It has been a very busy Tot School week. It is amazing the amount of learning that is geared to the littlest kids around here. Until I kept the camera close by to catch the learning, I thought the "babies" were getting a little neglected, with the big kids schooling and all the extra-curricular activies associated with ten children, but I have come to realize that these two small children get a lot of "schooling."
The highlight of the week has to be this great Thomas the Tank Engine tot-book from Carissa at 1+1+1=1. She has other great tot- books also, so make sure to check them out.
I only made one tot-book and Kim and Luke share it. (I thought about making two, and in the future I might do that.)
The favorite part of the book for both kids is the fact that Luke is in the Thomas book. Kimberly discovered this first, and hurried to tell Luke, he was so excited he ran to me to show me "his" page. He still can't seem to believe he is in a Thomas book.
Here is Kim checking out Luke's page.
They both have taken turns coloring a page in the "colors" book. I am amazed how careful they color when I stress that it is their schoolwork. It changes their whole approach to an activity. They seem to know that they should pay attention and try their best.
We also got out this Workshop Toy Color Bear. Luke at 3 and a 1/2 does this with ease, and even sorts all the colors and and does it in layers.
Kimberly, 2 and 1/2, has a challenge to get all the pieces put together correctly, but she is beginning to have success almost everytime.
Mark found this amazing game in the basement this week. I have no idea where it came from. It has to be from my parents camp that was sold a few years ago, but I don't remember it from my childhood.
It has all these wonderful letters that are hard plastic and very tough. (They don't make things like this anymore!) The board has letters throughout that Kim and Luke (mostly Luke) use to match the letters to. It also has word cards that Gracie (1st grade) uses.
Here is Luke after he had matched many of the letters and then was lining other letters around the board. I have a lot of ideas for different uses for these great letters.
We have been working on recognizing the numbers 1-3 this week. I use the PBS website to find coloring pages for all our number and letter work.
Kimberly's favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See, and a year ago I made this shadow matching game to go along with the book. I pulled it out this week and Kimberly was just as happy with it as when I first made it. She is so cute when she works on it because she repeats the lines of the book as she matches the animals to their shadows.
Of course, a big part of the week was getting ready for Halloween. Luke remembered carving pumpkins last year, but Kim had no idea. It is such fun to teach these little ones about our family traditions and include them in the excitement.
They were totally enthralled with all the parts of a pumpkin.
This was the best part.
Tot-school wouldn't be complete without a lesson from mother nature. This lesson is called "Ha! Ha! Mother Nature wins again!"
Here is Kim checking out Luke's page.They both have taken turns coloring a page in the "colors" book. I am amazed how careful they color when I stress that it is their schoolwork. It changes their whole approach to an activity. They seem to know that they should pay attention and try their best.
We also got out this Workshop Toy Color Bear. Luke at 3 and a 1/2 does this with ease, and even sorts all the colors and and does it in layers.
Kimberly, 2 and 1/2, has a challenge to get all the pieces put together correctly, but she is beginning to have success almost everytime.
Mark found this amazing game in the basement this week. I have no idea where it came from. It has to be from my parents camp that was sold a few years ago, but I don't remember it from my childhood.
It has all these wonderful letters that are hard plastic and very tough. (They don't make things like this anymore!) The board has letters throughout that Kim and Luke (mostly Luke) use to match the letters to. It also has word cards that Gracie (1st grade) uses.Here is Luke after he had matched many of the letters and then was lining other letters around the board. I have a lot of ideas for different uses for these great letters.
We have been working on recognizing the numbers 1-3 this week. I use the PBS website to find coloring pages for all our number and letter work.
Kimberly's favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See, and a year ago I made this shadow matching game to go along with the book. I pulled it out this week and Kimberly was just as happy with it as when I first made it. She is so cute when she works on it because she repeats the lines of the book as she matches the animals to their shadows.
Of course, a big part of the week was getting ready for Halloween. Luke remembered carving pumpkins last year, but Kim had no idea. It is such fun to teach these little ones about our family traditions and include them in the excitement.They were totally enthralled with all the parts of a pumpkin.This was the best part.
Tot-school wouldn't be complete without a lesson from mother nature. This lesson is called "Ha! Ha! Mother Nature wins again!"It was so exciting that some kids ran outside in the morning without the proper footwear, and footwear that was not even the right size.
Make sure you go and visit the other great posts in this weeks Tot-School.
looks like a fun week!
ReplyDeletewow snow!
Even though I do not have little ones anymore, I really enjoy coming to see what ya'll are doing in your totschool. Everything looks like so much fun. Great learning going on in your home. :0)
ReplyDeleteI love the Thomas Tot Book. So cute how kids get excited about stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteWe live in Oklahoma, so no snow yet, but I was thinking the other day that I need to hide my son's sandals that are still out from summer. It would be just like him to strap them on when he couldn't wait to play in the snow!