Reading Road Signs!!! New Video Up!!!

I mentioned a few days ago I was collecting pictures for my next video, and I've finally managed to put it all together. I was rather surprised at what a challenge some pictures were to get.  I mean, where can you stand to get a picture of a 55mph speed limit sign?  Luckily, traffic jams were my friend!

I also mentioned I'd ask my 6 year old to play piano for background music in this video, and he was thrilled to do so.  There are four very simple songs playing softly in the background, and they're all his!  Well, they're public domain songs he played for me.  I think he'll get a big kick out of hearing his music on Youtube. Hopefully, it'll further stoke his joy of playing.

In the process of snapping all these pictures, I got plenty of those speed limit signs.  That gave me another idea for a video.  How about one counting by 5s using speed limit signs?  I have most of the images I'll need, so it shouldn't be long before that one is up, too.  I think I'm just missing 20, 40, 50 and 60 for me to have them up to 65. If I can't find actual pictures, I'll just photoshop the ones I already have.

As always, I welcome your comments & suggestions!
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Thanks!

Guns & the Beach!

This weekend, we took the family down to Tybee Island, Georgia for a couple of days of relaxation.  While there, we visited Fort Pulaski and got to see a little demonstration of how a Civil War era soldier would load & fire his rifle.  It was pretty nifty, and I thought it'd make for a decent video for my Youtube channel.  While it's not educational in the style of my other educational videos, it's certainly a tool that could be used to stoke interest in American History.

The next day, we got footage of the sunrise coming up over the beach... quite relaxing!!!
If I manage many more of these relaxing videos, I'll need to start a playlist for them!

New Video Idea!

In the back of my mind, there's almost always an undercurrent of thought looking for ideas for new videos for kids.  I know that everyone reads most words by sight, not by sounding out the words.  For example, when you read the word "STOP," you don't look at the ST combination, sound it out, add on the AH sound for the O and then finish off by adding the P sound at the end.  No, what we do is recognize the basic shape of the word.  This is how we can read as quickly as we do.  We actually read several words at a time, piecing together - not individual words - but whole sentences.

That is the basis behind "sight words" or "frequency words."  Kids need to know them just by glancing at them, not actually reading them.

As I was driving along with my 3 year old in the back seat, I remembered some of the first words either of my boys learned to read.  They were the words they see from their carseats as we drive along!  STOP, YIELD, SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD, SPEED LIMIT....

With that, I had the idea for my next video!

I had another idea floating around in the back of my head for my next video, as well.  My 6 year old has been taking piano lessons for a few months, now, and has gotten pretty good (for a 6 year old, anyhow.)  It's going to take me a few days to gather all of the pictures I need for the video, and in that time, I'm going to see if there's a "public domain" song he can play for the background music!


Like I said, I'm always looking for new ideas, so if you have an idea that you think would fit in with the  educational videos, let me know in the comments below!

Thanks!

New Video! The Numbers to 30 in Spanish!

This one is pretty self explanatory.  Looking to expand on some of my other very basic videos, I decided to do one for the numbers to 30 in Spanish.  Obviously, knowing a little Spanish can go a long way in America, today!

I was wanting something a little different for the background of my videos, so as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac blew over Georgia, I laid my camera on the ground facing the sky.  I had to speed it up a bit so you could see the movement, but I like the results.  Tell me what you guys think!

Plus, I'm always open to suggestions for new videos!