F is for Feet and Flowers

~Bug is 26.5 months old~

F is for feet and flowers and since we incorporated that into an art project for Bug’s grandmothers we had to wait until we knew they both received theirs before we posted this week’s blog. Bug had fun getting his foot inked to make a footprint and enjoyed adding the flowers to the image. Although I think his favorite part was being allowed to cut out the letter F. No pictures of that part as he is still learning to cut and this mommy wasn’t ready to let him go it alone.

This week we worked on our number review and to my surprise Bug even identified 8 & 9 which we haven't even discussed yet. We also worked on size sorting which was a little bit challenging with these nesting bowls since the sizes are so close. He was able to get the hang of it pretty quickly.

In keeping with our letter theme we spent some time coloring our stand up frog. I was able to pick up a variety of these at Joann's Crafts right after Christmas so you will get to see his collection of animals throughout the year.

I was able to do a quick capture of Bug already reading his devotion book before we actually got started for the morning. Sometime's he is a little more eager to get going than mommy is getting everything ready. Although Bug is still a little young for an actual routine when we first enter the classroom in the morning we do our calendar time and review the letter of the week. Then we have a short devotion and prayer. I was very pleased to see that on this particular day Bug picked up the routine all on his own. He did however manage to lose the letter F somewhere.

Bug was introduced to discovery bottles this week and really enjoyed looking at them. We created a rain bottle which, as you can see below is the one he continues to play with on a regular basis. We also created a sink and float bottle, a magnetic bottle, and a butterfly flying bottle.

Another first was the introduction of the tantagram. Bug has been playing with the idea of the tantagram using an app on our phones. He can go directly to the app and laughs as soon as it tells him he is done and what the animal is that he created.  Totally unplanned is the fact that this tantagram was a fish. Another F :)

We continue to read Dr. Seus's ABC book. He loves to look at the letters in the back of the book and identify the ones that he knows already.

We took some time rearranging the classroom this week as we prepare for the 2012 - 2013 school year. No worries we will continue on with Tot School as we currently do there will just be the addition of some really cool things. As our little Bug grows so does his mind and we have to do whatever we can to encourage his learning.

Mom's Favorite:
In a country where there are so many experiencing a drought, Florida continues to have major afternoon storms. However, we did get the opportunity to go to the park and little man proved that he is no longer my little baby. Here he is climbing the rock wall on the side of the park that is supposed to be five and up.

We can't wait to get started on our new curriculum and to be able to share it with all of you.  So until then…

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Week 16 - Introducing Tot Trays

~Bug is 19 months old~

Happy New Year! This is our first week back since before Christmas and it was lots of fun. We finally introduced the Tot Tray concept and it went over pretty well. Bug was not overwhelmed with all of his Tot School toys being on the same shelf and actually helped pick some up before moving on to the next tray.

                                                                      

So here are this week’s Tot Trays:

            Top left            Color Sorting
            Top Middle       Using tongs with pom poms
            Top Right        Stacker Pegs
            Bottom Left      Nesting Bowls
            Bottom Middle Dot Painting
            Bottom Right  Shape Sorting Cube

The most exciting thing for me was the stacker pegs. I’ve wanted to add these to our collection for a while and Bug got them for Christmas. The look on his face was priceless as he discovered that he could stand them up in the holes and then pull them back out again. He did this several times just laughing the whole time.

Bug loves playing with his shape sorters. He has gotten really good with the squares and circles but still needs a little work with the stars and other odd shapes. One of his Christmas gifts was this little work bench that he can hammer shapes through. He prefers to just push them instead of using the hammer.

  

Dot painting was another big hit. He loves making marks on the paper. It make take a little longer before he gets the dots where they are supposed to be (mom did the ones you see) but he seems more eager to work on the paper now instead of just making colors.

Bug always has access to his Leapfrog doghouse and has taken a liking to the letter L. He wants everyone to see him put the letter into the doghouse and will push the button and then laugh along as it tells him about the letter.

My favorite image from our time off is this one where Bug is running away from daddy as if he will never be caught.

 Excited about what next week holds. So until then...

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Week 13 and Week 14 - Wow

~Bug is 18 months old~

Letter:      Pp

Week 13-14 has been combined due to the shortness of both weeks. Week 13 was short due to our vacation to Disney World which was really nice and week 14 was shortened due to the unexpected arrival of Bugs new cousin.

We finally picked up a cookie sheet for Bug to play with his Leapfrog doghouse letters somewhere other than the kitchen. He loves that he can stick the letters to something other than the fridge.

Bug can now sort his eggs almost all the correct way. He still doesn’t understand that the faces are different but he now knows that each egg has its own place in the carton.

We did get in a little work on the letter P. He likes it when I help him trace but still prefers to color with the bottom of the crayon. We are hoping to get some Dry Erase markers for Christmas.

Thankfully Bug really likes for us to read to him but he also likes to read to himself. With all the shuffling back and forth he was content with reading in his car seat to help pass the time.

These colored shapes that I picked up at the Dollar Store have really gotten their money’s worth. Bug plays with these multiple times a day. Although we haven’t really gone over the color yellow (officially) that seems to be the color that he always wants. We are working on saying the colors as he takes them out of the bag but yellow is still a little difficult.

Another Bug favorite is his cube sorter. He concentrates really hard as this toy actually has similar holes but each shape only fits into one hole. He will take a shape and work diligently until he makes it fit the correct one.

With all the craziness of the last two weeks we decided he needed some play time and took him to an indoor play area at the mall. He loved climbing on all the toys and gabbing with the other kids.

Looking forward to a slow week coming up. So until then…

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Week 11 - Happy Thoughts

~Bug is 17.5 months old~

Letter:      Hh

Theme:      Happy Thoughts

This week we talked about feelings and happy thoughts. This came about after a few tantrums and our Tot School toys being thrown around the room.

We introduced a few new things this week… the first was sidewalk chalk. Bug loved drawing on the ground and showing me the different colors. We even did a drawing of his body lying on the ground. This was a little challenging considering his furry siblings kept trying to lick him while he was laying there.

With daddy’s birthday coming up the next thing we introduced was some homemade finger paint. At first he carefully dipped his fingers in, unsure of what he would find. I showed him how to put the colors on the paper and then he was off. It didn’t take long before curiosity overcame him and in his mouth the finger paint went. Thank goodness for the homemade recipe.

We worked more on shape sorting and he is getting much better at figuring which shape goes into which hole. We have a few of these toys and sometimes the shape he has doesn’t go with the toy he is using. But that doesn’t stop him from making it fit.

Bug is getting better with his sensory bin. Although we didn’t have any turkeys to add to it, he did pick out the leaves and rocks and left the ghosts.

He spent a lot of time on his laptop this week. He prefers to use the Spanish numbers which counts to nine with his favorite being the 8—oco is what he says.

Next week is Thanksgiving and will be a short week with so much to be thankful for in our family.

So until then…

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here