It wasn’t the easiest lesson for me. There were a looooooot of questions and there was a new girl again. She couldn’t even hold a hook yet (which is normal of course). The other girls had not practiced at home due to some tests. They had to study for those tests which left them with no time for crochet. But that’s ok. Studying ALWAYS comes first. There’s plenty of time to learn crochet some other time.
Before I forget, kids in Indonesia start school in July. Not in September like most other countries. They get only 2-4 weeks of vacation and that starts halfway June. Then beginning or halfway July they’re back in school again. That’s why they already have tests now.
I split up the girls again like last week. Group 1 is the group that can make the single crochet in a chain already. They still need more practice though. It’s better to spend more time on one step than to rush it and have them struggle later on. We have plenty of time to learn new things. One girl is a little impatient. She wants to learn all the fancy stitches already while her single crochet is still a mess 🤨. You can’t learn to run before you can crawl. Doesn’t work that way.
In group 2 I have 2 kinds of girls. There’s girls who are in the process of learning how to make the single crochet in a chain and still need a LOT of practice. And then there’s group 2…..these girls know how to make the single crochet but they just can’t manage to focus long enough on their work. Nothing wrong with that though. I have 2 kids like that myself. They don’t do it on purpose. They just lack the ability to focus for a long time. In time this gets better. I’ll need to have a lot of patience with these girls.
I kept an eye on the other girls while I tried to teach the new girl. She’s a very sweet girl. The thing was, she was the only new student. Because all other girls were more advanced than here, it showed a lot more that she really didn’t know anything about crochet. This messed with her confidence. She was starting to think she’s too stupid to learn to crochet.
That’s when I told the other girls to stop for a moment. Stop and let the new girl know that every single one of them sucked at crochet just as bad as her the very first week. But that they got better with practice. This gave her the confidence to keep going and keep trying. She now realized that it’s totally normal not be able to make a single crochet on the first day.
By the end of the lesson she could make chains. They weren’t perfect chains but they definitely looked like chains!
For some reason all the girls had DIFFERENT questions at the same time. How do I do this, how do I do that, …. I was being bombarded by questions 😲😲😲😲😲. Didn’t know where to look first 😵. One had huge holes. The other her work was so tight you couldn’t even get a tapestry needle through the stitches. OMG!!!!!!
Because by then we were at the end of the lesson already, there was no point in changing strategies. But for next week I have a brilliant plan = use the smart tv in the classroom as a second “teacher”. In this school there’s a smart tv in every classroom. Gonna use that for sure. If I put my own YouTube video on repeat there, they’ll see the exact same thing I teach, but on a tv. This way the more advanced girls get to continue while I teach those less advanced. And the fact that I use the very same hook and yarn from my YouTube videos in class, is just an added bonus. This way I can ‘split myself into 2 people’. Brilliant idea isn’t it?! 😁😁😁😁
She’s 8. I told you about her last week. She crochets beautifully and fast. While her works isn’t perfect, it is most definitely very nicely done for a beginner. Especially for an 8 year old. She told me her mother knows how to crochet but hadn’t taught her yet. So apparentely the talent runs in the family. I made me wonder…does this really make such a big difference? Will need to look it up. I want to know how much of a difference there is when other women in the family share a passion. Does it make it easier for the young ones to learn the same skill?
Crochet talent runs in my family. Many women in my family can crochet. Including myself obviousely, my mother and my sister. But my first stitches were nowhere near as neatly done as those of this little 8 year old girl. My first ones were a messy disaster! 🙈
If this girl keeps practicing, some day she’ll be able to make absolutely stunning things with a hook and yarn! Can’t wait to see all that. She really has talent!
Gave them some fun homework = practice the single crochet at home. No need to do this a whole hour every day. That would be too much. They do have to go to school all day first, then do some homework when they get home. All that in this hot weather + a whole hour of crochet would just simply be too much. So I told them just 10-15 minutes once a day or every 2 days is just fine. Any practice is better than no practice.
Just like my Craftygenesindonesia pattern customers, my students know I’m always available for questions. They can ask those questions when they see me in school, outside the school, after church,… anywhere. They can also send me a Whatsapp message. I don’t mind at all.
Would not want them to have to wait till next lesson next week to get an answer. So I made sure they know I’m always available for questions. Except when I’m in the bathroom of course, or sleeping and drooling all over my pillow all night. Then I prefer not to answer questions 😂😂😂😂.
And that was today’s lesson. Thank you for reading my diary and see you after the next lesson 😁
Was born in Belgium but moved to Indonesia as a child. Have been living here ever since. I absolutely LOVE crochet and knitting. I made this blog to help others get to the same level as me. And to make sure people have a place to come to with questions. Even the very beginner questions. Go ahead and ask me!
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