1+1+1=1

Blog Hop ~ 3 Things About Me

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:00:00 +0000

This week's Blog Hop theme is "3 Things you Didn't Know About Me." Since I have readers who know me pretty well they may know these things, but those of you who don't know me well, will probably learn something new!

I met my husband after a year of one of my best friends trying to introduce us (I refused, cuz I was independent and didn't want to meet a new guy). We were engaged 6 weeks later, and married 11 months from the day we met! It is the best quick decision I have ever made!!!
When I was 9 1/2 weeks pregnant with Pac Man, I had what seemed like a miscarriage, even the doctors thought I had a miscarriage. We did the ultrasound just to see what was left. Our mouths all dropped when we saw his beating heart!!! It was one of the best moments of my life, I will never forget it. In the end, they thought I may have miscarried an undeveloped twin.
When I first started to homeschool Pac Man, it was out of necessity (the schools are horrible where we serve as missionaries), and it was a struggle for me. I constantly thought how much easier my days would be if I could send him to school. I knew God had called us to homeschooling (for various reasons), but I was resisting it in my selfishness. Many now would find it hard to believe how much I resisted my calling to homeschool, as I have embraced it to the fullest now. Homeschooling is just another example of the fact that God's plan is always better than mine!!!

1000 Subscribers Celebration Details!

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:05:00 +0000

Oh my word, that little subscriber number climbed much faster than I thought it would! I thought I had at least a few weeks, but here we are at 1015 today! WOW!

Before we begin celebrating, I want to share some general details about this upcoming CELEBRATION!!! We are not beginning now as I am heading out of town soon, but I promise it will be soon!!!

First, I am NOT doing this celebration to grow my blog at all, I AM doing it to celebrate YOU, my regular readers! I will not be asking you to place my celebration button on your blog, or asking you to spread the word about it at all....and actually I don't want you to! I don't really want people coming over here JUST for the giveaways, because I really, REALLY want one of YOU to win each one! If new people learn about my blog through this, that's wonderful, I welcome all--I just want you (my readers NOW), to know that the whole purpose of this is for YOU! I am doing this to honor you and thank you for being a part of my journey as a mom, woman, teacher, and friend.

Here's the rules, since we gotta have them for something like this...

You may enter as many giveaways as you want, even if you are my really good blogging friend. My In-Real-Life friends are not eligible to win, just to be fair-sorry guys.
You can only win ONE give away, that way we can share the love. When I do the drawings (via random.org) you will win whichever one I happen to draw your name for first. If it chooses you to win another one, I will select another winner, and honestly you'll never even know-I just wanted to be clear about that!
I am ONLY giving away products I truly love and I promise all of my reviews are 100% honest, and always will be-just like anything else on this blog or any of my blogs.
There will be entirely different ways to earn extra entries on each post-you'll have to read the fine print at the bottom of each giveaway. Don't accidentally assume they are all the same-they are NOT! You must leave a comment for each valid entry and state in the comment what it is for.
I will be moderating comment entries, so that means your entry won't post right away, you can check back later, I will do my best to publish comments asap. I will be checking for valid entries-PLEASE be honest, so it doesn't make more work for me...please. I'd like to continue to host a giveaway here and there but if it becomes too much work, I certainly can't justify my time being spent on that. If this goes well-I will definitely do more!
Some of the products were sent to me free of charge, for us to review and keep. Some of the products I already owned personally. I will state this in each review post just in case you are wondering at all.
All products for the winners were generously donated by the companies listed as sponsors, I did not purchase the winning items nor will I be shipping them to the winner. I can't thank our sponsors enough for partnering with me and sharing their great products with us. We will be giving away something wonderful from each of these fabulous companies....

I am un-officially closed for additional sponsors, however if a great company gets back to me, I will certainly add them to the list if I think you would love their giveaway!!! You can check back here to this post, or on the right sidebar to see if any new sponsors have been added. We'll begin soon, make sure you are a subscriber so you don't miss it when we start!

Tot School

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +0000

~Krash is currently 38 months old~

Learning Tots/Trays...

I gave K little sports ball erasers (5) and 5 small bowls, with number cards 1-5. This helps with counting 1:1 (touching and counting). He did well, but we are still working on this!

He enjoyed matching the small monkey head erasers, I gave him 2 of each color in the bucket. He tweezed them out and put the matching ones together in the little bowls. He loved this!!!

I loved this tray, he did not even want to touch it :(. It was matching the different tactile fabric squares. Sometimes my favorite things are his least favorite-that's the way Tot School is sometimes, oh well.

He had a blast with his Lacing Beads, making sure every single one of them was on the string...
He worked with his shapes learning wheel...

ABCs...

