Delightful Learning

Tot School with Bo {Letter Gg}

2013-05-05T19:55:00.000-06:00

Letter: Gg

Object: Goat

~Bo is 28 months old~

See Carisa's Tot School Printables for the printables for this unit.

Here's a real quick highlight for Letter Gg!

Dot Paint the Gg's

4.15.13

I keep a package of wipes with Bo's markers and they come in handy!

What Starts with Gg?

I love how focused he is on coloring the objects.

Then we scribble. : )

Colors with Markers

I showed Bo a circle again. He's showing more patience in coloring and matches up the colors some of the time, and he tried to draw a circle!

He also likes telling me what a color is not. He puts the marker on a color it does not match and says, "No, no, no," as he moves to each color.

Letter Gg Basket

4.16.13

Snack today: apple peanut butter & chocolate chip sandwiches.

Letter G Painting

Letter Gg Lacing

Stringing Beads

Link Letter Match

ABC Find It! Letter Gg

Dot Painting

Bo hangs his work on the white board, but I am working on creating an alternate space for him (so I can use the white board).

Playing at the Park

Bo is a climber. : )

With warmer weather here and there (in between spring snow storms), Bo is enjoying being outside more. I want to make him a mud kitchen, a little garden, a water play area, and so much more. I can't wait for summer.

I'm also having to focus on the older boys as we wrap up school, so I'm finding it hard to stay focused on doing intentional tot school, but we are managing to do a little. When I finish school with the older boys, it will be easier.

Speech Therapy

Bo had his first speech therapy session this week. At Bo's age, we have an IFP (Individualized Family Plan). When Bo turns three, they reevaluate and make an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan). So therapy at this point is focused on the family. They teach us how to teach him to talk (which I think is great!). Sessions are 30 minutes long.

Today she interacted with Bo using a spiral play tower using some of the techniques below.

4.16.13

Say What Your Child Would Say

Use Target Level Talk if your child's vocabulary is:

Less than 50 words use 1-word sentences (car, dog) {This is where Bo is at}
5-100 words use 2-word sentences (red car, big dog)
100-200 words use 3 word sentences (A red car. The big dog.)

It is very hard to use one word sentences knowing he understands more... Basically, when he communicates nonverbally, I say what he would have (should have) said and I try to get him to say it (see below).

I knew that all children learn through play, but I was given some practical advice on how to work with Bo while playing (and in daily life). . .

give choices
make it harder to access things
give inadequate portions
give insufficient materials
set up unexpected events
comment on what your child has or is doing
expand their sentences

We want to see him:

give a response
solve problems
ask questions
make comments
interact with other children
interact with their environment

Oh Say What They See {Indirect Language Stimulation Techniques}

We learn language through receptive language (what we do when we listen) and expressive language (what we do when we talk).

A few techniques for now:

we say the word for him - this doesn't put pressure on him to speak, but gives him the words to use later. We are "calling the action," describing what is going on, without interfering.
we use Parallel Talk - we describe what he is seeing , hearing or doing as he does it. For example, "You have a ball. You rolled it." Key points to remember: 1. repetition is not boring to a young child and 2. to make repetition more effective, vary the tone of your voice as you repeat words and phrases
Description - we provide word labels for the objects he is playing with, touching or seeing. It is different from Parallel Talk in that we are focusing on the object rather than the child. For example, "The ball is rolling." Key point to remember: follow the child's lead in commenting on actions or objects.
Self-Talk - we talk about what we are doing while the child watches. "I'm tying my shoe. Tying my shoe. Tie the shoe." Key point to remember: use short simple sentences.

Learning New Words (paraphrased from a hand out by Leslie S. McClogin)

choose meaningful, simple words
use a gesture [or sign], and change your tone of voice and facial expressions with new words
teach a word in its most natural context (this is going to be key with Bo)
a word becomes more meaningful when he experiences it in a variety of ways (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling). Using real objects is better than using pictures.
which means we need to make a clear association between a word and what it represents - the object or experience must be present.
use meaningful situations at home to develop language. When he wants something, he is more likely to pay attention to the word or try to say the word.
Repetition is key. [And exaggerate the sounds.]
Show him that language gets results. If he uses words to ask for something, reward him.
Accept variations in pronunciation - just model correct pronunciation. We praise all efforts to say a word!
He needs to know what a word is NOT. We naturally used this when doing the colors printable this week - he grabbed a marker and pointed it to the color it is not and says, "No."

Letter sounds to work on with Bo: (p, b, m) & (t, d, n). She left me with some activities to do with Bo for the letter sounds p and b and I will share those next week.

I decided NOT to rearrange the Tot School Printables to do these letters. Instead, I am adding them into our natural language. The reason why is that he may not get all the letters, but he will be exposed to them and tot school is about exposing him to concepts. Plus, he can say many of the sounds we will be covering, so I will just plug along. (For the record, he cannot say the /g/ sound, but it is usually a sound that comes later on).

Delightful Links:

Tot School Printables

More Tot School with Bo:

Letter Aa Letter Bb Letter Cc Letter Dd Letter Ee Letter Ff

Linking up with:

Tot School Gathering Place

Tot School with Bo {Letter Ff}

2013-04-29T07:32:00.001-06:00

Letter: Ff

Object: Foot

~Bo is 27 1/2 months old~

See Carisa's Tot School Printables for the printables for this unit.

Sticker the Ff's

I taught Bo to say /f/ by biting his lower lip and blowing.

I just thought this was a sweet picture. I love how intentional he is with his "work." 4.7.13

Stringing Beads

Quilted Rag Letter Ff

Bo lined up the Bunny Grahams on the letter.

Letter Match and Lacing

Bo was having a hard time with the heart links, so I quickly grabbed the shoe string he was lacing beads on to lace with. The lacing was easier than the heart links.

Then he wanted to finish adding stickers to the foot.

Dot Sticker the Feet

Bo was showing me that the sticker is in the wrong spot...

And he was a little sad that it wouldn't come off without ripping the paper. . .

I said it was okay ~ that he could put the rest on the feet. . .

4.9.13

And he was happy about that.

♥

Color the Feet

Bo is still learning the colors, but he likes to match them up.

