Tot School Tuesdays

Ella's been having lots of fun!! She is 24 months old.
She examined ants with a magnifying glass.










She played with her new sorting stacker (Thanks Auntie Kristie :)

She played with stamps.

She played with number magnets.








She helped mommy bake muffins.

She sorted buttons.

She played with another stacking toy (Thanks Again Auntie Kristie :)

She had a hootin good second birthday!!!












Check out more ideas for Tot School:

Winners, Winners, Winners!!

Thanks to all of the blogs that participated in the BIG Curriculum Clean-Out! Plus a SUPER THANKS to Jolanthe of Homeschool Creations for organizing it :)

The winner of the the Big Book of Sticker Math is comment #5, Cindy!
The winner of Finding Out About Everyday Things is #55, Nicole (of Tired, Need Sleep)! 
The winner of Why Should I Bother to Keep Fit is #4 The Cochran Zoo

I will be emailing you ladies tomorrow for your addresses unless I hear from you first!

 

Fun with Color Tiles

At the beginning of the school year I purchased the Saxon Homeschool Manipulative Kit to go with our math curriculum. We use the manipulatives nearly everyday, even though we only do the Saxon K lessons a few times a week.

I was very excited to see an activity using color tiles on Joyful Learner!
I started to make the cards for the activity and realized that tracing the tiles was super annoying! So, I decided to use the computer instead so that I could share my hard work with you! Here is the link for the tile template. I slid our copy into a page protector so that we can do this activity a few different times. When I'm ready to make more I'm going to try using one of tiles as a stamp! Ryan was good at estimating how many tiles each shape would take. This was a great activity to teach him that an estimation is just that, and you can change your prediction as you work.
As you can see Ella is getting more into 'tot school'. For her I placed red and yellow color tiles in a simple AB pattern. She really enjoyed putting the matching bears onto their spots! I tried to encourage her to work from left to right. She wasn't having it, and that's ok :)

Do you have ideas of other activities to do with our color tiles?

Here are more awesome Math Links from Joyful Learner:

Creating Our Own Spring Sunshine

Ella had her favorite pal, Little A, over today while Ryan was at school. Since it was a rainy spring day we decided to make a sunny scene!

First we colored on paper muffin liners. I tried to encourage them to use light & bright colors- but we ended up with a lot of black and green flowers :) Next  Little A sprayed them with the water bottle. Ella isn't able to trigger the sprayer yet, but Little A was happy to spray them all for us. This has worked better in the past for us with coffee filters- today with the paper liners the water picked up the color and pooled up. So, it was Ella's job to take an uncolored liner and squish it onto the wet one.

After they all dried (with the help of the hair dryer) we used construction paper, popsicle sticks and glue sticks to finish our scenes. Slightly older kids would enjoy cutting the fray for the grass.

They turned out very cute- and Little A was so happy to show her mom her art project!

Color Sorting Game

Forever ago I picked up a bunch of paint samples. I had intended to make a cool word game. I don't have a fancy dancy giant paper punch, so I decided that the game would be too much work for the amount of use it would get. Plus, we have tons of similar stuff.

So, I've had these samples sitting in my to-prep pile. I've seen a bunch of different ideas. After, my discussion on the importance of fine tuning the senses I decided to make a color matching game. I most recently saw it on Crunchy and Green.

I was super excited that it took less than 20 minutes of the oh-so-precious Quiet Time to make! Ryan really likes it, but it is very difficult for him. That's another bonus, because too often the stuff I create for him is too easy- and doesn't get used enough. Plus, learning to work at (and not get too frustrated) with something that is difficult is a very important lesson in itself!

Obviously, to make it easier you could just use a single sheet of each color. Some children may need help with the clothespins, but it is great fine motor practice.

Sunday Sacramento Spotlight!!

** I am writing this to spotlight an awesome store in Sacramento- BUT, if you don't live in the area be sure to check out their website and blog!**

Trailmix.net is a jewel hiding in Old Sacramento! Directly across from the train museum, the large store includes a retail area and a classroom space. They carry tons of great kits by insect lore (like the butterfly one that we've got going on right now), an amazing selection of books for children and adults, dinosaur and fossil excavation kits, tons of great sunscreens and bug sprays, hiking packs, and more! If you are a homeschooling family, they are an approved vendor through several local charter schools. Plus- always a bonus in Old Sac- they validate your parking.