We added a few new items to our ABC learning stash, like these great stacking blocks from Brainy Baby...
I made a tray that includes the letters we have worked on this far (we're up to Ll now), from this set, and also added our new Brainy Baby ABC flashcards. I will keep adding new letters for us to work with and play with on this tray...
Here's my prep box, where I try to keep the new letters before we do our art project, so I have the new tools ready to add right away...
This week, we made simple Kk kites....
and "Larry Licking Lollipops" for the letter Ll...this one was a big hit with both of my boys, they each drew on paper and I cute the circles out for the lollipops.

Life School...

Fun in the sun on our back deck...

We have a mission team here serving this week from our home church down south. The team is made up of some of our very best friends (and their children), so we are hanging out with them a bunch. Krash is getting tons of life school through this opportunity-it's wonderful! Here he is at "devotion" time. You can see he's really into devoting ;).

Mommy's Favorite...

This is a shot I took of K enjoying his swimming lesson, he was so happy the entire time. What a joy it is to see your child enjoy something so thoroughly!!!!

Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
Read more about Tot Trays here
Visit Totally Tots!!!
Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
Tools for Tots HERE

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you've never read this: Go HERE 1st for more details- please do!!! Then if you have any ideas you'd like to share, link up your exact post to MckLinky (if you have questions about how to do that, let me know in a comment or email-links to homepages will automatically be deleted).

When you add your name(blog name) to MckLinky will you put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (36 mos)? I think this will help new readers a lot as they look for ideas for their specific aged tot!

So sorry for the linky trouble.. MckLinky had a problem with just 3 people's lists on Saturday night and I just happened to be one of them. I don't have time to mess with it any longer, and Brent from MckLinky has been wonderful, but I don't want him to bother with it any longer either! So here's a Mr. Linky for this week, and I am sorry to those of you who had already entered links. Please relink if you come back to visit!!!!

UGH-we are just doomed to no linky this week, I now have no idea where Mr Linky went. I am so sorry for all of this. Next week you can link up both weeks if you'd like to (or leave links in comments and visit from there), I am done messing with this week...so sorry!

Tools for Tots

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Sorry it has been SO long since I have added a new tool!!! Mr Linky also gave me trouble, so that's why he disappeared on all old posts. I have since switched to MckLinky, so even though I don't have a new tool to share, you can add yours below here until I get another new one up!!! Thanks to those of you who have reminded me about this!!!

Would you like to share a Tool for Tots? Write up a post about a tool you made, be sure to include what is needed and also a photo(s). It doesn't have to be a tool you thought of on your own, if you got the idea from another website/blog, link to give them credit! Some of the best Tools for Tots are simple ideas that have been around for many years! Just be sure to post photos of the one you actually made!

Copy the link to your EXACT post (not your homepage) and leave your link below. If you'd like to add the graphic to your blog, copy and paste the html code for the graphic over on the right sidebar! Be sure to link back here somehow so we can share all of our ideas together!

Thanks for sharing your great ideas! I have made the new page on my site, where I have links for all of the tools shared! I will post a MckLinky underneath each time I post a new tool, if you have a tool, just link up to the most current post.

Behind the Scenes ~ Moms on the Web

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:00:00 +0000

I am an online Momma-in case you have failed to notice! I spend a large part of my free time purposefully online. I am not a random web surfer, I am always online with a purpose and pray that God will always keep my focus in this area.

Being online a lot takes up much time, and even though I enjoy it, I need to be sure I am as streamlined as possible to make the most out of every online minute! With this goal in mind, I will share some tricks I have learned and welcome you to share any tricks you have in the comments!

#1 Switch to Firefox!

Why did it take me so long to do this? Honestly I just never took the time to learn about it. I switched awhile back and got frustrated and then switched back to IE. After the recent problems between Blogger and IE, and blogs shutting down, I finally decided to give FF a try again and I am SOOOOO glad I did!

Here's Why I love Firefox (so far)...

Ad Ons...they are amazing, if you get the right ones and use them the right way-wow, is all I can say! Here are my favorite so far...
TwitterFox
Shareaholic...works with Evernote too, which I shared about here. You can also re-tweet blog posts with this too with one click!
Feedly...the new way I am reading blogs now/it is merged with my Google Reader
Facebook Toolbar...if you use Facebook, you'll LOVE this!
Autopager...no more clicking to the next page, it auto-appears right below the one you're on!!!
Smoothwheel
SPELL CHECK...yes my friends, spell check is everywhere with Firefox!!! This way I don't look like such a moron leaving comments for people-since I misspell everything and often overlook it. Firefox even has spell check for that-automatically!
BLOGGING...blogging in Blogger with Firefox is so much better. I no longer have unwanted spaces between paragraphs, no longer need to go in and edit html to make things look right, drafts come back up looking the same as I left them instead of a million unwanted spaces. It is awesome.

#2 Join Twitter!

Why you ask? Because it's fun and easy...if you have Firefox! With the Twitterfox widget, tweets show up automatically in a pop up balloon in your bottom right hand corner-you can easily keep up with people you are following without ever having to even leave the page you're on!
Give it a try--follow me and see!

