Specialty Highlight August 2026: Handwork
Hello Garden Families,
It is exciting to share with you what the classes have been up to in handwork this year! It feels like we’ve already covered so much with a running start. Classes have different opening and closing verses among the grade levels, and this is a favorite shorter one to share before detailing what our Grade students have been working on so far this school year:
“With quiet in our minds
With peace in our hearts
With strength in our hands
We are ready to start”
First Grade
First Grade is just scraping the surface of the wonder ahead. We have already reviewed and practiced how to tie and untie knots, roll a yarn ball, make a slip knot, and fingerchain! It was delightful to hear from Ki Sarah that some students are practicing these skills during free play time, too! The fingerchain cords will be strung into each student’s handwork bag, which will hold their projects during the school year. Each student made a name tag for their bag. The handmade cord and tags add a personal touch that gives them a growing sense of accomplishment and shows them that what they make can be both useful and beautiful. This past week, the students began a wet felting project together to create one large colorful sheet of handmade wool felt, which we will use to sew our own flute cases. This project requires the whole class to work together and appreciate each other's efforts and contributions toward a shared goal, while also knowing that the things they make matter and can have a functional purpose. The class voted on their favorite part: soapy bubbly hands vs adding colorful wool layers, and it was a unanimous vote for the color, though they enjoyed both! It will take about a week or two to dry, and then the students will cut and sew the edges with a blanket stitch. After fall break, the class will begin learning how to knit! Any parents with knitting skills interested in volunteering to sit with a group to help can reach out to me at heidi@thegardenmarietta.org :)
Second Grade
To start the year, the class spent some time refreshing our core basic skill set. Fingerchaining was a familiar start as we created the drawstrings that adorn their handwork project bags for the year, and each student made their own name tag for their bag, too. This gave them a sense of belonging to their distinct Second Grade group and will be a place where they store in-progress projects and smaller crafts, too. The class learned how to set up a bracelet/cord loom and rolled an extra yarn ball to keep in the bags for finger knitting. Most recently, the Second Graders assisted the First Graders in wet felting a large piece that will be cut and sewn into flute cases once finished. After reviewing finger knitting with a small snake project, the Second Graders will begin their first knitting project of the year. Any parents with knitting skills interested in volunteering to sit with a group to help can reach out to me at heidi@thegardenmarietta.org :)
Third Grade
The Third Graders are in a few different places to begin the year. Some students are finishing and others are just beginning their knitted gnomes from last year, and still others are learning to knit for the first time soon! Students are regularly reminded that it isn’t a race, and that slow careful work is often the most neat and tidy! Third Grade learned how to set up a bracelet/cord loom to work on if they get stuck on their bigger project and need to wait for help or take a knitting break. Some days, the Third Graders sit in a circle in their own area to work on their knitting while Second Graders are working on something else. We have been very lucky to have a few parent volunteers come help, too! The two grade levels will work on their separate handwork curriculum for main projects, but also have some whole class projects like the wet felting with First Grade last week! Any parents with knitting skills interested in volunteering to sit with a group can reach out to me at heidi@thegardenmarietta.org. In January, we will start crochet, and another request will be shared for pro-crochet volunteers when the time comes :)
Fourth Grade
The Fourth Grade will master several embroidery stitches and practice sewing this year, along with cross stitch. Students begin the year by setting up sewing kits: first a needlebook, then scissor sheaths, and last, they will design and handsew their own embroidered monogram handwork bags. These bags, along with the needlebooks and scissor sheaths, will be used for different sewing, embroidery, and cross stitch projects all year. The class is finishing up a bean bag decorated with a chain stitch swirl, and after practicing a few more embroidery stitches, will finish the needlebooks. Aside from chain stitch, students are learning some decorative running stitches, French knots, lazy daisy, cross stitch stars, plus more! We will continue to use blanket stitch and whip stitch learned in previous years, too.
Fifth Grade
This year, Fifth Grade dives deeper into knitting and builds on previous skills to learn knitting in the round on double-pointed needles. The first project is a small drawstring treasure pouch, which is very much like knitting a hat in the round, but on a smaller scale. This project keeps things simple while the hands learn to manage the switching of the working needle and knitting in the correct direction. This process is complex and fiddly to learn, so the smaller project sets students up for later success with things like hats, socks, and fingerless gloves. The class will also explore some Fair Isle color work to customize projects to students' taste. In Fifth Grade, handwork students begin to keep a written record of their project directions and helpful notes for themselves. It is an exciting year for knitting!
Middle School
Middle school handwork has been structured to reach all parts of the curriculum with a blended and staggered approach from year to year. This allows students to focus heavily on one area at a time as a group. The class started the year with dry wool paintings that were steam ironed, and these have already been sent home. With some edge folding, they should fit nicely in an 8”x 10” picture frame. We are now beginning doll making with palm-sized pocket babies that will become gifts for the First Grade later this fall. Some students are interested in making a second doll to keep for themselves too, and are even considering how they can modify the pattern to suit their tastes. This first small, simple-bodied doll will show students the basics of doll head forming: creating the wool form, placing an eye line, using mattress stitch to close seams neatly, sewing eyes and a simple mouth, creating hair, and minding stitch size to ensure a durable, long-lasting end product. There is also room here to differentiate skill levels by adding a nose, crochet hair, knit clothing, etc! There are so many ways to customize the accessories, hair, and garments, which really speaks to the need for individuality in the Middle School years. The gift of pocket babies is a very special tradition The Garden School carries from year to year to connect our oldest with our youngest Grade students. We will hold a special moment during the school day to present them to our smaller buddies once the First Graders complete their first knitting project. Next, Middle School will be creating rice paper covers and sewing pages into their own handwork journals to keep a written record of project notes. This is a good practice that benefits the essential life skills of organization, prioritization of notes to self, and drafting a self driven to-do list.
There is so much to look forward to in our year of Handwork together! All of my heart is fully in it, and it is a true joy to bring these projects and new skills to your children each day.
Until next time!
Ki Heidi
