[Crw-talk] Teaching home schooled children to turn

[John & Donna Griffiths]

Hello members,

I have mentioned before that a group of home schooled children are 
coming to A Line on October 10 to learn some woodturning.  Duane has 
seven lathes at A Line and I have five members committed to assist and 
teach.  So a few more members are needed to come out for a Saturday 
morning to help out.  Your help will truly be appreciated. I would like 
everyone who can make it for an hour or two or the entire morning to let 
me know if they are able to make it.  The children will be from about 
4th grade through high school age.  Some will have good eye-hand 
coordination and can do more complex projects, some won't.  But we want 
to give them all a chance to apply a tool to a spinning piece of wood.

Members need to be at A Line at 8 AM to get set up.  The children and 
their parent will arrive at 8:30 and we will break into turner-child 
groups for a half hour to perhaps an hour, teach some woodturning then 
move on to the next child.  The length of time with each child depends 
upon how many show up and how many turners we have available; and the 
attention span and level of interest of each child.  Depending on how 
fast we progress, there may be a parent or two that would like to apply 
a tool to a piece of wood at the end. The event will end about 11:30 or 
noon.

Beside you, what do we need you to bring?
1.  Some tools.  Duane has a grinder at A Line already.  Perhaps a chuck 
and centers.
2.  Eye protection, including a full face shield for the child.  Eye 
protection for a nearby parent is important too since parents are likely 
to stand fairly close to watch their child create, so bring an extra set 
of safety glasses or goggles.
3.  Some wood for the projects you have in mind.  John Phillips will 
bring some wood too.  Clyde would like to teach pen making, younger 
children may simply enjoy making a top too.  The age of the child is 
important in deciding what to make so be versatile with the options you 
consider.
4.  A piece of plywood nailed to two by fours on edge for shorter 
children to stand on to reach the lathe.

I hope you will be able to help with this project.  Please let me know 
if you can.  Thank you.

John