I'm teaching Bo to draw a circle.

This is the most coloring he has done.

Magazine Ff's

I cut the Ff's out, brushed rubber cement on the foot, and had Bo put the Ff's on.

Humpty Dumpty

This was an activity from Slow and Steady, Get Them Ready. I had it ready for last week, but we didn't get to it. I recited the poem, let Humpty fall, and Bo put him back together again.

4.10.13

This was a short, easy week for us both - Spring Break, and I wanted some art to brighten up our home (spring hasn't come to Wyoming yet), so I did some footprint art for the Letter F.

Footprint Canvas Art

{Inspiration}

Feet. Feet. Feet.

We had a family from out of state stay with us for a week. We had 11 kids in the house - 14 of us in all, and we made a canvas with footprints - one foot each. I had planned to write "Feet. Feet. Feet. Oh, how many feet you meet," on it to go along with The Foot Book that we read this week, but I can't decide if I should. I kind of like it how it is. Though, I think I should write in the kids' names on their feet.

Delightful Links:

Letter Ff Pinspiration

Tot School Printables

Also in this series:

Letter Aa Letter Bb Letter Cc Letter Dd Letter Ee

Linking up with:

Tot School Gathering Place

Tot School with Bo {Letter Ee}

2013-04-24T14:59:00.002-06:00

Letter: Ee

Object: Egg

Theme: Chickens

Color: Green

~Bo is 27 months old~

See Carisa's Tot School Printables for the printables for this unit.

ABC Find It! Letter Ee

With jelly bean "eggs." {Oh, he looooved this, of course!}

4.2.13

Egg Color Matching Game

{+ hide & find with the jelly beans}

Letter Ee Basket

(He's pushing the cookie e through the hole of the quilted e.)

Letter Ee Match

Sticker the Letter Ee

Letter Ee Pegboard

Dot Paint + Jelly Bean the Eggs and Ee's

Numbers 1-5

Letter E Design & Drill

Later this day, I found Bo peeling an orange, next to Eliana. He was standing by the trash can, with juice dripping down his belly, ripping the peels off and throwing them away. I've never had a child this young peel his own orange!

More Egg Color Matching Game

(any chance to play with the jelly bean eggs)

4.3.13

Color Basket + Play Dough {Green}

Shapes

I named the shapes as Bo pulled them out and again as he put jelly beans on each one. I asked him if he could put a jelly bean on a specific shape to see if he is learning them, but he doesn't know them yet.

4.3.13

Letter Ee Shadow Match

Link-n-Learn + Jelly Bean Fine Motor Practice

(He wasn't too interested in playing with anything other than jelly beans.)

Three Part Letter Ee Puzzle

We are still working on getting this down, but when I told him to make an egg, he got it! (and a fist full of jelly beans?).

More Pegboard {and Jelly Bean} Letter Ee Play

Letter Ee 3 Piece Puzzle

Alpha Pops ABC Match & Pretend Play

Quilted Rag Letter Play with {did you guess?} Jelly Beans

Helping Himself to Some Half & Half

Yep. A cup of Half & Half. He likes it more than milk. Though he prefers my milk to Half & Half ;-)

(He is pulling off the seal to the cap with his teeth.)

Connect the Eggs ~ Left to Right

4.5.13

Bo is usually very good at putting his cap back on his marker, but he ran off and left it this day - undoubtably the effects of too. much. sugar.

Sticker the Letter Ee

Bo loves stickers, so when I saw Carisa use transparent dot stickers with the Tot School Printables, I thought he would enjoy them too. And he does. I love that they are transparent!

Letter Ee Treat ~ Bird's Eggs in a Nest

I've always made these with chow mein noodles, but Shredded Wheat looks more authentic, I think, so it was a fun change. I used semi-sweet, but my kids think they would have been better with milk chocolate chips.

Collecting Eggs

Bo most certainly made the connection, and eagerly collected the eggs this week. (Thanks to a little warm spring weather, that unfortunately didn't last long).

Bo loooves the chickens!

The chase is on.

♥

Bo is the best chicken catcher. He is the perfect height - low to the ground, and can corner and catch them like no other kid (or adult) can. And he loves his froggy boots. Though, he has one of Eliana's boots on in the last few pictures.

Definitely tuckered out! ♥

Speech Update

Bo was given the Battelle Development Inventory, 2nd Edition and was tested at 26 months old. He was evaluated by a Speech/Language Pathologist and a Physical Therapist.

The results:

Fine Motor and Gross Motor Skills

Gross Motor: 35 months {95th percentile}

Fine Motor: 28 months {63rd percentile}

Perceptual Motor: 24 months {37th percentile}

Speech & Language:

Language Comprehension/Receptive Communication: 29 months {75th percentile}

Language Expression: 18 months {9th percentile} (This obviously is the area of concern).

Personal/Social, Adaptive, & Cognitive Skills:

Adaptive Skills: 43 months {>99th percentile}

Personal/Social Skills: 29 months {73rd percentile}

Cognitive Skills: 31 months {88th percentile}

So, while Bo is delayed in Expressive Language, he is advanced in other skills. The most notable is that he is off the charts in Adaptive Skills. Bo is highly independent and functions well in daily living activities, despite not being able to talk.

The end result is for Bo to communicate his ideas and interact with books verbally. This is the reason I sought early intervention ~ Bo was not able to do the activities for his age in Slow and Steady Get Me Ready and Before Five in a Row.

I will share how our first appointment went next time!

Delightful Links:

Letter Ee Pinspiration

Tot School Printables

Also in this series:

Letter Aa Letter Bb Letter Cc Letter Dd

Linking up with:

Tot School Gathering Place

Tot School with Bo {Letter Dd}

2013-04-15T23:54:00.004-06:00

Letter: Dd

Object: Duck

Vocabulary: Birds and All About Ducks

Color: Orange

~Bo is 27 months old~

{See Tot School Printables and Now I Know My ABC’s ~ Dd is for Duck

for the printables for this unit.}

This was going to be a busy, stressful week at home, with my husband working late, late hours preparing for soccer so I took the 4 youngest to our place in Montana for the week. Bo cut his foot so we ended up coming home early (it is hard to keep him clean up there and I was worried about it getting infected), but we got in a full week of tot school while we were there. My life, off grid and unplugged, is much simpler so it was easy to do a full week of school in just three days, with plenty of time to play. And Bo is such an eager little learner!