Under each of my posts there's now a lovely little blue birdy. For those of you not familiar with Twitter you were probably wondering what he was doing there, huh? If you click him, it will automatically send you to Twitter to "re-tweet" my post. Why? If you like what you read and want to share it with others! I often re-tweet posts I am reading online as a way to get the word out about great blog posts and as a way to spread the word about bloggers I am liking!
I also use Twitpic, and share photos that way. They show up as tweets if you follow me, in case you want to take a peek into my day that way! I am not a big Tweeter, but I do like to use it!
EDITED to add: be sure to set your profile to private if you don't want to deal with *unwanted followers*. I keep mine open and just block them, but if this is a concern for you that you don't want to deal with, you can adjust your settings. See my comment about this too, sorry I forgot to mention this drawback of Twitter when I first posted!

#3 Follow Blogs in a streamlined way...
Choose from one of the following (or any similar ways)

Bloglines, Google Reader, etc. If you don't know what RSS is and why it is valuable to you, go here to learn more and jump on board!
Feedly (the awesome Firefox Ad-On)
Twitter...many bloggers (including me) tweet their blog posts so you can see when I have posted on any of my 3 blogs. That way you don't have to check in at all 3 just to find out they weren't updated!
Email subscriptions...many bloggers, including myself offer this as an option now. It saves you time by only going to a blog when there is a new post-or just reading it in your email.

#4 Use iGoogle (or something similar)...

iGoogle is my homepage and shows me my main online items all in one place. Here is a screen shot of my iGoogle page...
The widgets I use are: Bookmarks (top left box): I keep my top visited places on the web there for easiest and fastest access, Google Calendar (middle), Google Reader (top left): GR is *connected* to Feedly so they both show the same blogs, I can read either place, Weather (bottom left), Gmail (bottom right). I keep mine very simple, but here are MANY other widgets you can add to customize yours.

Here's a closer look at how Google Reader/Feedly work, I created the blog categories in my Feedly and they show up like this in my Google Reader on my iGoogle page:I live by my Google Calendar...
It is color coded (Personal, husband's calendar, bdays/anniversaries, each blog has it's own color, coupons expiring, bills, etc.) The best part is, you can turn *off* each color coded section by clicking the little box over there on the left where they are listed. You can also print based on how you have it clicked on or off. For example, I have a blog only calendar printed, which I keep attached to my Daily Docket, I turned off the personal stuff before I printed it, so it just shows my blogs.

iGoogle is great also because you can access it anywhere, from any computer...so you always have your calendar, your top bookmarks, your gmail, your blogs, etc.

Finally, one way we can all make each other's lives easier (if you like to communicate through blogs), is to do this (my post about enabling your email in your blog account). Pretty Please?

If you have any great online tips, leave them in the comments below-that's how I learned about Evernote awhile back-from a great reader who shared about it in a comment!!!

Blown Away

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:47:00 +0000

I am often left speechless by comments, emails and general support from people I have never met in real life. Blogging will do that to you. I never knew that when I began, but have since learned what a blessing it is and that so many of you are truly friends and an incredible part of my life. I sit in awe of an amazing God who just knows how to bring the right people together online at the perfect time (some of you know exactly what I mean, don't you?).

One of those speechless moments happened this morning when I read this on my blogging friend Tara's blog. You may know Tara as the creator of the amazing Itty Bitty Bookworm Curriulum, I know her as an online buddy, who I have gotten to know via email, and might even get to meet in real life soon!

I am actually reviewing her wonderful curriculum right now for our upcoming 1000 Subscriber Celebration and I am VERY impressed with it. Stay tuned for more thoughts on that! In a nutshell, I think it's great!

Tara is generously donating 10% of all sales between now and August 3, 2009 to go towards the purchase of the Redemption House!!!!

Click the image below to see what she has to offer for your tot or preschooler!!!

Thank You Tara!!!!!!

MckLinky Blog Hop ~ Favorite Photo

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:03:00 +0000

This week's Blog Hop is to share your favorite photo, and I shared one of them last week to introduce myself to new readers, but this week I am going to share my recent favorite (it's just too hard to pick my all time fav)...That's my husband and Krash just a few days before Ladybug was born. Thus the beard on my sweet husband's face ;). I didn't think I got any good shots this day, and then I loaded them up and found this! I LOVE how K's faces is *kissing* Daddy as Daddy kisses him. It's been my screensaver since that day and still is!

Distracted

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:57:00 +0000

I guess it's next to impossible to stay focused when you have this looking up and cooing at you...

Ministry Life

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Most of you know that we (my family) are missionaries in the inner city. If you didn't, now you do!!

My wonderful husband works with recovering addicts, and heads up the entire recovery ministry at the church where we serve. Recently we acquired a property through a sheriff sale to be used as transitional housing for men who are in the pre and post stages of their recovery journey. They would live here while going through their initial detox before they enter a program, then they could come back here when they graduate from their program-to live until they get a job and secure their own place to live. We hope this house, The Redemption House will be a place that will lead many to Christ and sobriety.

