Ages 5-8
We have a majority of younger kids in this class so I will be doing more of an "intro to knitting" than an actual knitting class.
To start with we will be Finger Knitting. The kids can get a feel for the yarn and the right amount of tension needed.
Once they get a feel for the yarn we will make these cute little Fench Knitting Machines  which are like a spool knitter. I think it will be helpful in getting them used to using a needle as I plan to have them use a crochet hook to pull the lower loop up.
Then I plan to continue with some other yarn crafts.  Yarn hearts on Valentine's Day, making pom-pom's and then letting them choose either something new to learn (possibly knitting) or to fine-tune what they already learned.
A friend of mine who is an advanced knitter will also be coming to teach us about spinning wool and will show us how to make a homemade spinner with a cd and a doDwel.  I'm looking forward to learning about that as well.


Ages 9-11
For the older kids I will have them do Finger Knitting just to get an idea of how the yarn feels and the tension of the stitches but then I'm going to have them start on knitting and plan to use a simple washcloth pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. I will also be printing out some simple instructions for the knit stitch so they can refer to it at home.
As we progress and they finish the first project we will naturally learn the other stitches and information.  Binding off, purl stitch, ribbing, fixing dropped stitches, reading patterns, etc.  I'm also teaching them how to make pom-poms as those are fun to add to knitting projects :)
They will also be involved in the Wool & Spinning class and the Choose a Project at the end.