~Monday~

Cutting

I was doing school at the table with Mali and Elli when Bo climbed up ready to do school, too. I had these strips ready to go to work on cutting this week, so I grabbed them first and let him cut while I set up his trays. (All of his tot school was packed into two canvas bags).

3.18.13

I forgot his tot scissors, which are spring loaded, so he had to improvise. He adapted very well and used his mouth to open the scissors when his little fingers couldn't do the job.

School around the table ~ one of my favorite things. ♥

His completed work.

Sticker the Letter Dd

Still love how he matches the stickers to the letters on the paper.

Yellow + Red = Orange

Letter Dd Stamping (with a cookie cutter D)

Dot Paint the Letters & Ducks

Dot painting the duck's bill.

What Starts with Dd?

Duck Songs and Finger-plays

"Five little ducks that I once knew. . . "

Five Little Ducks Printable

"But the one little duck with the feather on his back, he led the others with a quack, quack, quack."

Science Play

Bo participated in a science demonstration that Mali and Elli were doing for Sonlight Core A Science. {Making bubbles with baking soda and vinegar. Then, I let him play with it on the tray.}

I bought some new strawberry toothpaste gel and Bo loved it so much he wanted to brush his teeth several times a day. . .

with someone else's toothbrush. : )

3.18.13

I snapped the following photo because Bo was pretend playing with the Playmobil Little Girl. He was having her ride a skate board and making little "talking" sounds just before I took it. ♥

~Tuesday~

Bo Loves Band-Aids {Don't most kids?}

Good fine motor skill practice. ;-)

3.19.13

Letter Dd Basket

{2 Part Puzzle from Homeschool Creations}

{Chocolate Drops} Alphabet Match

{I forgot to hole punch the letters, so we improvised with natural chocolate drops.}

3-Part Matching

Letter D Pegboard

{Pulled out my Quilted Rag Letters to include in his letter basket, too.}

Color Basket

We use these to play hide-and-seek and for color themed play-dough play.

Yellow Play Dough + Red Play Dough = Orange Play Dough

Cutting out D's with a cookie cutter.

Do-a-Dot Letter D

3.19.13 ~ later in the day.

{ABC Do-a-Dot Printables from Homeschool Creations}

Link-n-Learn Dd is for Duck

ABC Find It! Letter Dd

I used bird seed (since our vocab theme was birds) for Bo's sensory experience. Birdseed is really great to use outside, but it was too cold today.

When Bo placed the orange D, he saw the mama dog with her puppies
and he searched the whole bin until he found that one before moving on. :)

All done.

Duck Shapes

{and time for a snack}

All About Ducks & Sensory Play {Scoop & Pour}

Lunch Time

I had potatoes baking in the wood cook stove for our lunch today ~ reminded me so much of our row of Three Names that I had to take a picture.

Connect the Ducks

Left to Right

and scribbling with a Crayola dry-erase marker.

Talking about Different Birds

and more scribbling.

Do-a-Dot Painting Squares

Where's a square painter when you need one? He dot painted until he filled in each square, making several dots to get fill the squares.

Matching Colors

Shadow Matching

This is the first time that Bo has teased me during our tot school time (below). As you can see above, he was about to correctly match the ducks, then he placed it above the other one and giggled. I remember Eliana doing this with activities during tot school when she was 2. Later, I had the thought that maybe they are too easy and he is becoming bored with them.

Three-Part Sequencing

(I talked him through this one.)

Numbers 1 - 10

I just want to reach into that picture and wash his face!

Baby Signing Time

I'm trying to make these a regular part of his learning time since he is not talking yet.

Signing "time"

Signing "hat"

So, I grabbed his hat for him.

Playing Outside

Crawling his bug up the dirt hill.

And finally a bath before bed.

~Wednesday~

Our last day was a sunny, warm day so we spent more time outside after it warmed up and only did a few tot school activities.

Cutting a Banana with a {dull} Knife

3.20.13

More Signing Time

"Playing" Hedbanz with Sissy

Float or Sink

{Find it here: Now I Know My ABC's ~ D is for Duck &

D is for Duck Printables from Spell Out Loud}

I thought it was intuitive that he placed the pom poms on both the float and the sink trays because they did do both. When placed in the water, they floated for a few minutes and then sank once they were soaked. This was kind of a hard concept to grasp at first, but I know we will have more opportunities.

He was quite attached to these shades and he put them on the sink tray before snatching them up.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trekking behind Malachi and Eliana wherever their play took them and exploring on his own.

And after a full day of play, another bath is in order.

This is about the time Bo cut his foot (climbing on the back of the suburban) so I decided to pack up and head home and it was really quite nice to be home again.

~Thursday~

3.21.13

Project Life

Bo has his own Project Life album. I give him access to left over pictures I have and he puts them in his own album. (This keeps him out of my albums. I'd find lots of surprises inside pockets and bent pages if I left mine out.) He has about three or four pages and he puts pictures in and takes them out over and over. Eliana plays with it too. This is an old Amber Edition album that was left over when I upgraded to the new (and improved) albums.

I started a new blog to share my Project Life {and other projects I'm working on} but that was almost 2 months ago and I only have one post (I have a hard time keeping up a second blog). I started it to motivate and encourage myself to make time to do other things that I love to do (and blogging is a good motivational tool). My latest projects around the house have been sewing a duvet cover (out of sheets), de-leavening for the Spring Holy Days, spring cleaning, organizing, minimizing, school planning and ordering, printing and laminating for Bo's school, brightening up our home and being content. . . and now I am ready to get back to work on my Project Life!

But before I do, I have to catch up here on Delightful Learning. I'm getting requests to share how school is going with the other kids. I am still homeschooling them! I've just been focusing on Bo because I needed to establish a regular routine of intentional tot school and I think I have done that!