We have launched a campaign to raise $40,000 to pay for the house in FULL by the August 3, 2009! If you are interested in being a part of this process, by donating any amount, large or small, will you email me or leave me a comment with your email address (either enabled via blogger or written in the comment). I will then send you a link to our personal ministry site where you can see the detailed information and read more about the house, and future ministry.

If donating isn't something you can offer, will you please pray that the money will come in, and that the future of this house rests in the Lord's hands? There are so many details to be worked out that don't even concern the initial $40,000...we need this house covered in prayer in so many ways!

Thank you for being a wonderful group of people I can reach out to, my husband always thinks it is so cool that I have a ton of Christian friends I have never even met! We will never forget when so many of you covered him in prayer while he battled cancer. When we began talking about how to get the word out about this new house and ministry he immediately asked me if I could reach out to you all about it, he KNEW so many of you would join us in prayer!!! It means the world to both of us, thank you.

Tot School ~ Summer Time!

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:14:00 +0000

~Krash is currently 37.5 months old~

I am loving my family! We have had the best weekend just hanging out together!!! We've really had a fun week overall. As I strive to truly enjoy the moments, I don't always run to grab my camera, but I do go around the house at the end of the week and try to photograph the things we did for Tot School. Pictures are great, and I believe they really help share ideas, however if I ever become more concerned about my camera, I am not being truly there with Krash. Most of the learning photos you'll see (which there aren't too many) are missing their star ;).

Learning Toys...

We LOVE our Stacker Pegs and Pegboard...K had fun pounding the correct colors on our Silly Golfgame...

ABCs...

Jellyfish Jj...I made this one up for us (although I am sure someone has done this somewhere online). K really liked this project!
We continue to add to our pipe cleaner set, each time we do a new letter. For those of you wondering, I use a hot glue gun to attach the letters to the little cards. (I got the cards at a teacher supply store, I can't find them online but I will update if I do!!).
We also add in the upper and lower case bean bag letter and play with them. This week we threw them into the box while calling out the correct letter. (my mom makes these, you can buy Alphabet Bean Bags here, they are a wonderful addition to Tot School).

Favorite Books of the week...

I thought I would try to take a picture of the *most requested* books from the week...

Life School...

TONS of backyard fun on Friday and Saturday, it was wonderful!!!!!

Fireworks with Daddy...out till midnight-WOW!!!

Mommy's Favorites...

These are from K's 3 year old portraits, my 2 favorites...
He was trying to be like big brother in this shot, I LOVE it!!!
Here's the rest (and the other kiddos) and this is my Bday gift I made for myself!!!!!

Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
Read more about Tot Trays here
Visit Totally Tots!!!
Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
Tools for Tots HERE

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

MckLinky Blog Hop...

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:08:00 +0000

Welcome to anyone new to my blog through the Blog Hop!!! You can go here to read my welcome post to learn what my blog is all about!!! My new favorite photo is above, it's my first with all 3 of my kiddos!!!!

Curriculum Choice

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:51:00 +0000

There a great site out there, written by many fabulous moms. I know many of you are in the decision making phase of choices for next year's curriculum. In case you haven't seen this great blog yet, go check it out!!

And not that it really matters, but isn't the design just SO cute? I love it!!! ;) I am a sucker for cute blog designs.

MckLinky

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:33:00 +0000

As many of you know, I (and others) have had trouble with the linky service I use now. It is fixed, however I recently learned about a great new “linky” service available and I wanted to let you know about it. It’s called MckLinky – www.mcklinky.com. After realizing the need for a new, reliable linky capability, Brent Riggs and MckMama got together to create a free, easy to use linky service for all their blog friends. (Most of you know MckMama from My Charming Kids)

They are adding cool new features to MckLinky down the road, which is why I am pretty sure I will switch over my linking needs to MckLinky. Stay tuned!!!

Tot School

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:15:00 +0000

~Krash is currently 37.5 months old~

Learning Toys/Trays...

I snagged some paint things from HD, 2 of each one, and then matched colored clothespins and clips to them. He clipped them together by color. K really liked this and we did it several times last week. Next I will cut them up and have him match the shades.
I got out a lovely Christmas serving tray for sorting bottle tops. I gathered random tops (we save all of our tops to use for stuff like this) of certain colors and K sorted them...
Then he practiced dropping them back into the big Parmesan cheese container...

ABC Fun...

Glittery-Gold-and-Green Ggs...
I had him spread a glue stick all over the paper and then we sprinkled the glitter on it...

Insects on our Ii...

This is how we are hanging our letters for now, it is right by our kitchen table, so often he is practicing his letters while eating, or telling us about what he made-I never realized that where I hung his work would actually be a great teaching tool!!!
We continue to add to his pipe cleaner letters and his Magnetic Wooden Alphabetas we do another letter.

