“Dad, for Spencer’s birthday, I want to make him a staked stool.”
“Go out to the wood pile and pick out your pieces.”
Asher returned with a large spruce blank, to saw into a seat and three legs.
“Draw up a design.”
Joe and Asher walked around the house, investigating various chairs and stools, deciding what size of seat, what shape of seat, how high the seat should be off of the floor, what style of legs, what shape of legs, what angle of legs…
And then Asher was released into the workshop, to work through his plan step-by-step, learning along the way about all those little nuances of how a project goes from idea to reality. Joe observed from a distance ~ far enough away for independent work, close enough to respond to cries for help. And soon enough, Asher had happily produced a little round staked stool, just perfect for his brother to carry around on the nature-sketching expeditions that he has recently taken an interest in.
And then, right under our noses, while we thought he was working on other projects, Asher was quietly carving a bowl out of cottonwood, putting more of the techniques that he had observed in the workshop into practice!
And that’s living and growing and working and learning together with kids in the workshop.
by Sydney Michalski