Delightful Links:

Tot School Printables

Now I Know My ABC's ~ D is for Duck

D is for Duck Printables from Spell Out Loud

Also in this series:

Letter Aa

Letter Bb

Letter Cc

Linking up with:

Tot School Gathering Place

Tot School with Bo {If You Give a Cat a Cupcake}

2013-03-31T17:06:00.000-06:00

Letter Cc ~ Part II

See Part I here.

~Bo is 26.5 months old~

{March 10th & 12th -15th}

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

I got the idea to spend a week on this book after Bo got excited about seeing the pink cupcake on the ABC Find It! page for Letter Cc (below). After that I focused on all things pink and cupcake!

See Cc is for Cupcake @ Totally Tots for inspiration and links to printables for this unit!

Reading If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

Rhyming and Matching

I read the poem to Bo and he matched the cupcakes and then fed the cat. Bo loved this and asked to play with it almost every day.

Cupcake Craft

With "pink frosting" paint and glitter "sprinkles!"

Bo's cupcake.

Eliana's cupcake.

Pretend Cupcake Play with Cloud Dough

We had so much fun making Pretend Root Beer Floats with cloud dough using Inner Child Fun's tutorial and it is perfect for cupcakes, too!

Muffin tin with liners, scoops, cupcake picks, pretend sprinkles and pink cloud dough.

Letter Cc and Cupcake Stamping

If You Set Up the Ingredients to Get Ready to Make Cupcakes, Your Little One Will Climb on the Counter and Start Making Them All. By. Himself.

He'll add the cake mix and the eggs and mix it up with with his hands.

His hands will get all messy so you'll have to wash them. Then you'll give him a whisk to mix it properly.

When he realizes it is too sticky. . .

You'll help him add the water and oil. Then help him pour the batter so he can add the sprinkles.

Then you'll secretly make the pink frosting (colored with just a little beet juice) while the cupcakes are cooling, then frost them and add sprinkles and cute food picks to tie into the book.

Then you freeze them before serving because frozen pink cupcakes are the BEST!

ABC Fishing at the "Beach"

Can't remember what makes the cat want to get his swim trunks on and go to the beach, but we did the same and fished for ABC's.

The Rest of Our Week

That is the end of our cupcake fun and the beginning of my big oops - a failed haircut in which I, not realizing that I did not have the guard on the clippers (!), buzz Bo bald in the front.

I didn't panic, but I tried to blend it and then went out and bought him a hat. Which he loved ~ for a very short time only. . . and I came to the realization that I can't hide my mistake. for long.

And, off it goes. : )

The truth is. . . it made me fall in love with my little man all over again. I realized that it's not the hair that I love about him. I am totally in love with who he is.

Waiting for 2 brothers and a sister to get their hair cut
AT THE SALON!

I guess I was a little gun shy to cut any more hair that day.

This is where he tells her to just take a "little" off. ;-P

Playing with Blocks

Development Screen

Bo had his screen today. It was a busy visit (I meant to take more pics, but only got one) full of questions and tests to assess Bo's development in the areas of hearing, speech/language skills, cognitive and adaptive skills, motor functioning, and social/emotional development. He tested well for his age in most areas, but, of course, verbal expression. I was encouraged that the speech therapist pointed out that although Bo is not talking, he has good intonation. I have not seen the results yet, but he has an appointment coming up for a Routines Based Interview soon where we will discuss family routines and set goals for speech therapy.

Delightful Links:

C is for Cupcake from Totally Tots

Cat and Cupcake Printables from Spell Out Loud

Linking up with:

and

Tot School with Bo {Letter Cc}

2013-03-24T15:06:00.001-06:00

Letter: Cc

Object: Cats

Vocabulary: Pets

Color: Yellow

~Bo is 26 months old~

See Tot School Printables for the printables for this unit.

Week 1

March 4th

Playdough for Color Yellow and Cc is for Cat.

ABC Find it! Letter Cc and Sensory Play

Clothespin Alphabet Match {Modified with plastic clips}

These are for teaching/learning. Later, I will hole punch all the letters to make it more challenging.

Dot Painting Shapes: Hearts

Design and Drill

I think this is the first time we've actually made a design ~ a letter C!

March 8th

Bo had his child development screen today. This is one of the fine motor skills test he did (below). We did not finish the evaluation as she determined that he qualifies for a full evaluation which takes place in the home. {Scheduled for next Friday} They were not able to do the hearing test because he had fluid on his ears (due to being sick).

March 9th

Numbers and Magnet Pompoms

Informal tot school day at Bo's request and a willing Play Dough partner.

Cat Colors

Letter Cc Basket

2 and 3 Part Puzzles

Link-n-Learn Cc is for Cat

He really likes the links more than the shoe lace and it helps develop fine motor skills! I ordered these from a pet supply store (links and shapes below), but would have ordered them on Amazon if I could have found them at the time! This Tub of Linking Shapes is also great because it has circles, triangles, squares, and ovals. (I added it to my cart!).

March 10th

Kumon Let's Color!

(This is the same book that I used with Eliana!)

Color Matching Caps

Letter Cc Stickers, Stamping, and Cookie Cutter Painting

He thought he was so funny for putting the letter c sticker on the cat's nose. [chuckle]

All lined up.

Dot Paining and Color Cap Matching

Dot Pictures from Homeschool Creations.

Cutting

"Waiting for Spring" ~ I posted this on my Instagram with the caption, "Me too, buddy. Me too."

March 11th

Cc is for Cat Magnet Pompoms

Cat Shapes

I cut out a set of laminated cat shapes and printed an extra sheet for him to match the shapes. Then, I called out the shape as he matched them.

Pets

Bo loves pictures of Animals (planning to do Animal ABC's next) and he enjoyed looking at the different ones that can be pets. Later, he recognized some of the pets in a counting video we watched (below).

Cats Shadow Matching

Bo enjoys these!

Connect the Cats

Young Minds - Numbers and Counting Video

March 12th

ABC Review

Pointing to the letters as I call them out.

Melissa & Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks

Learning to Put the Blocks Away!

Week 1, as you can see, was mostly focused on Letter Cc Tot School Printables. Bo was still not feeling well this week, but better than the last 2 weeks. We spent another week on letter Cc using the book If You Give a Cat a Cupcake and will share that next.

