Sunday 28 August 2016

"She is a delight to teach"

I told her parents - and I meant it.
The youngest member of the knitting group that meets monthly in the library is only ten. She lives in the hills and normally comes with a neighbour, as does her much older sister. When the neighbour was not able to come her parents brought her.
We had heard a good deal about them. They are  an unusual family and it was interesting to finally meet her parents who proved to be just as friendly as I thought they would be.  G....didn't want to miss out on knitting though so her parents went off to borrow books and left her to it.
She has mastered the knit stitch. Her knitting action is smooth. Her tension is even. She is knitting herself a scarf "but it will take a long time and it will be boring even with the stripes so it is for getting better and better at it. I want to learn other things in between."
And she is. Yesterday she felt ready for the purl stitch. I showed her how to do one. She took the needles back - and did it instantly. She had, at my suggestion, just cast on ten stitches for the practice piece - and, apart from the first stitch I showed her, did the row without trouble. We talked about the sort of fabric it produces when combined with the knit stitch - smooth but inclined to curl at the
edges. She wasn't satisfied with her first effort so she undid it and tried again.
Her concentration is intense and sustained. Her questions are relevant and thoughtful. 
"Anyone for a cup of tea?" someone else asked. G....had brought a packet of "Girl Guide" biscuits. She opened them and offered them around after she had taken her father a cup of tea and got her own. 
Someone else brought me a cup of tea.
Some time later when people had drunk their tea G....got up and quietly collected several empty cups, including mine, and washed up without any fuss. Nobody asked her to do it. Her mother admitted that, at home, G...does some of the cooking.
She is simply one of those highly intelligent, competent, and thoughtful all round children who are a joy to have in the classroom.  
It was worth the effort involved in getting there yesterday just to spend time with her.

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