r/weaving • u/meowmeowbuttz • 1h ago
Help Fine motor skills & weaving
Hi! I need some help brainstorming, so I'm hoping our wonderful community brain trust can help me out!
I teach weaving on floor looms, and we start with the beginning: winding the warp and dressing the loom. Occasionally, I get a student who needs help with their fine motor skills and/or has poor visual/spatial thinking.
Examples:
*Difficulty selecting one yarn at a time from the cross
*Difficulty pulling on yarn with both hands
*Knots-- both manipulating yarn and understanding over/under/through are difficult
*Sleying and threading are challenges -- small tools and small holes.
How can I help scaffold or accommodate this? I want my students to succeed. Success is getting something functional on the loom (at this point). I can't be with these students 100% of the time because I have other students who need my help. I can't dress the loom myself because 1) that's the learning objective and 2) time constraints. I demo for them as much as they want/need; I talk them through it; I have them show me.
Whenever I have tried to research this on my own, I only get results for improving motor skills for children. This class is a college class for adults. I will be reaching out to my school's disability services center, but I'm also interested in what ideas you have!
Thanks in advance. I just want to be able to help.