Delightful Links:

Tot School Printables

Alphabet Do-a-Dot Printables

Delightful Learning on Pinterest

Also in this series:

Letter Aa

Letter Bb

Letter Cc Part II ~ If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

Linking up with:

Tot School Gathering Place

Tot School with Bo {Letter Bb}

2013-03-13T00:41:00.000-06:00

Our time with Letter Bb (and now Cc!) was/is spread out over two weeks+ due to sickness. I'm still catching up with life (as I was sick, too), so this will mostly be a photo share + a few answers to questions I have had.

Letter: Bb

Object: Ball

Color: Blue

Vocabulary Development Theme: Outdoor Fun

~Bo is 25.5 months old~

See Tot School Printables for the printables for this unit.

Week 1

Mon. Feb. 11th

Letter Bb Basket

Dot Paint the Balls

Proud of his work! :)

Dot Paint the Letters

Letter Bb Puzzle

Honey Bee Tree fine motor practice (the bottom to the tree was missing at the time, so we couldn't play. (It was a last minute idea spurred on by the bee puzzle!)

Tuesday, Feb. 12th

Color Blue Basket

Colors

Bo wasn't interested in coloring. So he used the scissors that I keep with his crayons to cut. When I tried to get him to color, he pushed the crayons away, picked up all the color ball squares, crumpled them up and threw them away! After a few more activities (and a few more melt-downs), I realized that Bo was not feeling well. Little guy was just not himself.

Letter Bb Basket ~ I added "Upper & Lower Case Clothespin Clip" for Letter Bb (find it on Carisa's All ABC's page).

After our tot time, he crawled up to snuggle with a sick sis to comfort her. ♥ And then our whole morning made sense - he didn't feel well either.

Fri. Feb. 15th

This was a Bo-directed tot school day. The boys called me from the other room to let me know that Bo was doing tot school all. by. himself. He had pushed the student desk over to the cabinet where I keep his tot school loot and helped himself!

Dot painting Letter Bb Objects

Week 2

Mon. Feb. 18th

Painting with Balls (See Ideas for Using ~ ABC Letter Crafts for more ideas!)

Bb/Ball 3-Part Puzzle

Sequencing

Letter Bb Basket

(again ~ it's a favorite)

Bath Bin

I set up a dish pan with scrubbies, funnels ($Tree), sponge balls, and a squirt bottle for sensory exploration and concept building through water play! I brought out toys for him to wash, too. It was fun watching him playfully discover new concepts on his own. (Sponges hold water, funnels don't!) It is all about providing experiences.

(Shortly after he drenched his shirt he started spilling water, so I moved him to the floor so he wouldn't slip off the bench.)

Tues. Feb 19th

ABC Find It! Letter Cc

Another favorite! {As you will see}

(Those are yellow split peas - I used whole green peas in our letter Aa tub).

This b is covered up by another card (the cards overlap), so for the letter Cc, I cut them smaller.

Color Blue/Letter Bb Play-dough

I helped him with Letter Aa, but let him do this one on his own.
I love how he filled the space inside the capital B. :)

Cutting play-dough snakes with scissors.

Colors

I was a little nervous to bring these out. I set the box of crayons out with the paper (didn't cut them out this time and didn't match them up). He didn't do much with them, but didn't throw them away this time. (Phew!)

Sun. Feb. 24th

Outdoor Fun {Indoors}

It was too cold to go to the park, so we played at the Y play land and Luke brought out some balls and a strider bike. Cool story: I won a Strider bike from Carisa and we loved it so much that Luke got a sponsor to buy some for our YMCA. We have 12 now and Y kids love them! Bo wasn't that interested... yet. He mostly wanted to climb and slide.

Later that day, I noticed Bo was warm and took his temp and sure enough he had a fever again - 101. I didn't notice it until later, but he had the start of the classic slapped cheek look of Fifth's Disease (a common childhood disease). That morning Luke asked if he hit his cheek and I hadn't noticed that he had and later it all made sense as the cheek got pinker and his other cheek pinked up.

Tues. Feb. 26th

Counting with Pom-Pom Magnets

I can't remember if he was feeling well enough to ask or saw me putting trays together and wanted to play. But, he ran a fever again this day and napped on the couch on and off all day.

Alphabet Do-a-Dots

All done. Decided he wasn't feeling well enough.

I gave him a bottle of vitamin water that I had on hand for sick kids (I know it's not really that healthy, but sometimes when I am sick, nothing tastes good but Vitamin Water!).

♥

Older boys had dental hygiene appointments this day, one boy was coming home from his dad's and another was leaving right after. Older two boys were referred for surgical extractions {wisdom teeth} and appointments were made. I was sick uhgain. Elli's cough worsened this week and that's all we did for Letter Bb Tot School. Though, I am grateful for little moments here and there and for all that we did do.

Q&A

A reader asked what Mali and Elli are doing while Bo does Tot School, so I snapped a picture.

Elli is working on Explode the Code.

And Malachi is doing Mathletics.

When they are done with any independent work I give them, they play quietly until I am done.

Do you have a set schedule on what you like to do first?

I have an idea of what I want to do each day and have the activities set up on trays ready to go, but I try to stay flexible so that my agenda doesn't get in the way of his natural curiosity and desire to learn.

Do you set out trays (ie tot school workboxes) each day or just bring pages/markers etc out as you go?

I bring them out one at a time, rather then set them out, but lately Bo has been asking to pick, so I lift him up to the wicker baskets on the red cabinet and let him choose what he wants. Because this is becoming a daily thing though, I will probably set them out, but up. I'm afraid he will mix them all up if I leave them within his reach - when he was littler, he wouldn't play with his toys - he would move them around. It would keep him busy for a long time just reorganizing them. I think he would do the same at this point.

Your trays! Where did you get them and how much were they?

I have Cool Craft Trays from Oriental Trading - 6 for $10. I bought two sets when Elli was 2 and they have held up well.

I recently bought a lap tray at Michael's for $4.99. Walmart has them too, but Michael's has prettier colors. (I started using it for Letter Cc). I like the lap tray because I can put things in the side cubbies. (It is like this one).

See Carisa's post Oh Where Are The Trays? for other alternatives.

