Goose, Goat, Gnat - Gg Gg Gg

~Bug is 26.5 months old~

So much excitement this week as we completed the upgrades to our classroom (see our New Room post)Bug enjoyed the new setup and some of his new Tot Tools. We have previously used bingo markers for dot paint and they always made such a mess. Bug doesn’t like to get his fingers dirty and we have had the do-a-dot markers on the wish list for awhile. However, I found these really awesome paint sticks that are perfect… and even better I found them at the dollar store. So we used our new dot markers a few times with great joy and concentration.

                          

While we rearranged the room Bug found this sorter that has been on the back shelf for a little while. Each piece has a different texture to match to the board. He did really good with most of them and even called out the colors of the ones he knew.

 

The egg carton continues to find its way into Tot School. This week however, Bug finally discovered that each of the eggs has a little face and their bottom has a shape. We worked on matching up the egg to the correct holder and tried to match up some faces. The faces are a little hard, even for mommy. They are so tiny and faint.

Bug really enjoys identification and matching lately so we expanded on this and matched shapes to their blank spots in this nice lapbook. We also played a letter identification game - sort of like bingo - and Bug was able to identify all the letters we have reviewed and then a few more that are part of his name.

                       

MOM's FAVORITE:

This week Bug got to go to a workshop at Lowe's with his Papa. Usually these are reserved for the older grandsons but since they were building the Shrek carriage Bug got to go and share his love for Shrek. Papa showed him how to use the hammer and although I don't believe any nails were actually hit Bug did keep the hammer on the wood pieces. We even brought a kit home for daddy to do with him later on since daddy works most Saturdays.

Next week is actually the official start of our 2012-2013 session. We are looking forward to our new curriculum/schedule and the excitement it brings to watch this little man grow. So until then…

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Loads of fun with the Letter C

~Bug is 25 months old~

Bug was so involved this week and we were able to get several pictures throughout Tot School that I can’t wait to share them. Every week we try to use his letter notebook with printables from 1+1+1=1 and usually we only get a few moments before Bug is ready to move on. Well let me tell you that we went through every page of the Letter C. We formed the letter out of play dough and drew lines connecting uppercase and lowercase letters. Bug enjoyed making lines with the play dough as well.

We had an interesting experience with dot paint. All of Bugs printables are in a notebook inside protective sleeves so that we can use them over and over again. We learned that dot paint and the protective sleeves don’t work so well.  We had success later in the week by removing the page from the binder for him to mark the letters.

 

We had several opportunity's to use the number 3 by counting out snacks and pegs and even cars. Our shape this week was the diamond which was just the right size for Bug to place his pegs inside as we continued our counting fun.

This week we also got to include music time by listening to the musical Cats. We decided that Bug is most like Mungojerrie (very playful and mischievous) and loves to dance to all the fun songs. Art time was fun as we used cars to make Car Art. You can even see some of the tire thread on the painting. This is one he couldn't wait to show to daddy. 

In honor of Fourth of July, our science project consisted of star shaped ice cubes with beans frozen inside. Bug had to use a variety of things to try and melt the ice to get the bean out. Not a lot of pictures here as this one got a little messy. Bug did learn that water seems to make ice melt pretty quickly. 

Mom’s Favorite this week:

We had so much fun this week that it was hard to pic just one favorite picture. So instead I chose two. Bug has been really into making forts (which will be great during the letter F) and he has learned to stack the pillows so that he can get under them. Mommy helped a little to make it more structurally sound. My treasured and rare photo was when Bug got all tuckered out and crawled into my lap and fell asleep. I didn't get much done that afternoon but it was worth it. 

Hoping that we can keep this excitement flowing through next week. So until then…

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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...

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Week 10 - Ducks and Doodles

~Bug is 17 months old~

Letter:      Dd

Theme:      Ducks and doodles

Tot School was back to normal this week with lots of classroom time. Bug loved every minute of it and even tried getting daddy to take him in a few times.

We tried dot painting for the first time and with a little guidance he was able to get the hang of putting the paint on the paper. He did try to taste the paint a few times but thankfully it came right off with a baby wipe. He also tried tracing the letter Dd but wasn’t as interested in using the crayons.

We worked on using his spoon to transfer his pom poms to the ice tray and used his pincer grasp to take them all back out again. His favorite toy this week was his sorter… but he only wanted to play with the green and blue shapes.

Bug enjoyed playing with his Pepsi and pasta box and still continues to try to reach in the holes to pull the pasta back out. We also added a Pringles and pipe cleaner tool to the mix. He pushes the pipe cleaner into the holes in the Pringles lid.

We got to spend some quality time with daddy and went on a roller coaster simulator. He was watching so intently and then I’m not sure what scared him but he quickly covered his eyes and I was lucky enough to catch it on film.

We have a few new things that we are going to try next week as we take on a new letter and some turkey fun.

So until then…

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here