Knitting program at Waldorf School has many benefits

ALBANY — Knitting is the perfect antidote to life in the fast-paced world we live in. It offers a very tangible way to connect yourself to creativity something truly useful as well as beautiful. In a world where technology advances such as electronic books, video games and cell phones have deprived us of many tactile pleasures, the feeling of yarn and the steady repetition of stitch after stitch is a restorative tonic. It doesn’t produce a virtual experience that can be altered with a single click, but a real and tangible something.

In Waldorf schools, knitting is one component of the first-grade curriculum, and kindergarten children are taught to finger knit before they learn to do math. Older students continue their skills in handwork class. Do you wonder why? While knitting, children must count stitches, follow patterns of numbers and colors, coordinate right and left hands and give careful attention to the activity. This is the very basis of mathematical reasoning and number sense.