This family owned store has been well thought out! In addition to having an awesome selection of great products they host author discussions and a wide variety of workshops in their classroom area. When they don't have an event going on in the workshop you can choose an activity from their activity menu. The activities range from a $2 Paint-A-Critter to a $20 start a rock collection kit. I'll definitely be taking my own kids in there soon and planning a childrens' outing for our mothers' group. You can become a fan on facebook to stay current on their workshop schedule.

About twice a year my husband and I have the idea of visiting Old Sacramento. But, unless there is an event going on, we are usually disappointed by the redundant candy stores and bars. I was happy to hear that the owners have become active in the different organizations for business owners, and are voicing a need for more educational and family orientated businesses.

On our next trip to Old Sac, we will definitely give Trail Mix's scavenger hunt a whirl. They have created a family friendly adventure that even includes eye spy questions for the little ones! You can return completed scavenger hunts to the store to choose a prize from their giant treasure chest!!


I was amazed at what happens when you cross an educational toy store with an outdoor gear shop for kids! I hope you'll check it out online or in Old Sac!

**I received nothing for writing this post. I just wanted to share a cool resource with fellow Sacramentans :)

Stamping Sight Words & Hidden Sight Words

Here are two more sight word activities that we did this week.

I made a simple template with each of our current focus word in its own box. You can download the template I made here. Ryan enjoyed stamping each word in the corresponding box.
(Yes- his tongue is always out when he's concentrating :)




Today during quiet time I wrote our focus words all over a piece of watercolor paper using a white crayon. Ryan was so surprised to find the hidden words when he started painting!

Tons of Puzzle Fun!

Last week I bought several Mellisa and Doug Chunk Puzzles from a friend who is moving. I  really bought them for Ella, but I can't believe how much use Ryan has gotten out of them this week!
 

• The big chunky pieces are great for tracing! 
• You can practice ordinal numbers...The giraffe was first in line, the zebra was second. You can describe to them how to set the line up. Or set up the line and then ask them questions, such as 'Who is fourth in line?'
• You can put a piece into a bag or container. Without being able to see the piece have your child put their hand in and try and guess which piece they're feeling. They may need some help, such as 'Do you feel legs?" This game may take some practice, but developmentally it's awesome! We have played it before with letter magnets. 
• Teach your child how to play 10 questions. Choose a piece, but don't indicate to your child which piece you have chosen. They get to ask you 10 yes or no questions to try and guess which piece you chose. 
• If your child isn't ready for 10 questions, you can take turns describing a piece while the other person guesses which piece you are describing. Make sure you take turns having your child describe and guess, both are important skills!
• Make a giant tic-tac-toe board and each use pieces from a different puzzle as your markers!
• Act out silly stories that you create with the pieces.
• Of course, just play!

Do you have any other ideas about how we can play with our newest puzzles?

Win- Why Should I Bother to Keep Fit?

We're participating in The BIG Curriculum Clean-Out! The Curriculum Clean-Out, hosted by Homeschool Creations, is a great way to find good books a loving home

 Our third giveaway is for Why Should I Bother to Keep Fit?. This brand new book offers children an approachable source of information on key subjects such as why keeping fit is good for you, how to choose the appropriate exercise regime and how to maintain a healthy day-to-day life.

To enter, leave a comment telling us why you would like to win. 

Additional Entries:
1. For one extra entry become a blog fan on Facebook. (Leave a comment saying you're a fan)
2. For one extra entry Follow with Google Friend Connect (in the right hand column) (Leave a comment saying you're a follower)
3. For an extra entry subscribe via email  (in the right hand column) (Leave a comment saying you subscribe)
4. For an extra entry blog about this giveaway (leave a comment with the link to the post)
5. If you are participating in the Curriculum Clean-Out and are hosting a giveaway, give yourself an extra entry by leaving me a comment with a link to your giveaway post.


Each entry needs it's own comment, and be sure to include a way to contact you.
U.S. Shipping only please. This contest will be open until Wednesday April 21st Midnight PST. I will use Random.org to select the winner and will contact the winner by email and announce the winner here on my blog. You will have 48 hours to reply. I will ship Media Mail.

Win- Finding Out About Everyday Things!

