Tot Zone

Carisa over at 1+1+1=1 is hosting a linky asking people to share what their "Tot Zone" is like in their homes. I'm all over this one. I love seeing how other homeschools operate.

About my tot...

Kayleigh is 28 months old and she is, shall we say, very spirited and independent. That's the nice way of saying stubborn, defiant, and mischievious right? =o)

Tot School has not always gone smoothly for us. Up until the last few weeks she would categorically refuse to do any activities. And on the rare occasion that she felt like doing them she would use her baby mindgames do them incorrectly. On purpose. I still can't decide if that's what drives the most crazy about her or what I love most about her. It's a fine line. LOL

Our Set-up

We are very blessed to have a room purely dedicated to school. Our "Tot Zone" is part of our school room. And it has recently been overhauled thanks to our tax return and our friends at IKEA.


Here is some views of our room. I've only labeled the stuff that pertains to Kayleigh.


From the door....

Looking toward the door

Looking to the back of the room

I usually put out about 4 trays at a time. Mainly because that's how many trays fit best on the shelving that I have available for them. (We use Sonlight in our homeschool and it is a literature based curriculum so I need lots of shelves for books. LOL) The trays are generally a mix of of themed activities and skills, like #'s, colors, shapes, ABC's. I switch them out throughout the week. We also read tons and I try to get in a craft or two. But I'm not going to lie. I'm not very crafty.

I store learning toys in the Trofast bins in the homeschool room. Themed activities are kept in manilla envelopes, according to them of course, and stored in "Tot Pack" bin. I also have 4 "skill bins" for colors, shapes, #'s, and letters. Those house toys and games that I made specifically to aid in learning those skills. The bins are 15 qt. boxes with lids that I got at Wal-Mart. There is some craft stuff in the Trofast bins but most is on a shelf in the closet.

I allow her to play with certain tot stuff anytime, especially if I'm working with her sister. She has free reign over things like Mega Blocks, Bristle Blocks, Magneatos, Cardboard Blocks, instruments, basic puzzles, etc. The rest I keep for school time.

My Likes/Dislikes...

There's not much that I don't love about the room. I love the storage which consists of many Billy Bookcases and the Trofast Storage system. Worth every penny we spent. In fact, I'd like one more of the large Trofast units. =o) And the quality is soooo much better then the shelves we've gotten at Target or Walmart over the years.

I'd like to change the paint color. The red was here when we bought the house and it was fine until we added the brightly colored Trofast bins. It clashes now. I'd like a very pale blue I think. And I NEED a small table for Kayleigh to work at. She always wants to be up at the desk in sissy's spot and I think her own workspace will solve the problem.