Where did you get your tongs? Love those!!!

Amazon! Bamboo Toast Tongs. I love them, too. Bo likes to help in the kitchen, so I sit him on the counter when I cook. Once, he tried to stick a butter knife in the toaster so I ordered them so he could help take the toast out safely! and they are perfect for his little hands.

About how much time do you spend with Bo?

For our letter Aa week, we followed the same time schedule outlined in my Big Machines tot school post and that is what I am shooting for each week. These past few weeks, however, and the next couple weeks, are not as scheduled due to sickness - all the little kids and I were sick on and off for four weeks! I'm still fighting off a little cough and Bo is too. He had fluid on his ears a few days ago and they were pink. Ideally, I plan to spend 45 minutes doing activities in the morning with Bo and 15 minutes of reading in the afternoon.

We are set to finish up letter Cc tomorrow. I think I have enough activities to divide it into two posts, so I'll try to share "Part 1" next week.

Tot School with Bo {Letter Aa}

2013-02-25T21:58:00.001-07:00

We had a great week with the Letter Aa using Tot School Printables! To find out more about what we will be doing, please visit Carisa's post on Tot School Printables @ 1+1+1=1.

With this being our first week with the Tot School Printables, I have lots of photos to share. Grab a cup of tea and join me as I teach my little one!

This week:

Letter: Aa

Object: Apple

Color: Red

Vocabulary Development Theme: Fruit

~Bo is currently 25 months old~

Bo really thrived with all the activities that I offered him. He let me introduce new concepts and activities willingly and followed my lead very well. (Our 2nd week, he took charge and decided what he wanted to do more, as I expect a two year old would do.)

Monday, Feb. 4th

Dot Paint the Apples

Boaz dot painted each apple. He was very precise to only paint the apples and he handed me his sheet when he was done.

Dot Paint the Letters

Bo dot painted each letter. Below he is saying the short sound of Aa. Bo loves singing, so I am singing "/a/, /a/, apple," the tune from Sing Spell Read and Write (here is a youtube vid of a little girl singing it). I plan to add to the song each week so that by the end of the alphabet, he will know each sound (and recognize the letter!). Here is where I remind you that my goal is to not only teach Bo phonemic awareness; my goal is to teach him to TALK!

I am not worried about Bo not talking. I do have an appointment to have him screened, but it is probably genetic. Luke had mentioned that he had to have speech therapy at the age of two, but I talked to his mom and she said that he could not say consonants at all. It was a relief to know this and it makes me all the more thankful that I have been signing with him so he CAN communicate!

Along with the first sound of Aa, (short sound), I am also teaching him the second sound of Aa, the long Aa. He said both for me every tot time this week! I'm super happy about this! (See video).

What Starts With Aa?

Bo colored the Aa's and the objects. . .

He was excited to see an ant on the page - he is fascinated by them. (We've had a bit of an ant problem this winter which is unusual this time of year ~ we generally don't see ants until summer). Bo watched them daily for a few days until I found my box of borax and that took care of that. But, he tried to say ant! I knew what he was saying, though he didn't say the t. I realized that maybe he didn't say the /t/ later when I worked with him on counting and coached him to say /t/ for two.

Stamp the Letter

These are old Stampin Up letter stamps from my craft stash. I stamped the first one, and then he did one.

Saying the long Aa sound here. . . ♥

He wasn't too interested in stamping, though the week before this, he asked to stamp (I had them out for Eliana) and he stamped a bit longer then. So, I pulled out the letter stickers from the Letter Aa basket (below), and he peeled off each A/a and put them ON the letters on the page! I so loved that he made that connection! I later gave him apple stickers to put on the apple and he later covered the stamped A's with letter stickers.

Snack Time

I made an "a is for apple" raw apple snack that I found on Pinterest. I juiced an orange and a lemon and soaked apple rings in the juice. They were pretty tart.

Connect the Apples

This activity is to model left to right reading. I gave him a red (color of the week) dry erase marker (though wet erase do work better on lamination and erase easier), and used my finger to trace the line to show him what to do. He made a great effort!

But, he really wanted the green marker and he connected the apples and then some. :)

Letter Aa Basket

My letter Aa basket (just a simple one) was inspired by Carisa's Hands on the Alphabet. His favorite? The Lauri Toys Tall-Stacker Letter A Pegboard... but he was engaged by everything inside.

(Knocking it over)

Bo loves to do puzzle apps on my phone. Some he can do on his own, but he brings me the ones he can't and loves to watch me do them! I will partially complete them for him and leave the last piece or two and he starts another one as soon as he finishes and hands it to me to help him. So, he was real engaged with the Letter Aa puzzle from Match It! Upper and Lower Case Letter puzzle.

When he couldn't slide it in (like he can do on an app!), I showed him how to lift and snap it into place.

And THAT was day ONE! We hung our work for the day on the white board, and Bo used magnets to cover the Aa's on the Dot Paint the Letter page!

Tuesday, Feb. 5th

Numbers 1-10, Sensory Tub and Tonging

Three Part Sequencing

Letter A Basket

This makes me smile because he was so surprised to see a marker in his basket,
but it was tossed in there by mistake.

Introduction to Lacing

I showed Bo how to lace. I put the shoelace through the hole, and had him pull it through. We did this a few times.

He munched on his apple while working today.

Then I got a notification on my phone, so the kids brought my phone to me and of course, Bo was distracted and wanted to play. Here he is playing Starfall ABCs ~ which he loves!

While he was playing, I put things away and brought out a new activity.

Color Basket, Colored Apples and Color Theme Play Dough

We started with a marker, then dot painter, then he hammered the apple and finally dumped all the basket contents out and I thought that was a good time to bring out the red play dough! I rolled snakes for him and we made Aa's together. He played for a good amount of time and really enjoyed his play dough time today.

Trying to roll his own snake!

I introduced him to several other colors, but he wasn't impressed. So, I put his basket away and he was content to play awhile.

Wednesday, Feb. 6th

Colors with Markers and Pom Pom Magnets

Shadow Matching

Shapes

I hid the shapes in the sensory tub and said the name of the shape as he pulled it out.