Physical Fun...

K shocked us all by getting to level 5 on this Wii Fit balance game...MANY times. I am just in awe with his self control and balance on this game...
He is just precious running, he often gets going so fast his Mii falls over and tumbles, and of course he thinks it's hilarious!!!

Life School...

We had our great friends over for dinner and this is always Life School for Krash as he learns to get along with his friends :)

Mommy's Favorites...

Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
Read more about Tot Trays here
Visit Totally Tots!!!
Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
Tools for Tots HERE

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you've never read this: Go HERE 1st for more details- please do!!! Then if you have any ideas you'd like to share, link up your exact post to Mr Linky (if you have questions about how to do that, let me know in a comment or email-links to homepages will automatically be deleted).

When you add your name(blog name) to Mr. Linky will you put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (36 mos)? I think this will help new readers a lot as they look for ideas for their specific aged tot!

If you are unsure of how to add your direct link to Mr Linky-I added a tutorial with photos here, scroll down to see it!

B is back

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:50:00 +0000

Anyone remember this?

Well, "B" is back...and a little bit dead, but that's OK we got to look up close and stuff!!! We're cool homeschoolers like that!!!P's love for B and all of his bee friends hasn't changed one bit since last year!!!!

Behind the Scenes ~ Where do I Begin?

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:00:00 +0000

I get this question a lot, the one from a mom trying to do the best for her tot, but feeling a tad bit overwhelmed when she stumbles upon my site and others geared towards educating tots at home. Thankful for the info, but still overwhelmed. This particular mom put it nicely...

"I just feel like a tiny ant with a huge mountain of information and ideas dumped on top of me!!"

This post is for her and any others who feel that way...hopefully to help you navigate through the mountain of ideas dumped before you!!!

The mountain IS big, but that doesn't mean you need to climb to the top right now, hanging out at the bottom with a few good ideas is just fine...slowly climbing as you feel less overwhelmed.

I too feel overwhelmed sometimes and honestly when the idea of Tot School first hit me, I overwhelmed myself, trying to put my thoughts all in order. Sure I had the early childhood education, I knew the right and wrong ways to teach a young child, but I was still a mom with a tot-trying to do my best for him.

First things first, if you are new to my site or to Tot School, please know that I am not perfect. My long time readers are aware of that fact and have often comforted me through my "I'm such a bad Mommy" times. I am not a bad mommy, and I am not a perfect mommy, I am mommy-just like you. My blog may make it appear that things like Tot School run perfectly in our house-but let me assure you-we have most if not all of the same stumbling blocks that you do.

Go here and read this post if you have never seen it. It gives a minute by minute account of a Tot School hour in our house. Krash was 27 months old when I wrote it and as you will see he was screaming in protest within the first 5 minutes!!!

After you see that, then go here and read through my Tot School FAQ page. Be sure to read the part about my beliefs on educating young children. I am certainly not claiming my way is the right way but it is good for you to know what I believe. These beliefs are what guide my decisions for every Tot School decision I make.

Now that you've read both of those, let's talk about what YOU are going to do to get going with Tot School at your house. Here's a few recommendations for you, that can hopefully help you climb that mountain slowly and feel more confident as a teacher-mom.

Make a List! Get a note pad and a pen and go around your house and find every toy that you already own that could be used for exposing early learning skills (this will be most toys if you think hard enough!). What skills you ask? Go here to this post to see the checklists I provide to give you some ideas. None of these skills are skills a tot HAS to learn, they are just skills to be exposed-key word-EXPOSED. Do not feel you need to teach your tot-you really are just playing with a purpose!
Now, go here and look through my Tot School Tools list (scroll to the bottom to see the big list) and see if you already own any of these and forgot to list them, and if there are a few that really stand out to you-write a list of your "I hope to own" tools. But don't go buying anything yet unless you have gobs of money to spare. You can also go here to see my Behind the Scenes post on storing our Tot School Tools, to see more ideas of toys that can be tools, and answers to some other common Tot School questions.
In order to keep things simple, let's stop here. Look at the first list you made and select 5 toys you think your tot would enjoy playing with-WITH you. Try to choose things s/he hasn't played with in awhile or ever...to peak his/her interest. For example's sake let's say you choose these...

Here's what I would do to purposefully play with my tot...

