Forgetful Momma

Secular Homeschooling in Canada

kids learning

Teaching Photography to Younger Kids

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I take a lot of photos, of everything, be it blog related or my kids are being silly/cute/a pain in the butt, I take pictures. With me always taking pictures my kids have naturally taken an interest in photography, an interest that I love letting them explore. Teaching photography to them no matter their age seems natural, and a fun way to spend time together.

Have you ever let your child play with a camera and seen the photos they take? Some can surprise you.

Teaching Photography to Younger Kids

Teaching Photography to Younger Kids

*This posts contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

Cameras for Kids

The first step is finding the right camera for your kids. You don’t have to give you kids a fancy camera. Basic ones for their age levels are best. This is the one my 5 year old is using because she is hard on stuff. I mean, hard, worse than my (boy) 3 year old. So she needs something to stand up to her. This camera is not going to give great pictures.


VTech Kidizoom Camera Connect

My 8 year old has this camera, which works great for her. This one is quite basic, but not a “kid” camera. She has learned a lot about positioning, focus and more with this one. Plus, while it is not a high priced camera, it is a brand you can trust, and is known for cameras.


Canon PowerShot Digital Camera

Let It Happen

Let them take photos of anything they want and learn from it. They’ll realize, or ask you why, their photos are blurry and discover how to correct themselves – slowing down to start.

Make a list of things that you all can photograph together, taking turns.

  • a flower
  • a rock
  • a book
  • a pet

Learning Books and/or Courses

There are a lot of books that you can check out. This is of course, the routine we have gone so far. I think my middle girl will be getting a new camera for Christmas at which point we might look into getting this project-based beginner photography course that is specifically for children aged 4-13. A fun course we can all do together in our homeschool.

National Geographic Kids Guide to Photography

Photo Adventures for Kids

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Educational and Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs

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We are getting back into the swing of back to school and all the things we use more so then. Reading Eggs isn’t one of them though despite how much my kids have learned from it. And it’s because they are learning so much that I love letting them have screen time.

Educational & Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs

Educational and Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs

*This post a sponsored posted, I am 100% honest, and we truly love Reading Eggs and have for a number of years.*

We have been using Reading Eggs for a few years now, and I love it for my kids. It has taken some of the pressure off me when it comes to teaching my kids to read. Not that I am not teaching them still, but they are having fun online reading along and learning with Reading Eggs.

Reading Egg Levels

I currently have three using the program because there are four different levels:

  • First Steps – 3-4 years.
  • Ready for School – 5 years.
  • Fun Practice Makes Perfect – 6-7 years.
  • Continue the Reading Journey – 7-13 years.

The program has been developed by a highly experienced team of teachers, educational writers, animators and web developers. It focuses on a core reading curriculum of skills and strategies essential for sustained reading success.

Your child won’t be pushed through a level until he or she ready. I have seen my child a little frustrated that they are still on the same level for a while, but once they do master that skill/level, wow, they are so happy!

I love seeing them take the skills to read from a fun engaging place and games to a book. My 3 year old is already starting to sound out words and completely blow his Momma away with all that he is learning, and he just sees it has having fun on the computer like his big sisters.

Reading Eggs hits on another important point for me: it’s safe. There is nothing for your kids to click on and end up somewhere else online.

You can try Reading Eggs for a FREE 4 week trial where you’ll have access to the thousands of interactive activities and over 2500 e-books that make up Reading Eggs.

We have had issues in the past with the game freezing up and not letting one child move past a section, but either a quick refresh of the page fixes it, or one time, their support quickly helped to fix the issue. And it was on our end, needing an update, but they were great to deal with.

Educational & Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs

Learning French at Home – Homeschooling

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Homeschooling means that I have taken my children’s education into my hands, and that includes teaching them another language, learning French. Here in Canada the first language is English and our second language is French. Public schools teach French as a second language quite early on, or in some cases you can choose to put your child in French Immersion.

Which means we are learning French in our homeschool this year, or relearning if you’re me.

Teaching French in Our Homeschool

Learning French at Home

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

I attended an online homeschool conference and one of the speakers spoke about teaching your children french when you aren’t comfortable doing so. It was as if she was speaking directly to me. Her main piece of advice was just do it. A little here and there, and we’ll learn together. She said that your rusty high school french will come back, even if it does so slowly. After that I had no problem getting out the french books so we could start learning together. I wish I could remember who the speaker was to link to her.

Books We are Using

Because I am naturally drawn to books, we have gotten books from the library as well as bought a few.

One book that I really like is The Everything Kids’ Learning French book. I had originally checked it out from the library, I really liked it, and knew that it was going to have to have a permanent place on our bookshelf. Why do I love it? Because not only does this book have the written french, the list of words are also written out phonically, as the mom struggling to remember french this is very, very helpful.

There are not only pages to practice what they are learning written, but also fun activities like “look at this page in a mirror”.

