ABOUT 
THE BOOK


​​"​Unhurried education, and teaching to the heart through stories, develop a lifelong love of a continually unfolding process of learning and loving the world.”

​Teaching Through Stories: Jane and Jeremy Learn to Knit will encourage you to take things into your own hands by giving you the tools to teach others. It’s effective and fun to teach using stories—this book tells you how!The first in a series on teaching handwork, this complete guide is written for teachers and others who want to teach this popular craft—or any subject—to children through storytelling, fostering personal connection in any educational setting.

This handbook is a practical guide to creating and telling your own stories, and connecting with listeners, with examples from knitting lessons. It introduces important pedagogical foundations and offers suggestions for managing a busy handwork classroom. The last chapter shares ideas about selecting patterns and materials and over a dozen of the best patterns the author has developed or modified. 

Teaching Through Stories embodies an unhurried approach to education used successfully for a hundred years in Waldorf schools around the world.

PRAISE FOR
​TEACHING THROUGH STORIES

I began my Waldorf teaching career as a handwork teacher before becoming a class teacher and high school teacher. How I would have loved to have had Elizabeth Seward as a guide at my side. There is nothing else available like it.”

-Betty Staley, co-founder of Rudolf Steiner College, currently Advisory Board member of Alliance for Public Waldorf Education.
“. . . a master class in storytelling as the path to deep learning. . . . her emphasis on an ‘unhurried education’ wakes us from the teach-to-the-test fog that has overtaken much of American education”.

​-Bernadette Murphy, author, Zen and the Art of Knitting and The Knitter’s Gift
"This book is a treasure!"
"The best handwork curriculum book I've found" 
​"Your book is an inspiration"
"Thank you!"
- Teachers, homeschoolers, and parents
​​
"This is a wonderful book and resource for anyone teaching a child to knit" ​
​- Deborah Staggs, owner of A Child's Dream​
"​I found your information on storytelling to be both profound and unique. I have also never seen any book that coached the reader as intimately as you have done. Should this book get the circulation that it deserves, you could well be responsible for re-enlivening the oral tradition of teaching. Brilliant work!" 
 
- Nancy Parsons, Founder of Waldorf Books (waldorfbooks.com)
"A big hug of gratitude . . .  Thank you for making my job seamless and enjoyable for all. . . . your book gives me a solid foundation to work from, and confident wings for variation."
- Patty Urda, Handwork teacher at Detroit Waldorf School

PURCHASE
YOUR COPY

Book Details:
212 pages
Black & White
8.5 x 8.5 inches
ISBNs:
978-1-5255-4029-5 eBook
978-1-5255-4028-8 Paperback
978-1-5255-4027-1 Hardcover
​Keywords:
Knitting, Teaching Knitting, Handwork, Teaching Through Stories, Homeschooling, Waldorf, Education, Storytelling, Unhurried Education

EVENTS

Children's Knitting Classes in Van Nuys
Sept 3 2019 - Jan 17, 2020
Makers' Market         Sat Oct 19, 2019 2pm – 6pm   
​Toolbox L.A. 9410 Owensmouth Ave, 91311     
Free admission; come and browse; books and kits available. See you there!             
Picture
Holiday Sparkle     Sunday October 20, 11 am  - 4 pm
Alamitos Bay Yarn Co,  ​174 N. Marina Drive, Long Beach, CA 


Meet the Author, Browse the Book - in a 'destination yarn store'


​
Learn Beyond the Book Holiday Boutique
Saturday November 9, 10am - 3 pm
​
21704 Golden Triangle Road unit 500, Santa Clarita, CA 91350
Stitches SoCal November 14 - 17
Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena CA
Books available at The Altered Stitch, Booth 600
Winter's Gift: Teach a Child to Knit classes
coming soon in November/ December
Do you want to share your skills with a young person in your life? Have you 'tried' and are you looking for a better way?
Classes are for children aged 6+ and a caring adult with Elizabeth Seward, author of Teaching Through Stories: Jane and Jeremy learn to Knit
The Altered Stitch, 12443 Magnolia Blvd, Valley Village, 91607
 Meet the Author, browse the book 
​at The Altered Stitch, 12443 Magnolia Blvd, Valley Village, 91607
Saturday, December 14, 2 pm - 6 pm

VIDEOS COMING SOON

ABOUT
​ELIZABETH SEWARD

​Born in England, Elizabeth Seward, PhD, has been in Waldorf classrooms since 1984 as a parent volunteer, handwork assistant, high school teacher, lead handwork teacher, and class teacher. She mentors teachers in private and public Waldorf schools and consults with schools on building a handwork program. Elizabeth teaches knitting, spinning, and other textile arts to ad hoc community groups and shares her enthusiasm for Waldorf education with parents of young children, homeschooling parents, and graduate students. She offers retreats and conferences for teachers, homeschool teachers, and parents.

Elizabeth holds a doctorate in Education from Claremont Graduate University, an M.A. in Applied Linguistics, and most recently an interdisciplinary M.A. in Spirituality and Education. Her thesis was “Knitting: A Gateway Contemplative Practice?”

Elizabeth has been living in Los Angeles for forty years and knitting for over sixty. She loves swimming, gardening, and meeting the challenge of every individual learner. Elizabeth has three grown children and four lovely young grandsons who are beginning to learn to knit.

GET IN TOUCH

Please leave a comment, review, or ask about The Wonder and Wisdom of Handwork conferences and retreats