Tot School

Kayleigh is 27 months old



We had a short week this week, only two days worth of Tot School. We got busy with errands. Important ones like the Scholastic Warehouse Sale. Because homeschoolers never have enough books. Not even homeschoolers like us, who use Sonlight.

The plan this week was to start our Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. I had pulled activities from Carisa's VHC Tot Pack, Confessions of a Homeschooler's LotW (C), and Making Learning Fun. So we still have a lot to continue our theme for a while.


Of course, we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Several times. Kayleigh liked sticking her fingers in the holes. Just like Mackenzie used to.


We did a VHC magnet page that used Magnets of varying sizes. She actually did a pretty good job of using the correct sizes.

We sorted big and little caterpillars using COAH's caterpillar sorting printables. We used a different mat, as Kayleigh hasn't been ready for sorting more than 2 objects yet. But she did a great job this time so next week I think we'll attempt to sort small, medium, and large caterpillars.

My biggest surprise was when we played with the Shape Learning Wheel from 1+1+1=1. She matched them all correctly. The first time. None of her usual "mommy mind games" where she goes through every incorrect choice and then refuses to try the right one. Woot! We used the shapes from our Lauri Toys Primer Pack as our game pieces.

We practiced our colors while playing with our MEGA Bloks .

She's finally showing an interest in the LeapFrog Tag Junior that she got for Christmas.

We worked on number recognition with this cute activity from No Time for Flashcards. We just did numbers 1-5 because that's what we're working on at the moment. Kayleigh was really cooperative, again. She tried really hard to get the stickers on the dots and didn't try to add extras. I'm enjoying this more cooperative Tot Schooler. (Disclaimer: The cooperation has not permeated the rest of our lives. LOL)

And Kayleigh's favorite thing this week was a new book that she got at the Book Fair, My First Jumbo Book of Shapes. We've probably read it about 50 times since Wednesday. I'll have to see if I can't find the rest of the series.

Hop on over to 1+1+1=1 and see what the other Tot Schoolers have been up too.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday homeschool friends!

It was a good week here. Not only did we get to do some shopping at the Scholastic Warehouse sale, we finished all of our work for the week, plus some extra. Not bad considering the interruption. Can you tell we're eager to finishe the year?

Let's start with the things that are finished for the year.

We'll start with Stick Starz. It is sponsored by the USA Field Hockey Association and the girls got to play on the official USA field hockey turf because we live down the road from the National Training Center. It's an 8-week clinic that introduces the sport and develops some the skills of the game.

Their main coach, Nick, is on the Men's Olympic team. Yes, men actually play field hockey. Who knew? Not me. I'm from Michigan and I'd never even heard of field hockey until I moved to VA. And even then only because I have a friend who's into it. But, apparently, men's field hockey is the #2 sport in the world. Just not here so much. It was a learning experience for all.

Next thing that we crossed off of our list was Brownies. We are done!!! They bridged this week and it's one less thing I have to drive to during the week. Woot! Actually, we are finished with Girl Scouts forever. I've decided, for a variety of reasons, the GS program is no longer for us. Mackenzie is bummed but they are starting to make changes that are no longer in line with our family values. I heard that there's an American Heritage Girls club somewhere around here so I might look into that. Or not.

Anyhow, here's some shots of the Bridging Ceremony.

In academics...

We learned about the Erie Canal in The Landmark History of the American People and The Story of the Erie Canal. Good book. We finished it in one sitting. Now we're three days ahead which means we're 3 days closer to our end date. Woot!

She learned a bit about Marie Curie in Marie Curie's Search for Radium. Finished that early too. Yay!

In match, she's suddenly stumbling a bit. 3-digit muliplication is suddenly giving her a hard time. Partially because she can be sloppy and partially because she's suddenly forgotten single-digit mulitplication. So I bought Times Tales and we'll be using that to beef up her facts.

We were studying the California tribes this week in The American Indian Prayer Guide. There was a Native American History Pocket on one of the many California tribes, the Maidu. So we worked on that.

Her favorite activities were the Seed Beater and the Bear Rattle.

Well that is our week! Be sure that you pop on over to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and check out what everyone else is up to.

