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Teaching a young girl sewing and baking skills, etc.


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I am looking for a blog, curriculum, book or something with structure to  help me teach my daughter 7, to sew and bake. Not sure where to start. With all that I have to do homeschool wise already I really want something structured to follow. I also need step by step info. I can sew basic things, but have no idea how to explain it. I've been searching online but need more ideas. Thanks in advance.

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My kids love to bake their own cookies so we borrow some cooking books from the library.  Below are the ones they like and easily doable for a 7 year old. Step by step instructions and photos.

 

Emeril's There's a Chef in My World!: Recipes That Take You Places (more than baking)
Williams Sonoma Kids Baking
The Children's Baking Book (DK)

 

For sewing my boys did felt sewing by hand to make soft toys. They just borrow library books that they fancy.

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Sewing School (and there is a sequel)

http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-School-Projects-Kids-Will/dp/1603425780

 

Cooking with Children: 15 Lessons for Children, Age 7 and Up, Who Really Want to Learn to Cook

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Children-Lessons-Really-Learn/dp/0679422978/

 

The Williams Sonoma baking books for kids are pretty good. I have the one from 2003 by Abigail Dodge, now OOP [ETA: this is the same one Arcadia recommended], but there have been others. Take a look at what's inside.

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I'd just have your kids bake and cook with you. That's how my brother and I learned. We are both better than average home cooks and bakers. My father just had us chopping, sifting and mixing and frying from the time we could see over the counter.

 

I am teaching my 12 year old niece to cook and bake and one thing we do is read through cookbooks together and flag pages of things she wants to eat. That's a good motivator for her.

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My suggestions are exactly what stripe already suggested.  I am using "Sewing School" with my 6 year old dd this year (just started this week so I haven't had time to really test it out but it looks great and do-able) and I've used "Cooking with Children" with both of my boys in the past.  I've done a lot of baking with my kids but I wanted to make sure that they could cook a meal too.  "Cooking with Children" walks you through all of the basic steps.  The recipes are pretty basic but relatively healthy and all of the skills learned can be applied to more advanced cooking.  

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Thanks I'll certainly look into all the suggestions. Has anyone tried Keepers of the Faith for girls or Future Christian Homemakers Handbook?

No, I've not used these.  I don't differentiate between my boys and girls as far as learning cooking and sewing skills, and those books seem oriented only towards girls.  All the kids learn both cooking and sewing.   I will look at the sewing school book for my little dd.  I think she would enjoy that.

 

My younger dd loves sewing and does little creative projects a lot like making stuffed animals for people.  My best and more interested young chef is my 11 year old son, who can whip up a simple dinner for us.  I keep easy to make boxed things on hand (gf mac and cheese, cake mixes) in case a kid gets an urge to cook something.  Today, my younger son made some flavored gf pasta to go with lunch.

 

I've not ever used a curriculum for these basic skills, but I have found it very fun and easy to just get some "fat quarters" from the sewing or hobby store and a few loose buttons and some needle and thread.  My younger son went through a time when he enjoyed some sewing.  If my kids express an interest in sewing, I get them their own little kit with everything they need, which they get a kick out of.  I don't know how to knit, but my older dd taught all three of her younger sibs to knit a few years back.  It was super cute to see them all lined up on the couch with their knitting needles.  :)

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Sewing School (and there is a sequel)

http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-School-Projects-Kids-Will/dp/1603425780

 

Cooking with Children: 15 Lessons for Children, Age 7 and Up, Who Really Want to Learn to Cook

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Children-Lessons-Really-Learn/dp/0679422978/

 

The Williams Sonoma baking books for kids are pretty good. I have the one from 2003 by Abigail Dodge, now OOP [ETA: this is the same one Arcadia recommended], but there have been others. Take a look at what's inside.

 

Sewing School is the book I was going to use if I didn't find anything else. Didn't recognize the name, but glad to see good recommendations for it. I hope to look at the cooking books later. Thanks!

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Our current routine (on good days anyway) is to do school, wander over to the supermarket to buy ingredients, come home and make salad. I bought dd the very rigorous "Complete Book of Salad Dressings" and she makes one up once or twice a week.

 

She's also learning to embroider, only with running stitch, initials on hankies for everyone for Christmas.

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Thanks for posting about this, OK Family! I was just pondering how to incorporate my DD's request to "learn to cook" into our school plans, and these suggestions are great. And now I'll add sewing as well.

My daughter had definetly shown an interest in learning these things. Just need to figure out the how. I like the sewing school book.

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Our current routine (on good days anyway) is to do school, wander over to the supermarket to buy ingredients, come home and make salad. I bought dd the very rigorous "Complete Book of Salad Dressings" and she makes one up once or twice a week.

 

She's also learning to embroider, only with running stitch, initials on hankies for everyone for Christmas.

My daughter has been trying to embroider with the running stitch too (I think). That is a marvelous idea about hankies for Christmas!
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For cooking....I don't really like the cookbooks aimed at children. They either contain junk food or food my kids would not eat. So my cooking lessons consist of calling out " Who wants to help me make dinner" .

 

As for sewing...my DD is very keen. So I borrowed books from the library and gave her a bunch of fabric scraps and needle and thread and told her to go for it. Once she was comfortable using those I bought her a sewing machine and again told her to do what she wanted with it. So she just cuts and designs and sews little bits of fabric nothings...and then once she is comfortable using the machine I will start giving her lessons. It's very hard trying to teach a child if they are afraid of the machine so I let them experiment before I do formal lessons.

