We had the privilege of spending an entire day with local artist and artisan Susan Frommer, who taught the kids and me how to spin wool into yarn using a drop spindle and a spinning wheel. We had recently read about sheep shearing and the cultural components of spinning in our Pioneer Sampler, so this visit was especially meaningful. After reading how pioneer girls had to prove themselves as exceptionally skilled on the drop-spindle before they were allowed to spin precious fleece on the spinning wheel, the kids felt (no pun intended) pretty special when they got to try out Susan's spinning wheel. As a teacher I was intrigued and humbled by the fact that the kids "got it" quickly (within a few minutes) on the drop spindle, whereas I struggled for hours before it finally clicked for me. Susan had to exercise a lot more patience teaching the teacher than she did with the students!
Last week we also celebrated Halloween, pioneer-style, with stories, songs, and games appropriate for the occasion. We also learned about "maple sugaring" & sketched the layers of a tree to better understand how the tree feeds itself and circulates sap, and how this can be tapped from a maple tree to make maple syrup. Our Halloween Festival included a costume parade, maple syrup snow cones, bobbing for apples (gross!), playing the pioneer game "knucklebones" (even more gross!), and another Indian pebble game.
I had fun at that wool class and tell Susan if you see her tell her thank you for teaching me that class. Laurun
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