Bo knows where the tot school loot is now, so he pushed the desk over to climb up. I set him up to see what he wanted and he picked the Melissa & Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks. (I was not ready to leave all his tot materials out at once this week, but I did do this one day the next week and let Bo choose).

Melissa & Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks

♥

Vocabulary Development: Fruit

I couldn't find our play fruit, so I used real fruit and Bo matched up the fruit cards to each fruit that I had. He was real excited to do this and he did such a good job! I called out the name of each fruit as we matched them and then he picked out the orange for a snack.

Isn't that a huge lemon?!

Sunday, Feb 10th

ABC Find It! ~ Letter A

I used the sensory idea from Carisa's Ideas for Using ABC Find It! and it was a hit!

(His idea to use the pom poms to hold the cards,

clever little guy.)

Color Basket Hide and Seek

We hid the red objects from the color basket around the room for Bo to find.

Three Part Puzzle

Two Part Puzzle

Apple Alphabet Match from when we rowed How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.

Apple Sequencing from Erica's Letter of the Week ~ A for Apple. (I lined them up for him, leaving one out and asked him where it goes).

Carisa's All ABC's Page has more ABC learning fun. I've been downloading lots of things from there. I also downloaded/printed/laminated a set of Homeschool Creation's Alphabet Flash Cards and alphabet do-a-dot printables for more do-a-dot painting for Bo (which he loves to do!).

I'm a bit behind on posting ~ we've had a bit of sickness in the house and other things going on to stay caught up on blogging. We have almost finished letter Bb and will start letter C when Bo is feeling better.

Delightful Links:

I started a Pinterest board for ABC's and the Letter Aa and hope to add letters as we go!

Linking up with:

Tot School Gathering Place

Tot School with Bo {Big Machines}

2013-02-10T15:53:00.005-07:00

I had a wonderful week (Jan. 28th - Feb 1st) of {intentional} tot school with Boaz, who is 25 months old. I had a variety of activities planned, but had to come up with a few more towards the end of the week. He loved being kept busy, though he has no problem keeping himself busy! He is always cooking up things to do {literally}. The only problem is that he makes messes and more work for me when he does, so focused tot school is a good fit for him!

I chose a Big Machines theme for the focus of our week because we had a dump truck theme for Bo's 2nd birthday, and he loves big trucks!

Spare "donut" {tires} for Bo's birthday brunch.

Plus, having a theme helped me have a focus to putting together activities. {After years of doing Five in a Row, I thrive on this style of learning!} Though, not everything we do will be theme based, because I would drive myself crazy trying to live up to that! I really want to relax and have fun with Bo!

I noted time and length for myself, just as much for my readers. I tried to stick to the hour between 9 and 10 to set up and do tot school. This time works great for Bo! We also had a 15 minute window in the afternoon to read books or do a short activity.

Monday morning: 45 minutes of focused learning time. I was pleased that Bo worked through all but one of his tot trays.

Counting with Pom-pom Magnets

Bo LOVES the pom pom magnets! He put a magnet on each big machine on the number card and I counted as he put them on. Bo is not talking yet, but he pretended to count with me by humming. {So sweet!}

Play-Doh

Play-Doh has been my "go to" tot school for many months, but I added a circle road play mat to his tray. (the big tub of play-doh is from Costco.)

It's Monday and he hears a rumbly noise outside. He goes to the window and stands on his tip toes to get a look at the garbage truck outside. I took a picture for him for a memory ~ he watches the garbage truck every Monday morning! He is always very excited to hear the rumble of the truck.

Colors

I gave Bo a colored marker and card to color. I didn't specify what to color, and he colored the color WORD, instead of the picture. I thought it was clever that he saw the color on the card and "traced" over it. But, this is also the first time that I have done any kind of activity like this.

After he colored each card, I gave him a colored pom-pom magnet to stick it to the metal tray. He then got up with the tray, took it to the kitchen, and put it in the oven! He knows where cookie sheets go. :) (Though, I bought these from the Dollar Tree just for tot school.)

After explaining that his tot tray doesn't go in the oven, he came back to the table to finish the last color.

Name Recognition

I showed him his name, spelled each letter, and sounded it out. That was all, today. Later in the week, he pulled it out and was looking at it, so I repeated the process. He seemed engaged with it more the second time.

Theme Play: Lights and Sounds Digger

These are toys he has access to everyday, but there was something special about seeing them on a tray! The Lights and Sounds Digger (link to my review) has been one of Bo's all time favorite and most played with toy since he was 9 months old. In fact, it was the only toy that he would play with for any amount of time until he was about 20 months, when he discovered that he liked to build with Duplo Primos, (very similar to Megablocks First Builders).

Monday afternoon: 10-15 minutes

Hammering/poking golf tees

At first, he only wanted to poke the tees into the foam with his hands, but Sis came along and wanted to hammer, so he gave it a try, too. After a short time, he wanted to do it on his own, so he shrugged his shoulders to communicate that she was in his space and he moved his tray down the table to work alone.

Wednesday morning: 45 minutes + a trip to library and a movie: Bob The Builder: Heavy Duty Diggers on Amazon Instant Video {free with prime membership} .

Dot Painting Numbers

Bo dot painted each big machine on the counting cards up to 10.

Today, I filled his sippy cup with juice to have on hand during tot school and will do this again. {He has this Safe Sippy Cup and I love it. Though, I don't use the spill proof valve regularly.}

Design and Drill Take-Along Tool Kit

I ordered this for Bo a couple months ago because he is very mechanically minded and loves to make things work. {And loves things that are powered.} He does not make any designs on it yet ~ just drills the plastic screws in and out.

LOVE his expression! ♥
{Forgive the mommy gushing moments on my blog from here on out ~ I am crazy for this little man!}

Deluxe Latches Board

This board has latches, locks and clasps and Bo figured this board out on his first and/or second try (at 22 months). But, this was the first time we recognized the colors and counted the animals behind the doors and he loved this! And it is still a good workout for his fine motor skills.

Bo loves puzzles, but I wanted one that would be challenging and "mechanical." He is a lot like my oldest, Jordan, who was/is always very curious and mechanical, trying to figure out how things work. The only {potential} downside to this puzzle is that our window locks are the same as the blue lock and it didn't take Bo long to figure that out and was unlocking the windows in the house.

