Woodworking towards Grade 8

evan milburn, grade school woodworking teacher

In the Grade School curriculum, woodworking begins in Grade 5, when a child‘s hands are strong enough to work with harder materials and their will focused enough to materialize their creative vision from a slab of wood. The previous years of working with beeswax and clay, kneading dough, chopping vegetables, and knitting have strengthened their hands and sharpened their ability to focus, to see a task all the way through and create an orignal, tangible, purposeful, and beautiful object. Woodworking is about learning to apply one’s will in meaningful work, learning to be strongly assertive when needed, but also sensitive at times when refining one’s project. It‘s about bringing one’s own personal touch to the project and working with the special quality of the wood. Woodworking class also has the social elements of learning and further instills the benefit of working together.

The three-legged stool that each 8th grader sets out to make seems like a simple enough piece of furniture; yet there is a lot of hard work involved. The student needs to be flexible and balance their creative ideas with the practical demands of the stool’s function and stability. This challenge helps them to build an autonomous way of thinking and a positive attitude when when faced with hurdles. At the culmination of their Grade School years, our Grade 8 students not only show follow-through and ingenuity when tackling a task but also build something lasting with their practiced hands and ready imagination. Take a look below at some of their stools from this year. Well done!

Grab some garb or a gift for your favorite student, alumnus, grandparent, or friend from the SF Waldorf Spirit Store. Show some love for the school with a “W” baseball cap, nautilus tee, or a wolverines tote. We know everybody loves a hoodie in the city, so stay tuned for new items coming soon! Inquire at the front desk for in-stock items.