 

Once she moves on to formal lessons she can use my machine. Using something that doesn't sew nicely is very frustrating for a beginner.

 

my Dd is left handed so it can be difficult for me to teach her being a rightie myself. It's better for to figure out which hand she wants to use first on her own without my butting in and making it more confusing for her.

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Another slow (and direct) way to teach sewing is to have her try to do the family's mending.

 

The projects can start easy (a few torn out stitches) and move into making a slightly-too-big skirt to fit. :)

 

And sewing on a button IS a bit more complex than it appears, as the button needs to be slightly loose, to provide room for the extra fabric once buttoned.

Here's a quick website I found by googling:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-sew-on-a-button/

 

Here's a girl who takes a thrift store dress (each day) & transforms it into something cute:

http://www.newdressaday.com/

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The Mary Frances Sewing Book is fun. In the beginning my girls did a lot of sewing with felt. It's very forgiving :) and almost always turns out cute. We used a lot of Waldorf kits and books from places like Paper Scissors, Stone and A Child's Dream. 

 

For straight forward sewing I like Singer Sewing Essentials: http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-Essentials-Singer-Reference-Library/dp/0865733082 (Is it okay to post links like this?? I'm a little confused about all that)

 

For cooking, we're using Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Here's a thread I started about it. Others posted cool stuff their using: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/527485-anyone-else-doing-home-ec/

hth

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We had so much fun with Sow and Grow when the kids were younger.

She also wrote Look and Cook and See and Sew: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584793589/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1584796731&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1CKT040SW6EMAK904BZ8 

 

I haven't used them, but they might be worth checking out? 

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My kids mostly learn sewing with grandma who is much better than me. She has helped them to draw pics and then put them in an embroidery hoop and outline in running stitch. Machine sewing we will wait a little longer with.

 

For cooking, I think the most useful thing is just teaching the basic meals that you eat all the time starting from porridge, fried eggs, pancakes etc and working up. My 8 year old can pretty much do all the components of dinner if necessary.

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I totally forgot about this book: "Starting from Scratch" by Sarah Elton

http://www.amazon.com/Starting-From-Scratch-Should-Cooking/dp/1926973968

It has information about food and cooking, that is less overwhelming than some of the food science books for adults but provides a basic overview

 

ChopChop magazine also came out with a cookbook. It looks promising.

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Anyone Can Cook DVD Edition: Step-by-Step Recipes Just for You (Better Homes and Gardens Cooking)

 

This is my dd's ABSOLUTE favorite cookbook.  She received it when she was, probably right about that age or a little older.  It has pictures to show the steps.  She still uses it.   :)

 

For sewing, go here and pick out some easy projects.

 

Sewing Tutorials + Patterns | Sew Mama Sew | Bringing you outstanding sewing, quilting, and needlework tutorials since 2005.

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http://www.amazon.com/Better-Homes-Gardens-Cook-Edition/dp/0470560800/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0K3TX5EHSG21DG5P7P25

 

I ordered each of the girls one of these Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks and we cooked our way through the summer.  The Chippers in a Jar cookie recipe in the gift giving section has become our go to cookie recipe lately. Each girl started their own recipe collection of family favorites adding to it as they learn to cook the recipe. I could not find recipe card boxes in our area so I bought 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" notebooks and page protectors for their personal cookbooks. We had such a lovely time doing this and it's something we will continue for the rest of their time at home.

 

 

 

 

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Youtube is so great for sewing tutorials. You have to sift through a bit of junk to come up with the good projects, but both of my kids have sewed some amazing things, using proper techniques (not the way I sew!) this way. Cook lots with your kids and they will learn tons. The cookbooks for kids are generally junky. Also, my kids really like to wear aprons when they cook. It makes them feel so professional. Maybe this year we'll sew aprons! 

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Sewing School (and there is a sequel)

http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-School-Projects-Kids-Will/dp/1603425780

 

Cooking with Children: 15 Lessons for Children, Age 7 and Up, Who Really Want to Learn to Cook

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Children-Lessons-Really-Learn/dp/0679422978/

 

The Williams Sonoma baking books for kids are pretty good. I have the one from 2003 by Abigail Dodge, now OOP [ETA: this is the same one Arcadia recommended], but there have been others. Take a look at what's inside.

I did go ahead and get Sewing School. All my kids are very interested in the projects offered in the book. We are going to really like working through this book. I'm torn between letting them sew like the book shows, or sew correctly with the right sides of fabric together.

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I second the cookbooks-especially the DK one--mentioned above. My eldest dd is involved in sewing and cooking clubs through 4H in addition to what she does at home.

We are just beginning 4H, do you know if we have to only do sewing projects from the 4H book or can we also do projects from the Sewing School book as stated in previous books?

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Does 4H have a sewing book? Are their books available in the 4H office or do they have to be specially ordered? (My kids have just joined 4H.)

They have a few sewing books, they are available online in their 4Hmall.com (I think that's the website). I haven't gotten them, but have seen they are available. I plan on getting them at some point. FYI their shipping is very slow. I ordered the wings book, for a butterfly unit we are doing the beginning of Sept. and still haven't received it.

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