Tot School

Kayleigh is 27 months old

This week we finished up a few things left from our Zoo/Jungle theme but, for the most part, the majority of our activities were "themeless." And Kayleigh was cooperative for the most part. That makes 3 weeks in a row for those of you who are counting. =o)




Here she is sorting hearts and stars. I got the mats here. I love her site! Love it!! I decided to do just two shapes because Kayleigh doesn't like to sort normally. I thought she might be willing to sort a couple of objects. She likes hearts and stars so I was hoping those particular shapes would encourage participation. Which they did. By the way, you can get the buttons here.

Notice the bottle. Please note that as a baby she would not take a bottle. EVER! Which meant I could not leave her. EVER. Not even as an older baby because she refused baby food as well. Now, she'll randomly ask for one every month or so. Sometimes we give it to her because we think it's funny in an ironic sort of way.

Here she is working on her fine motor skills with spaghetti and a sugar shaker from the Dollar Tree. She really loved this. I'm glad I finally remembered to buy the shaker.

She played with her foam number puzzle (Dollar Tree). Mommy named the numbers and she banged them into place with a toy hammer. (I love Carisa for thinking of that. Everythings more fun with a hammer.)

She did the shape puzzles from her Lauri Toys Primer Pack.

She made a picture with some zoo stickers that I happened to find with our art supplies. That was a spur of the moment addition.

She painted black stripes on an orange tiger print out using a pipe cleaner.

Big Sis was making a Navajo-style necklace as part of her schoolwork and Kayleigh was jealous. So we Kayleigh made a tot version. I had her put stickers on the "pendant." I guess the Fourth of July stars aren't very Navajo-like but Kayleigh liked them.

After the necklace was together, she refused to wear it. LOL

She really likes sitting on the big potty. Don't be too impressed, she doesn't actually go to the bathroom yet. She likes to sit there because Sissy does. LOL

Here she is ready to pray before dinner. I'm trying to get one that isn't blurry but haven't had much luck. But blurry or not, it's still adorable. And heaven help you if you don't start praying fast enough


She also did a great job of transferring pom poms from a basket into an icecube tray. With tongs. I took pictures. Then I formatted my disc in prepartion for my nieces dance recital and forgot to upload them. Ughhh! I hate it when I do that.

And that was our week. Be sure to check out the other tot's over at 1plus1plus1.

Weekly Wrap-up

Happy Friday homeschooling friends!! I hope you all had a great week.

We have recovered from our two weeks of interruptions and had a productive week. I'm hoping to keep this up until we're invaded by family the first two weeks in June.

Here are some of our highlights.

We started reading Calico Bush as our read aloud. So far this book has been great. It started off slow but it picks up. It's filled with emotion and drama and keeps you wanting more. If I weren't dealing with a bit of sinus drainage this week, we'd probably have finished it early. Be aware, there are definately some sensitive topics, so it's not one to let your child read on their own. This is one book where you find yourself emotionally invested in the lives of the characters. I have a feeling we'll be reading through the weekend because we're dying to know what happens next.

In history, Mackenzie read Imprisoned in the Golden City. It is about the life of Adoniram Judson, America's first missionary. This was one I was supposed to read aloud to Mackenzie but we decided to let her read it silently so that we could finish faster. I read it on my own as well. The book was scheduled over two weeks but she finished it early. It's a very exciting story and Mackenzie just devoured it. She kept commenting on the different ways God worked in their lives. Which is what I like to hear.

For her read aloud she is reading Naya Nuki. It's a story about the real friend of Sacagawea and how she escaped from a rival tribe. Not only is it exciting to hear all that this girl went through to get back to her people, it's a book that helps fill in some of the "big picture" regarding Sacagawea's life. Perfect since we just finished studying about her.




We studied the Navajo this week in The American Indian Prayer Guide. There was a Navajo pocket in our Native American History Pockets that we worked on. Mackenzie's favorite activities were...

Making a Navajo Necklace

And making a Navajo rug using crayon resist and watercolors.

We worked on some life skills by making some yummy strawberry bread and muffins with our farm fresh strawberries. We omitted the nuts and added about a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to ours. (Didn't want the chocolate overpowering the berries.) Mmm....



And we tended to our little garden. Our hard work is starting to pay off.


Add in some math, science and her CAT results, and that was our week.

Hop on over to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and check out what everyone else was up to this week.