Sewing Skills for Life was an initiative I introduced which taught sewing skills alongside core subjects and focused on the Kinaesthetic learning style.
While working in Junior and Infant School and having a son diagnosed with Dyslexia I as curious as to why children were taught certain subjects separately and what was being taught in the classroom which wasn't suitable for these children.
My son didn't mind going out of the classroom as he had a much better time out of the classroom and these lessons I found were being taught in the Kinaesthetic style.
There are four learning styles; Auditory, Kinaesthetic, Visual and Reading/writing
After some research in Junior and Infant Schools studying the way and rate in which children learnt subjects in the classroom, I found that children with varying needs, such as Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and other associated conditions, retained information and skills more easily by learning in the Kinaesthetic and Visual way but not in the more traditional auditory or reading/writing way.
Because of their sensory sensitivity Children with needs found it easier to learn in context and in a more practical way as they could relate to it in real terms, this is the Kinaesthetic and Visual styles, this meant that the children who were taught in these styles did not lag behind.
However, what I also found that children who did not have these needs learnt effectively in all four learning styles but were not held back by only being taught just in the Kinaesthetic and Visual styles.
Unfortunately schools aren't keen on lessons being taught predominately in the Kinaesthetic/Visual styles because these are more costly ways of teaching even though students achievable grades would be higher.
For over twenty years Needlecraft has only been on the curriculum for year 2 pupils.
So after the age of six unless the school they attend offers Sewing or needlecraft in any form they will only be able to do it if they are introduced to it at home. I find this incredible considering sales for sewing, knitting and crafting materials sky rocketed during the pandemic, you tube tutorials are more popular than ever for people wanting to learn these skills.
Skills gained while completing a sewing project;
Improved dexterity
Excellent hand eye co-ordination
Practical skills
Maths
Language
Technology skills
Understanding processes
Sewing Skills for Life set out to offer sewing projects which not delivered essential sewing skills there was a curriculum based choice of lessons all pre planned and written ready to be delivered in the classroom by a dedicated tutor.
Lots of Schools loved the program, could see the benefits and wanted to book us but unfortunately did not have the budget to pay for it, funding was impossible to obtain and so I was only able to deliver it on a voluntary basis or for funded community projects.
#sewing #skills #darning #stiches #lifeskills #parcticalskills #coordination #dexterity #maths #technology #processes #projects #craft
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