Tot School - 33 Months

H is 33 months old and it's amazing how much his attention span and capacity for learning new things has jumped in the past month.  The line between Tot School and Homeschool Kindergarten (with big sisters) has become blurred as H participates in most of our homeschooling activities.  Here's a bit of what he's been up to lately..

Tot School - 30 Months

Now that H is 2.5 years old, we've decided to put him to work on the farm.  Here he is milking the cow..  :)  Actually, H's "Tot School" time has been full of playing, exploring, fun, and learning (even on vacation).  He loves to participate in "circle time" with his older sisters and soaks up new information like a sponge.  Here's a tiny peep into some of his favorite activities lately..

Tot School - 28 Months

Baby H is almost 2.5!  My little boy is really going through a big developmental growth spurt right now as he's communicating more effectively, following directions, and craving more challenging learning activities.  He always asks to "do school" (so he can be like his big sisters, of course).  Here are some of the activities I've been giving him..

Tot School - 25 Months

H (25 months) wants to do everything his older sisters do, so when he gets to work on his own learning activities, he just glows and I can tell he feels like a "big boy".  I've been trying out some new tot trays on him lately and he tackles each new challenge with so much enthusiasm.  Here's a glimpse into what he's been up to..

Tot School 24 Months {Yes, My baby is 2!!}

I'm still in shock that my little dude is 2 years old!  My tiny helpless baby has turned into such a sweet, amazing, and independent toddler.  I've been having a great time playing alongside him and watching him learn and grow in leaps and bounds.  Here are some of the activities we've been enjoying together lately during our Tot School sessions..

Tot School - 23 Months

Baby H will be a 2-year-old in less than a month!  He is such a fun little kid to play with and I find great joy in our special Tot School time when I can interact with him one-on-one.  Here are some of the learning activities he's been enjoying this month...

Tot School - 22 Months

Baby H (22 months old) has been getting lots of Tot School time every day in his high chair while his older sisters complete their worksheets.  I've been trying to provide a variety of games and learning activities for him, but I'm honestly having a hard time keeping up with this kid since he picks things up so quickly.  Here's what we've been up to...

Tot School - 21 Months Old

H is 21 months old - I can't believe that 2-years-old is just around the corner! Lately, I've been really absorbed in working with H's older sisters (almost 4 years old) now that they've started reading, so getting that one-on-one Tot School time with my little boy is really special for us both.  H is such a quick learner that I often have a hard time keeping up with him and thinking up activities that are enough of a challenge for my clever little dude...

Tot School - 18 months

Baby H is 18 months old.  I haven't been keeping up with taking photos of all our learning activities and explorations lately, but I really want to write about all the neat thing my little boy has been doing...

Tot School - 17 Months

H is 17 months old.  I have to gush about the photo above - aren't those sweet little hands just the cutest?  The learning spurt is still in full swing and we've been doing many different activities to stimulate all the senses and practice fine motor skills...

Tot School - 16 Months

Baby H is 16 months old.  I have to admit that I'm super-excited about him reaching the age where he understands more and can do focused activities.  It's been hard dividing my attention up between three young kids, especially when his older sisters are doing things that are, frankly, more interesting for a parent to engage in.  Although H is perfectly content exploring various toys on his own or watching me work with his sisters, I've still managed to carve out certain times of the day just for him.  I really enjoy our special one-on-one time playing and learning together.  I usually don't "spoil the moment" by taking out my camera when I'm playing with H, but I managed to capture a couple of the homemade games and activities we've been doing..

Baby School - Stacking and Building

H is 15 months old, but all these pictures were taken last month at 14 months old.  He's really been into building and stacking lately, and I wanted to post an update featuring his latest talents..

Baby School - In and Out / On and Off

Baby H is 14 months old.  He is now walking around unassisted (he's not a baby anymore!), and is constantly imitating sounds and trying to communicate.  He makes up his own funny games to play and has a wonderful sense of humor (constantly trying to play tricks on his mom and then laughing).  I didn't do a special theme this week, but tried to give him lots of opportunities for practicing "in and out" and "on and off".  He's definitely trying to say those words (although they all sound alike).  Here are just a few of the things he's been doing that I remembered to take pictures of..

Homeschool Preschool - Week 11

L and E are 3 years old (39 months).  I was still battling a sinus infection this week (which is finally clearing up with antibiotics), so once again our Homeschool Preschool time involved more games, fine motor skills practice, dramatic play, and ad-hoc activities than the usual planned work-trays.  It was a great week for working on visual-spatial reasoning, problem solving, and creativity...

Homeschool Preschool Week 10

L and E are 39 months old.  This week's preschool time was less organized than usual due to Halloween and the fact that I have a nasty head cold.  Rather than our typical math and reading lessons, we spent most of the week trying on different costumes and going on imaginary adventures, rediscovering games that have been sitting in the closet for a while, building things, and playing miscellaneous logic/memory games that I made up...

Baby School - Colors Theme

Baby H is 13 months old.  Although I try to always point out colors to H as we're playing, I thought I'd try a 'colors theme' for Baby School this week and focus on activities that will help him with color recognition.  I don't want my baby to learn things by staring at flashcards, but rather by touching, playing, and experiencing the world around him.  So that's what we did...

Welcome to Baby School

Baby H is 13 months old.  Most of H's day is spent observing his sisters playing, but I always try to fit in some new learning experiences that are geared just towards him (mostly sensory explorations and Montessori-inspired activities).  I figure that it's time for H to get his own Baby School weekly post showing all the neat things he has been discovering lately.  I didn't get a chance to capture all the cool activities we've been doing this week, but I'll share a handful of them..

Homeschool Preschool Week 7

We were on vacation last week, so this week involved recovering from the vacation (laundry, cleaning, getting back on a routine).  We ended up doing a lot of learning activities, but most of them were ad-hoc things I came up with or games that we hadn't played with in a while.  Here are some of the things we did..

Rain-Themed Preschool Activities

We live in a state where it seems like we hardly get rain (it's either really sunny or snowing), so I took advantage of a rainy day to put together an impromptu rain theme for our Homeschool Preschool.  I'm surprised that I was able to come up with so many creative activities without any preparation, and the kids had a lot of fun.  Here are some of the things we did:

Homeschool Preschool: Week 5

L and E are almost 38 months old.  We seemed to get our groove back this week with our Preschool routine, and fit in lots of fun and educational activities.  I've already shared many of our Preschool activity boxes on this blog, so I'll just include the ones that were new this week...