Sit on the floor with him.
Show him the blocks. If he dives right in, let him and just sit back and watch him explore without teaching anything or even saying much. (If he doesn't dive right in but just waits for you, begin stacking or lining them...inviting him to join you.)
After he has explored on his own for a bit, join in with him, by doing whatever it was that he was doing (stacking, scattering, lining them up, etc.) Start using purposeful language as you play..." Look at this pretty PURPLE block," "oooh I see an A on this one," I am putting the RED one on top of the BLUE one." Just your simple phrases are teaching your tot SO much.
Now try to show your tot how to do something different with the blocks. If he was stacking, why don't you try lining. If he is resistant to you, try lining them up next to him while he still stacks. Then just invite him to join you.
Add something else into your play-maybe a toy car to drive along the line of blocks you made.
Maybe get an empty laundry basket and toss the blocks into the basket.
Hide some blocks around the room and go find them, announcing the color each time he finds one.
The opportunities are endless with just this one toy.... this is why I said you don't need to go buy new toys-you just need to think deeper and use the ones you already have!!!
Here's the kicker to this whole process, especially if your tot is on the younger end. STOP when he loses interest. You can try to re-engage with a new addition (like the basket or the little car). But when he's done-he's done. Let him wander off, and be done. Forcing Tot School (purposeful play with your tot) on him isn't going to do either of you any good.

Each day, try to purposefully play with your tot like this-using the same toys if s/he really loves them, or bringing out something different each day. If something doesn't work, have a back up ready to go. That's why I said to have 5 in mind when you begin. It is frustrating when your great tot school ideas are rejected by your tot-but don't let the frustration last for long! Just try another toy and keep playing!

Now, for a bit more of the Tot School mountain....

I recommend going to my most recent Tot School posts and glancing through the list of moms linked up. They are all putting the ages of their tot(s) in ( ) now. Find a few blogs that show tots that are within a couple of months of the age of your tot. Visit their blogs and glance through some of their recent Tot School posts. You don't even have to read them, just glance at the photos-I promise you'll be filled with ideas in just a few minutes! If you like a blog, be sure to add it to your blog reader. If you don't know what a blog reader is, go here to read that post.
Please remember that ALL TOTS ARE DIFFERENT, even if the ages are similar. Not everything that works for one will work for another. Don't let that frustrate you!!!
If you have your own blog, start recording your Tot School adventures and start linking up. More about that can be found here!

As you slowly climb the mountain, begin exploring the following ideas as you feel less overwhelmed. Don't try to do this all at once, your tot just needs YOU. Each new thing you add is just a bonus.

Tot Trays
Tools for Tots-home made tools for your tot.
Tot Books-mini-lapbooks for tots who are ready
Now I Know my ABCs-weekly ideas from Totally Tots to help expose your tot to the alphabet.
Once Upon a Book-monthly themes with a new book each week and ideas for your tot.
In My Heart-ideas for teaching memory verses to your tot.
Terrific Tot Sites-find tot-friendly websites reviewed on Totally Tots.

If your tot is almost 3 or over 3, you might want to read this-which is my post about transitioning from Tot School into Pre K.

In summary-in case you now feel even more overwhelmed after reading all of that...here's the basics...

make a list of tot school tools you already own
choose 5 to purposefully play with, with your tot
sit and play with your tot, exposing early learning skills
find other moms online who have tots the same age as yours
expand slowly to include more ideas into your Tot School
remember that your tot needs YOU, not stuff...give your tot purposeful play time with you each day...that's Tot School!

Have fun!

Wanna Meet My Real Friends?

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:23:00 +0000

My real life friend Cyndie from down south is one of the few who is also a blogging friend. She writes a blog called Always Talking and she has been at a recent loss for words ;). She has a neat post up, inviting questions for her. One specific area she knows a lot about is bi-racial adoption, as they have a gorgeous baby daughter who they adopted! If you read nothing else on her blog, be sure to read her amazing adoption story here...I get chills and tears still and I have read it before and know the story!!! It is truly beautiful how their precious Elle ended up in their family!

If you'd like to get to know one of my real-life friends, jump on over and give her blog a visit and then ask her something!

ALSO, you can "meet" more of my real life friends if you enter and win her give away!!!! She is giving away a copy of the WONDERFUL book, Hope's Wish (which I own and have read). It is written by real life friends of ours from our home church down south. Their daughter died from cancer as a preteen and has an amazing story, this book is incredible, even if you don't win, I highly recommend buying it.

From my Inbox...

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:52:00 +0000

So, my inbox is full, and has been for awhile and as I sat down today to try to reply to some of you I realized that many of you had similar questions so I am gonna answer a few here for ya, just in case others have the same ones too!!! I have directly copied some of them from the actual emails and paraphrased a few that were very similar from several people.

And please accept my sincere apologies, as some of you have lingered in my inbox for many months now, I promise once I get caught up, I will stay on top of emails better (as long as no one in my house gets pregnant again!!!)

Here we go (in no particular order)...

Where did you get your trays from that you use for your Tot Trays?

Right here from Oriental Trading.

How do you manage discipline in your home with the kids?

We used a Biblical approach all the way. I will try to write a Behind the Scenes post in depth about this soon.

Any advice you could give me about homeschooling a 4 year old would be greatly appreciated.

