WORKING WITH WOOD
Ladder designed, measured, sawed, sanded, and nailed together by 5 year-old student ... and stabilized by supportive classmates.
I find woodworking to be one of the most dynamic, meaningful, creative, and exciting opportunities for the students in my classroom. The positive impacts of working with wood include increases in self confidence and social-emotional skills, pride, student empowerment, craftsmanship, the authentic experience of mathematics as a fun and relevant subject, fine and gross motor growth, idea generation, and connecting students with a human experience and ability. The woodworking bench is a litmus test for the strength of the classroom community and provides the sincerest example of how students can safely work near one another, respect each other, listen carefully to and be aware of the people and space around them, and learn patience, compromise, and collaboration. With safety at the forefront, the work bench "opens" only once the classroom community has demonstrated their willing and active engagement in composing, communicating, and thoughtfully meeting the expectations and boundaries that will make it possible to safely and productively engage with the woodworking experience.
Read more about it in the NYTimes article, "Kindergarten Shop Class."
Students measured, sawed, sanded, dyed, sorted, and counted blocks into sets of 18 (a number that they determined, through play, to be a critical minimum for a functionally fun set of blocks!) as one of the products for their Kids Corner Market curriculum.