Teaching French in Our Homeschool

Some other great books that we have are:

My First French Picture Dictionary

French: Ages 7-9 (Collins Easy Learning) – Workbook

Preschool French Smart Story Activities – Workbook

Usborne Internet Linked French for Beginners

52 Weeks of Family French – I’m excited to get started with this one! Small bite sized learning.


Online Resources

After the Everything Kids’ book, our favorite French learning resource is Duolingo. A FREE website to learn not only French but other languages as well. My oldest is currently loving it. You choose how often you (or your child) wants to do it, and for how long at a time. It’s great for learning to speak and write/read another language.

YouTube is full of great videos for kids to watch and learn from. That’s how my kids learned to sing the ABC’s in French. I could only remember half of it. We have been watching Monde des Titounis for the ABC song so we know how to pronounce the letters. Same goes for numbers and more.

More Ideas

Flash Cards – You could also make your own flash cards, making them for the level of skill you and/or your child are at. Plus you can buy them already made for you if that is more your style, it’s more my style.

If you are Canadian, because our french is different, just our sign language is different, you might want to check out these flash cards, they’re great! I these are what we’re using in our home.

Rosetta Stone – We haven’t tried Rosetta Stone yet, but if my kids are interested in taking their french language learning skills farther than I can take them, then this is where I’ll be going for that help.

You may be interested in this as well:

matching cards - numbers - english and frenchr
Teaching French in Our Homeschool

Getting Your Kids in the Kitchen

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I have some great memories of baking with my mom, those recipes are still my favorite to make, and of course to eat. I want my kids to feel more comfortable in the kitchen, not only baking, but cooking too. Getting your kids in the kitchen is important for many reasons, such as healthy food habits.

Getting Your Kids in the Kitchen

There are a lot of great things that happen when you get your kids in the kitchen cooking and baking. They are learning an important life skill just in the cooking and baking. They are also learning about healthy food choices. And if you take them shopping for the ingredients about budgeting.

kids-in-the-kitchen

Getting Your Kids in the Kitchen

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

My first and most important tip would be to make sure you and your kids go over the rules of being in the kitchen.

Kitchen Rules

Wash Up

Wash your hands, with soap! My kids like to wash super fast to get the job done and get back to cooking/baking. We end up having a discussion on germs. Use all opportunities to teach your kids.

Listen

Make sure to listen to the grown up in charge. With sharp knifes, and hot stove burners and an oven, there can be a lot of ways to get hurt.

Pay Attention

Listen to what you are being told. Pay attention when you are using knifes, to working with or nor a hot stove.

Ask Questions

There is no such thing as a stupid question, so encourage your kids to ask anything they want. Not only is this the perfect time for them to learn but for them to remember that they can always ask you anything you want.

Choosing Recipes

When you are looking for recipes don’t discount those recipes that use an oven or stove burners. Just teach them to be careful, or have them do something else while you are doing that part. An example would be making cookies.

There are a lot of cookbooks out there are geared towards children, both those that require no heat (oven/stove) use to those easier recipes that do require them.

These are our favorite cookbooks:

Fore more kids in the kitchen posts:

Kids in the kitchen

Cloud in A Jar – Science Experiment

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We started learning about learning about weather without a curriculum but with natural curiosity. Between books that we own and books from the library we started learning more about weather one weekend. Who wouldn’t want to learn how to make a cloud in a jar with hairspray?

Cloud in A Jar – Science Experiment

*This post may contain affiliate links. You can learn more about them in my disclosure policy.*

What you need for this cloud in a jar experiment:

  • a large jar
  • hot (boiling) water
  • a plate to fit over the top of your jar
  • aerosol hair spray
  • ice cubes

What you need to do for your science experiment:

Put about four or so ice cubes on the plate. We used massive ice cubes meant for whiskey. It meant less water mess, less fast melting, and worked just the same as using regular ice cubes, we’ve done it both ways.

Fill your jar about a third of the way up with hot water.

Spray a quick blast of an aerosol hairspray into the jar and very quickly put your plate on top of the jar.

Making Clouds in a Jar

Making Clouds in a Jar

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Active Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Watch a cloud form, and move around in a jar.

Materials

  • ice cubes
  • boiling water
  • aerosol hair spray

Tools

  • a jar
  • a small plate (for going over the mouth of your jar)

Instructions

    1. Put about four or so ice cubes on the plate.
    2. Fill your jar about a third of the way up with hot water.
    3. Spray a quick blast of an aerosol hairspray into the jar and very quickly put your plate on top of the jar.
© Ashley Mullen
Project Type: Science Experiment / Category: Experiments

The science behind what is happening:

By pouring hot water into a jar and trapping it, you created warm, moist air.  As the warm air inside the jar rose, it was cooled by the ice on top of the jar.

When the water vapour cooled, it wanted to turn back into liquid, but it needed to condense onto a surface. The aerosol spray provided cloud condensation nuclei: a surface for the water vapor to condense into tiny cloud droplets.

The cloud swirled inside the jar due to the circulation of warm air rising and cold air sinking. I shared this quick video on Instagram after did it.

If you try this out at home I would love to see how it goes for you and what your kids think of it.

You might also want to check our arctic animal science experiment for another weather related science experiment.

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