I think it depends on how you want to do things. A few programs I have heard good things about are Itty Bitty Bookworm (I will be reviewing this soon), and Sonlight. I am not an expert in homeschooling pre k by any means, I don't really follow a formal program much ;). If you want to wait for my IBB mini-review, it will probably be a couple of weeks. They are also donating 1 year of curriculum for our 1000 Subscribers Celebration give aways!!!

How do you decide what to do each week and where do you store all the activities not out on trays for the week?

Here's a link to my planning sheets, although honestly I don't use them all that much. I mostly just look around in my stuff (in our wagon of goodies, and in our Tot Tray stash) and pull out things I think K would enjoy.

How do you decide on a certain theme and/or letter for the week?

I am not a big theme gal at this stage (although I wish I was-I am just not that focused right now). I do use the themes at Totally Tots, we did the pond one and are going to do the ocean theme next...as we still haven't finished the pond. ;)
As for letters, I do not choose a letter of the week, or anything like that. I am more of a whole learning approach when it comes to teaching letter id and phonetics.
We use our ABC notebook, and I went in the order of letters that Krash preferred, and then onto the letters in his name-we still have yet to complete this-we take our time.
We are currently going through an artsy letter project in alphabetical order, so that determines what letter we work on. I got most of our ideas from the posts over at Totally Tots. We will add these to our ABC notebook too.
After we finish this set of art projects I will choose another way to expand on abcs.

Regarding Tot School...can you give me a few suggestions of how to begin this program? How do I direct her into this more structured way of "teaching" that I know she will largely benefit from? I think she will love it, I just feel like a tiny ant with a huge mountain of information and ideas dumped on top of me!! Where should I start activity-wise?

I am going to also write a Behind the Scenes post about this topic as I literally have almost this exact same question from at least 5 different people right now!!!! I will begin this post asap-I promise!!!

How often do you change out your tray activities?

If I am having a good night, I will rotate out the ones he seems to not be interested in any longer. If it's a bad night or two I will just leave them. I never leave the same ones out more than a week though. I try to change out at least every night or every other night.

Do you have tray time for a set amount of time? Meaning, do you say "tray school" is going to be an hourish, however many trays he does is fine?

My goal for this is about 30 minutes-1 hour each day, I try to do it in the morning but that doesn't always happen. We're still working on finding the schedule that works for us now that Ladybug is here. I am being very flexible this summer and hoping to have a better routine in the fall.
Yes, he determines how many trays we work on, although now that he is 3 I make him finish closed activities (meaning there is an end to it, like a puzzle), you can read more about that here.

Do you know of any good resources for teaching a 2 year old about emotions and feelings?

I am getting ready to review and host a give away for a company called Kimochis that is all about teaching proper ways to express emotions. I am excited about this, so stay tuned, it looks really neat!

OK, I think that cleans out the inbox for now...if I missed your question-shoot me another email and I will get a new Inbox post going or reply directly to you!!!!

Tot School

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:35:00 +0000

~Krash is currently 37.5 months old~

Tot School is in full swing again, and we are enjoying it! I decided to divide this post into categories of our learning instead of the weekly order, let me know if you like it better this way and I will keep on posting like this. It helps me see where I am possibly falling short and where he is getting exposure so I can adjust for the next week. I got this idea from RockerMom who began posting RockerTot's Tot School posts in a similar way-thanks for the great idea!!!

Learning Toys/Puzzles...

K enjoyed playing with Baba until he had to leave on Wednesday...
He asked me for our Bead Sequencing Set...

I got him these cute Oreo Matchin' Middles at the used book sale for 25 cents...score-he loved them!!!He is getting really good at his 24 piece Cars puzzle, and will ask me to show him if he can't find where a piece goes...
Another consignment sale find...these great Bristle Blocks...
He did really well sorting by size...

Physical Games/Toys...

K continues to love Wii Boxing, we continue to love watching him!!!ABC Fun...

I made Krash this new abc set, using pipe cleaners to make each lowercase letter (I used a glue gun to make them). I got the idea from this great blog (who got it from another great blog...aren't blogs great!!!)! I made ours a little different, putting them on rings so he can carry them all and flip through them. I am adding a new letter as we go through the alphabet this time in abc order.
This week he enjoyed making his Ee with eggs...and his Ff with feathers...
After he made each letter he helped me add the new letter to the rings, which we will continue to do now. Then we go through them all together.I am also adding letters to our Wooden Alphabet set on the dishwasher as we work on them. He plays with them a lot now, I have heard him practicing them on his own and also singing...

Arts and Crafts...

K did water painting for the first time...
He drew his first face and person, which I LOVE!!!!!
He chose to make Daddy a car painting for Father's Day (he pointed to his Cc on our wall and asked me to paint with the cars again).

Life School...

Krash and Ladybug enjoyed watching Baby Einstein together...Krash went bike riding with Daddy and Pac for the first time!!!
He also started his very first swimming lessons...
My Favorite...

Finally, here's my favorite shot of my precious boy from this past week...

