Programming for primary schools

Could your local knitting circle be a software start-up in disguise? Steve Bunce investigates how casting on can be the first step to develo

My name’s Steve and I’m a knitter.” I said this to a group of teachers, who looked at me as though I’d just confessed my love for Jedward. “Really?” they questioned. “Yes,” I said, “and I think there’s a link between knitting and computer programming.” So, how did this all start? Let me spin you a yarn…

A year ago, my great uncle Norman came to visit. He had worked for the Inland Revenue in Scotland back in the 1950s, and while travelling the isles he learnt Gaelic, songs, stories and traditional crafts. He taught me about knitting and how important it was for the communities he visited. Also, he told me how men and women all knitted out of necessity, rather than as a hobby. He told me of the fishermans’ Ganseys - thick sweaters worn while out to sea. Each village had a different pattern, so in the sad event of a man-overboard the body could be identified.

In talking with my great uncle, I realised how teaching knitting would be great in schools. It would develop finger strength, co-ordination and dexterity; refine language skills like instructional writing, speaking and listening; and encourage social skills such as collaboration and communication. It would create links with the community, too, as children could interview relatives about their knitting experiences. So, in summer 2011, I cast on.

Knitting isn’t easy. At first, I tried to learn how to knit from books. But even though the pictures were clear and the instructions detailed, I couldn’t understand them properly.

Fortunately, further help was available online. YouTube is an amazing resource. Here I found hundreds of enthusiasts keen to share their knitting skills and yarn companies offering support for beginners. What an opportunity for our children. They could not only learn from videos, but create their own to teach others. Talking to schools, I found a small number of knitting clubs already established. But although many children had encountered knitting at some stage, few could remember how to do it. There were exceptions, and, in most cases, those children who could knit had been taught by a grandparent – the emotional bond, one-to-one attention and perseverance of their tutor seemed to make the difference.

Losing the thread

As this story unravels, you may remember that I mentioned computer programming. So what’s the link? Consider this: knitting follows a sequence of instructions, such as the familiar ‘knit one, pearl one’. Just like computer programs, these instructions use a specific syntax that includes variables, loops and decisions (If…then…else). For example, if you need to knit 50 rows, you will knit one row at a time until you reach row 50. Therefore, the equivalent program could be, ‘If row is 50, then stop. Else keep knitting.’

Finally, when you make a mistake, you need to fix it. This is debugging the program, which is not only necessary, but difficult. Both knitting and programming require children to persevere with problem solving.

From knitting to programming

At one school I worked with, the children had been learning to knit a mobile phone sock. To succeed, they had to persevere and constantly reflect and assess each line of stitching. Progress was slow.

Learning to programme is very similar. It takes time to learn to code and it requires great focus each line needs to be reviewed and it can take a long time until you see progress.

This was just the right point to show the children how knitting and programming could be linked. Y5 pupils had been learning about control and sequencing instructions in their ICT lessons. Using a Logo-based game called Mission Control V2 (see planetsherston.com), they had really enjoyed problem solving.

I told pupils to hold their knitting in front of them and look at the screen while I asked a series of questions. “Can you see that your line of stitches is like the instructions in the game?” “Which instruction do you need to do first in the game and which with the knitting?” “What happens next?” “How many times do you repeat?”

Slowly, I could see the children making the connection.

My research into forming links between knitting and programming is still at an early stage and whether knitting can help to create a new generation of programmers has yet to be seen. But what has been clear throughout is that the children are thinking. In their problem solving, they are deconstructing information, looking for patterns, creating instructions for others to follow and applying their knowledge to new problems; valuable skills for life.