Dave Sharpe
02-04-2010, 11:59 AM
For those of you interested in my attempts to teach wood shop classes to home schooled kids - thanks for your interest and the notes you've sent. I appreciate the encouraging words.
We took December off - I had a much needed Hawaii vacation, and then the holidays and such - and restarted in Janurary but it was a bit rocky. I think the kids and I bit off more than we could chew when I told them each (there's three of them now) to pick a project they wanted to do, and then I'd help them accomplish it. The youngest (age 10) promptly announced he wanted to make a suit of armor with a spring-loaded sword/dagger hidden up his sleeve!!!! (Okaaaaaay, how do I deal with this?) The 14 year old girl wanted to make a desk, and the 16 year old boy wanted to make an entertainment center. They each wanted to design their own and didn't want to work from the many, many books and WW mags I have in the shop. Se we spent most of Janurary (meeting once a week) working in circles - I'd ask them to bring in drawings of what they want, and measurements of how big their project would be, and they would show up with tiny little scribbled sketches that were near impossible to make out. I'd then show them examples of plan drawings and project sketches, demonstrate the use of Sketchup software, and send them back to the drawing board. Last week I finally had a rough idea of what each project would look like, so I helped them develop a preliminary list of materials to obtain, with the plan being that we would start making sawdust this week.
Well, they showed up yesterday with their heads down (literally!) saying "we didn't do anything - didn't work on our drawings, didn't get any materials. But we're here because we like you and wanted to be here even if we didn't do what we're supposed to do. We're sorry". What do you say to that? So while I was scratching my head trying to come up with a new game plan, they saw the shadow box lamps I've been making in the shop using a scrollsaw (see pics) and asked if they could try their hand at that.
So I hauled out my old Sakura scrollsaw and set it up next to the DeWalt scrollsaw and launched into a quick demo of how to use a scrollsaw. Then I found my John A Nelson scrollsaw workbook - the best book I've seen for hands-on learning at scrollsaws http://www.amazon.com/Scroll-Saw-Workbook-Skill-Building-Chapters/dp/1565232070/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265300872&sr=1-6 and started them in on lesson #1. This consists of making a series of cuts on a 5x7 block of wood, beginning with cutting a straight line, then a line with some gentle curves, and working up to making sharp turns and more complex cuts with an emphasis on staying on the line. Within minutes all three kids are laughing, giggling, having a great time. They're excited at the odd shapes they're cutting out and comparing their cuts to each others'. They left with the lesson book and instructions to make copies of each of the 25 lesson patterns for use in the coming weeks. Now I just have to refurbish the old scrollsaw to make it a bit more user friendly - I wish I could afford to buy an extra Dewalt or two.
So the moral of the story for me (and I learn more in theses classes than the kids do) is that it's too early to give the kids a free hand to build whatever they want. They don't grasp designing concepts yet, and we bogged down because there were just too many possibilities for them to choose from, and we got off track.
One last quick note about the shadowbox lamps: While in Hawaii I saw lots of these lamps made from koa wood at the tourist shops selling for $90 and up. I made a few sketches and tried my hand at making some here at home with different designs. This is one of my first attempts, but I'm fairly happy with it. Simply stack cut 4 pieces of 1/4" wood (plywood works great), then bevel the edges at 45° and glue rice paper on the back. Then just glue the beveled edges together and stick a candle in the middle. Being chicken, i just used the battery operated flameless candles. I figure these will sell easily in this area for $40 or more. The kids I'm teaching are from a family that owns a local restaurant, and they already have lots of local art hanging on the walls for sale (including a piece or two of mine) so I'm envisioning the kids making these to sell in the restaurant. Maybe have one on each table with a shelf or two for sale near the door...?
We took December off - I had a much needed Hawaii vacation, and then the holidays and such - and restarted in Janurary but it was a bit rocky. I think the kids and I bit off more than we could chew when I told them each (there's three of them now) to pick a project they wanted to do, and then I'd help them accomplish it. The youngest (age 10) promptly announced he wanted to make a suit of armor with a spring-loaded sword/dagger hidden up his sleeve!!!! (Okaaaaaay, how do I deal with this?) The 14 year old girl wanted to make a desk, and the 16 year old boy wanted to make an entertainment center. They each wanted to design their own and didn't want to work from the many, many books and WW mags I have in the shop. Se we spent most of Janurary (meeting once a week) working in circles - I'd ask them to bring in drawings of what they want, and measurements of how big their project would be, and they would show up with tiny little scribbled sketches that were near impossible to make out. I'd then show them examples of plan drawings and project sketches, demonstrate the use of Sketchup software, and send them back to the drawing board. Last week I finally had a rough idea of what each project would look like, so I helped them develop a preliminary list of materials to obtain, with the plan being that we would start making sawdust this week.
Well, they showed up yesterday with their heads down (literally!) saying "we didn't do anything - didn't work on our drawings, didn't get any materials. But we're here because we like you and wanted to be here even if we didn't do what we're supposed to do. We're sorry". What do you say to that? So while I was scratching my head trying to come up with a new game plan, they saw the shadow box lamps I've been making in the shop using a scrollsaw (see pics) and asked if they could try their hand at that.
So I hauled out my old Sakura scrollsaw and set it up next to the DeWalt scrollsaw and launched into a quick demo of how to use a scrollsaw. Then I found my John A Nelson scrollsaw workbook - the best book I've seen for hands-on learning at scrollsaws http://www.amazon.com/Scroll-Saw-Workbook-Skill-Building-Chapters/dp/1565232070/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265300872&sr=1-6 and started them in on lesson #1. This consists of making a series of cuts on a 5x7 block of wood, beginning with cutting a straight line, then a line with some gentle curves, and working up to making sharp turns and more complex cuts with an emphasis on staying on the line. Within minutes all three kids are laughing, giggling, having a great time. They're excited at the odd shapes they're cutting out and comparing their cuts to each others'. They left with the lesson book and instructions to make copies of each of the 25 lesson patterns for use in the coming weeks. Now I just have to refurbish the old scrollsaw to make it a bit more user friendly - I wish I could afford to buy an extra Dewalt or two.
So the moral of the story for me (and I learn more in theses classes than the kids do) is that it's too early to give the kids a free hand to build whatever they want. They don't grasp designing concepts yet, and we bogged down because there were just too many possibilities for them to choose from, and we got off track.
One last quick note about the shadowbox lamps: While in Hawaii I saw lots of these lamps made from koa wood at the tourist shops selling for $90 and up. I made a few sketches and tried my hand at making some here at home with different designs. This is one of my first attempts, but I'm fairly happy with it. Simply stack cut 4 pieces of 1/4" wood (plywood works great), then bevel the edges at 45° and glue rice paper on the back. Then just glue the beveled edges together and stick a candle in the middle. Being chicken, i just used the battery operated flameless candles. I figure these will sell easily in this area for $40 or more. The kids I'm teaching are from a family that owns a local restaurant, and they already have lots of local art hanging on the walls for sale (including a piece or two of mine) so I'm envisioning the kids making these to sell in the restaurant. Maybe have one on each table with a shelf or two for sale near the door...?