Wednesday afternoon: 10 minutes. We read construction books that we got at the library this morning.

Thursday: 15 minutes. We read construction books again and made a footprint dump truck. Bo eagerly let me paint his foot with paint and then stepped on a piece of card stock with my help. The rest was more of a craft for me, for memory making, and for my Project Life album. {We made a footprint fire truck when he was 1 year old.}

Bo's Foot Print Dump Truck ♥
{age 2}

Bo is taking an active role in my Project Life...

I find many surprises in the pockets of an album I leave out. :)

Friday morning: 45 minutes.

Nuts and bolts ~ 5 different sizes nuts and matching bolts

He matched all but two and put a larger nut on top of a smaller bolt that he had already matched.

Nuts and bolts snack mix

I wanted a theme snack and thought of this "build" your own snack all on my own! I was thinking of our 100th day snack mix and wanted something he could scoop/tong and transfer (for an activity), but I was especially pleased when on the way home from the store, I realized that the pretzel sticks and O's cereal were like "nuts and bolts." :)

He did a little more after lunch today...

Scoop, sweep, and pour

This {simple} sensory tub was a big hit! This Green Toys dump truck is way cool. It is made from recycled milk jugs and has a movable dumper. Bo also has the Recycling Truck and the Sea Plane (which is a favorite toy in the bathtub.) Bo scooped pinto beans into the truck and dumped them out again, over and over.

After a time, he put the truck outside the tub and scooped and poured, and spilled, so I later offered him a mini dust pan and broom to sweep up.

Before he swept, he was distracted by television sounds in the living room... (sigh). This is why I keep the doors shut and try to make sure the older kids are working on something so they do not distract him.

Video

I am trying to take more videos - my children love to watch them (so do I!). Bo loves this one especially. It's funny how he tries to scoop all around the truck without moving it. I try to get him to say "beep, beep" but he wouldn't. Towards the end is when he is distracted by the t.v. but we recovered! and returned to sweep (above). Later that day, I was in his way, and he said, "beep, beep" to get me to move!

{If reading by email, you will need to click over to the blog to watch video or watch here.}

So, this week I was shooting for Mon., Wed., and Fri. (mostly because I had a bad day on Tues.), but next week, I will shoot for Mon.-Thurs. I think 45 minutes in the morning was a good amount of time {average of 10 minutes per activity!} and I can use afternoons for reading books. This week, 9-10 am was our tot school time, including getting Bo dressed, combing his hair, getting his sippy cup ready, and putting the trays out (prepared the night before). Also, I think this is a good time of day for Bo and is early enough to get a good start on school with Malachi and Eliana before lunch. So, I think adding focused tot school to our school day was a success! (Yay!)

Speech Update

Since Bo has not met the developmental milestone for his age (50-75 words!), and prefers gestures (often accompanied by grunts or vocalizations that are not words) I am documenting what he can say and will add any new words/progress each week.

Words Bo can say:

mine
no, mine
what?
one
boo
hot
wow!
Pop
Mom
on
movie
Elli
sibling names (though not properly, but we understand him)

New words:

beep, beep!
hello

Two theories have been presented to me: 1. because I am signing with Bo (he can sign more than he can talk), he is lazy about talking. 2. because he has so many people (siblings!) around him anticipating his needs, he doesn't have to talk. Because he started talking WHILE I was signing with him, and signing is supposed to encourage early talking, I am leaning towards #2. So, I have been prompting Bo to speak, in play or when he wants something. If he tries to say the word, I reward his efforts. So far, it seems to be working and he is trying to talk more. Even so, I may have him screened to be sure.

While Bo seems delayed in speaking, he is advanced in language and communication in general (he points to objects when they are named, knows names of familiar people and body parts, follows simple instructions, and points to things in a book). He is also right on track socially, emotionally cognitively, and physically.

I delayed tot school because he wasn't talking, but now I think (really think!) it is going to help! I am encouraged after our first week with the letter Aa - which I will share next week!

Delightful Links:

Big Machines Tot Pack

Tot School Gathering Place

Tot School with Bo {Ages 12-24 months}

2013-02-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

Bo was a busy boy at the age of one. From the time he could crawl, he was pulling up, climbing things and making messes. And he wasn't real interested in baby toys. Though, I still made every effort to make them available to him. . .

He only touched a few of these until he was about 20 months old. His favorite being a Lights and Sounds Tractor (pictured below) and a Playmobil 1.2.3. Truck with Garage.

He liked to watch Signing Time videos with Eliana. He would kick his feet happily when the theme song came on.

A sensory bin for his tractor, which all the younger kids enjoyed playing with.

Bo's first time painting was not a sucess.

Then a friend sent me the book, Slow and Steady Get Me Ready and I started using the book with Bo. By far, his favorite activity was the button can. He did this over and over and I carried it with me if I left the house.

He is even sick in these pics {bless his heart} and running a fever. . . and doing the button can.

Bo has a fascination with the Berkey water filters. When I needed cooking water, I let him fill them up.

Which led to the water play station below the Berkeys.

Helping me refill the bean jar.

Edible chocolate play dough with teddy bear cookies.

Bo loves to do anything "big peopleish."

Bo's first happy paint!

Doing school with Mali and Elli ~ a soap experiment and blowing through straws to make bubbles.

Pretend Root Beer Floats

Tot School with Mali and Elli for The Bee Tree

Edible Peanut Butter Play Dough

New Play Dough tools!

And a Latches Board.

Bo loves to play on my iPhone - a little too much at this time. Though, it was a lego app that got him interested
in building with duplos and lego primo.

24 months

Bo:

loves to do anything big peopleish... help with laundry, put things away, help in the kitchen, pour his own milk, bake something, cook something, get into stuff and make messes! {I call this life school.}
has a fascination with my printer ~ turning it on and off, trying to send a fax, making photo copies... LOVES the printer!
loves to be OUTSIDE, until it turned cold and now even on sunny days in the winter, he will go out to play.
loves to play on my phone {and is quite good at it}.
now, he wants to watch movies. This happened to Malachi right at age two.
is starting to take more of an interest in books.