We're participating in The BIG Curriculum Clean-Out! The Curriculum Clean-Out, hosted by Homeschool Creations, is a great way to find good books a loving home

 Our second giveaway is for the Finding Out About Everyday Things . This brand new book explains in simple clear language how everyday things work. There are lots of bright colorful pictures which explain rain, rainbows, the seasons, telephones, televisions, cars, trains, boats and planes and many other topics that will interest the young reader.

To enter, leave a comment telling us why you would like to win. 

Additional Entries:
1. For one extra entry become a blog fan on Facebook. (Leave a comment saying you're a fan)
2. For one extra entry Follow with Google Friend Connect (in the right hand column) (Leave a comment saying you're a follower)
3. For an extra entry subscribe via email  (in the right hand column) (Leave a comment saying you subscribe)
4. For an extra entry blog about this giveaway (leave a comment with the link to the post)
5. If you are participating in the Curriculum Clean-Out and are hosting a giveaway, give yourself an extra entry by leaving me a comment with a link to your giveaway post.


Each entry needs it's own comment, and be sure to include a way to contact you.
U.S. Shipping only please. This contest will be open until Wednesday April 21st Midnight PST. I will use Random.org to select the winner and will contact the winner by email and announce the winner here on my blog. You will have 48 hours to reply. I will ship Media Mail.

The BIG Curriculum Clean-Out!

We're participating in The BIG Curriculum Clean-Out! The Curriculum Clean-Out, hosted by Homeschool Creations, is a great way to find good books a loving home

 Our first giveaway is for the Big Book of Sticker Math . This brand new book is a fun way to practice math for kids in first through third grade.

To enter, leave a comment telling us why you would like to win. 

Additional Entries:
1. For one extra entry become a blog fan on Facebook. (Leave a comment saying you're a fan)
2. For one extra entry Follow with Google Friend Connect (in the right hand column) (Leave a comment saying you're a follower)
3. For an extra entry subscribe via email  (in the right hand column) (Leave a comment saying you subscribe)
4. For an extra entry blog about this giveaway (leave a comment with the link to the post)
5. If you are participating in the Curriculum Clean-Out and are hosting a giveaway, give yourself an extra entry by leaving me a comment with a link to your giveaway post.


Each entry needs it's own comment, and be sure to include a way to contact you.
U.S. Shipping only please. This contest will be open until Wednesday April 21st Midnight PST. I will use Random.org to select the winner and will contact the winner by email and announce the winner here on my blog. You will have 48 hours to reply. I will ship Media Mail.

Our Week with Sight Words...

As I mentioned, we are doing lots of sight word activities! Here are a few we did this week:

We've been doing TONS with HeidiSongs!
Look for a full review of her products and a GIVEAWAY next week!

At the beginning of the week I put a list of sight words on the kitchen easel. They included: the, is, and, me, you, go, he, my, she, was. I had no idea how long it would take us to master these ten words, but I had to pick a starting point! Throughout the week we focused on these words. When we were in the kitchen I would ask Ryan to try to read the list; I most frequently presented it as 'Hey, do you know any of those words?' He took it more as a fun challenge than a rote task. When he mastered a word (which we measured by him being able to read it several different times in a day, find it in a book, and spell the word out loud) he got to circle it. For some reason, Ryan LOVED this process!

I made a set of cards by writing each word on 5 cards. We played a bunch of different games with our cards.

• Sight Word Slap-Deal the entire deck out to the players. Take turns flipping your cards onto a pile. Be sure to read the words as you flip them! If the word added to the pile matches the word already on top, it's a race to slap the pile. The first person to slap the pile takes the cards and adds them to the bottom of their own pile. The last player to still have cards remaining is the winner!
• Go Fish- Yup, just the classic game with sight words!
  
• Bean Bag Toss- We spread some of the cards on the floor, stood back and tried to toss a beanbag to land on the words!
• Hide & Seek- We took turns hiding cards around the house and finding them.
• Race to Find- Sitting in front of a bookshelf, we picked a card from the pile and then each grabbed a book and tried to be the first to find the word! Players kept the card for any race they won and we counted them at the end.
  

The goal of all of these games was to familiarize Ryan with the words and help him to recognize them. As we master these words,  I'll  add new words. As we tire of these games we'll move on to making these words on our own (spelling & writing)- in fun ways of course!

The Winner Is...

Congratulations to Jenn (comment #15)! She chose the Blue and Brown Hearts Knot Dress!
Stay tuned for more great giveaways!!

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