Read more about Tot Trays here
Visit Totally Tots!!!
Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
Tools for Tots HERE

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you are unsure of how to add your direct link to Mr Linky-I added a tutorial with photos here, scroll down to see it!

1000 Subscriber Celebration!!!!

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

It's coming soon! With over 890 subscribers now, the celebration is not far off! I am preparing behind the scenes for you, and have lots of fun stuff in store for you my awesome readers!!! You can watch along with me as the little Feedburner Subscriber widget climbs slowly to the 1000 mark! When it gets there, the celebration will begin!!! Hopefully I won't be out of town when that occurs-if so, we'll have a "1000+ Subscribers Celebration" since I won't be a proper host if I am out of town!!!

I already have some great companies lined up as sponsors, and more I am emailing with right now! Here's who has confirmed as a sponsor so far...

Songs for Saplings
Squishy Tushy
Mommy & Baby Essentials
Out of the Box Games
Kimochis
Another Year Already
Itty Bitty Bookworm
No Throw
Itzbeen
Little Bits

Stay tuned for the celebration to begin, and I will add sponsors as they sign up over there on the right sidebar so you can see what is in store for you! A HUGE thanks to the sponsors who have already confirmed!!!!

If you have a business who might like to partner with us for this celebration, please email me (1plus1plus1equals1 @ gmail . com) and I will send you more information! I will stop taking sponsors when I reach 950 so I can prep for the party!!! So email me soon if you'd like to be included!

Will you...

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:12:00 +0000

I have an old college friend, Beth, who is facing a big struggle with her 8 year old daughter, EJ. I have had their button over on the sidebar for awhile but today I want to share a bit more and ask you to please visit her site to see if you feel called to donate or to pray for their family as they continue on this tough road.

EJ was diagnosed a few years ago with Sensory Integration Disorder and most recently with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Both of these create irrational anxiety around food and eating and a compulsion for sweets and junk food. Her family is raising money to get EJ the therapy that she needs at Remuda Ranch in Arizona, the only Christian-based women's therapy program that has a specific anxiety treatment program for girls starting at age eight.

You can visit this link to go directly to EJ's story (there's also a YouTube video of their recent local news segment) and then jump around to learn more. They are trying to find 40,000 people to donate $1 each!!!

If you feel drawn to her story and want to help more, feel free to grab the html over there on the right sidebar for her button and place it on your website, or even write a post of your own--if you do this, will you let me know so I can let Beth know? God is BIG enough to cure this precious little girl and bring healing to their entire family!!!!!

Hurry on over

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:17:00 +0000

You only have a little while to go and visit my dear friend Jill and wish her a happy 1 year blogging anniversary! I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her personally yet but I can't begin to count the number of emails shared between us, we truly are great friends. AND she only lives 45 minutes from me and we are going to meet soon!!! She is giving away some GREAT gifts (#35 is the cutest, and no I am not biased even one tiny bit...ha ha) I better stop writing so I can get this posted, her comments for the gifts close at 10pm EST!!!

Love you Jill!!!

Picnic Table Talk ~ On the Go

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:26:00 +0000

ABC & 123's Picnic Table Talk topic is to share ideas on how to keep your child occupied and happy while out and about...

We travel down south for approx. 10 hours each way about 3-4 times per year. We survive this with a car dvd player. I used to be anti-dvds in the car, now I think I was NUTS for ever thinking that. The boys also have the normal basket filled with travel toys too, but they usually just watch movies the whole way.

But, for the other out and about stuff, not the hefty travel times, I have another method to contain the chaos.

I buy special toys! I have a drawer in a room right by our front door that I keep all of our "travel" toys in. Today we were on our way to the doc and I just went into the drawer to grab a few items for our wait. I do NOT let the kids play with these travel toys while we are at home, so they are always special. I also add to our stash without them knowing sometimes so they are sweetly surprised.

Here's a few of the items in our drawer right now:

Pocket Etch a Sketch
Travel Magna Doodle
Aquadoodle Travel N Doodle (this one can be a pain if you don't remember to fill the water pen!)
tiny flip the fruit matching game (cheap-o toy,I am always on the lookout for these)
a few of those magnetic make a face boards (we have a cat, a man, and something else I can't remember-got them at Cracker Barrel)
A Cars Magna Doodle drawing book (from TJ Maxx)
a few small board books

Nothing too special but it usually works for us and will occupy the boys in a waiting room, in the car for a not long-but not short car ride, or anywhere I need them entertained for a few minutes. I always bring more than 1 toy with me since I never know what Mr Picky will want.

Workboxes..

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Check out this AMAZING webpage filled with resources all about Workboxes!

We are still using them, but in a MUCH more modified form for the summer. Pac Man actually misses the structure some. I am being lazy to be honest. I may have to get my fanny in gear to give him the structure he is desiring, even for the summer.

Romans 16:19b

1plus1plus1equals1@gmail.com (Carisa) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000