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Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Freebie! Valentine Color Matching Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers


Holidays are a great jumping-off point for adding in some fun activities to your child's day. Even better are super easy activities you can print for free!

I have an Etsy shop and a Teachers Pay Teachers store where I sell printable activities for toddlers up to kindergartners. Occasionally I share free resources, and I wanted to share a few Valentines-themed resources with you here! 

The first free resource I'm going to share is this Valentine Color Matching activity. You can use this as a busy binder page and add it to your child's busy binder, or you can just use it as a reusable matching activity. 

This activity focuses on the six main colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The conversation hearts are also a great way to discuss the shape. 



Simply print the pages and laminate them both. Cut out the hearts on the second page and add Velcro dots to both the first page and the cut-out hearts to make this activity reusable and extra durable. 

You don't even have to add the Velcro dots, but it makes it easier for the hearts to stay in place. Some toddlers will get frustrated if the hearts move around, so the Velcro dots can hold the hearts where they need to be. I've also found that kids love the sound and sensory aspect of pulling the Velcro dots apart!

Simply click on the link below to download for free! Follow my blog and subscribe to my emails (on the right side of the page) to be alerted to even more freebies.



>>> Click Here to Download the Valentine Color Matching Activity <<<


Tuesday, January 30, 2024

What Are My Goals for Tot School?


It seems sort of crazy, doesn't it? To do "school" with a 16-month-old? What do I expect her to learn? Am I trying to raise a genius? 

I hope to answer these questions and more in this post.

First of all, let me give you my definition of what Tot School is because the word school may be deceiving.

Tot School is a dedicated time each day (maybe even a few times scattered throughout the day) where you lead your toddler in guided activities. These activities may enhance her fine motor skills or increase her vocabulary or meet her sensory needs. These activities are short, focused, and - most importantly - play-based and fun!

What are my goals for tot school?

My goals are pretty simple for tot school:
  • exposure to new concepts and ideas (like colors and shapes)
  • experience with new materials (like paint sticks and stickers)
  • engagement with activities (to increase attention span and curiosity)
I'll explain those below briefly.

Exposure

Exposing Zoey to new ideas is a great way to kickstart her learning. She sees colors all around, but now she knows they have names. Will she remember the names? Probably not for a while - but the exposure will stick with her, and when she's ready to learn the color names, it won't be a foreign concept to her.

Exposure takes place organically, but it's also something that I intentionally do. Here are a few examples:
  • When we're learning about the color red, I fill a small basket with familiar red items - a tractor, a magnetic tile, a wooden block, a counting bear, a bean bag. 
  • When we're learning about farm animals, I bring her barn out and name each animal as she grabs it. I may also make the animal noises for her to imitate.
  • When I teach her a rhyme, like the Itsy-Bitsy Spider, I'm exposing her to words, motions, and rhyme.
Looking at books is a great way to expose your toddler to new concepts.

Experience

Experience is probably the way that little ones learn the best. Most kids learn the most by doing, right? I know I do! When I give her the chance to experiment with new materials, like the paint sticks or stickers or a paintbrush and a bowl of water, she teaches herself how to use these new supplies - and how not to use them! 

When she dumps the water out, she realizes that the painting is over. When she draws on her head with the paint sticks, she understands that Mom takes them away! 


All of these incidents are learning experiences, and the more that she has, the more that she learns! Here are a few of the materials that Zoey is getting to work with:

  • Kwik Stix (paint sticks)
  • stickers of all kinds, but especially these (the size is perfect)
  • crayons and markers
  • pencils
  • glue sticks
  • different types of paper (tissue paper, construction paper, card stock)
  • sensory bins - water, oats, cereal
Painting with water is a mess-free activity for young toddlers!

Engagement

Every toddler has their own attention span, but they're all pretty short! Zoey has a very small attention span. She tires of an activity, a toy, a book, a puzzle very quickly. When I find something that really engages her, I try to remember to offer it again! 

Being engaged in an activity is building her ability to focus. That's one reason that doing these activities with your toddler is really important. Have you ever noticed that if you're sitting on the floor, building a tower with your toddler, they'll usually sit and play as long as you are with them? But the second you stand up to stretch or answer the door, they're done playing? When we're with our toddler, we are (knowingly or unknowingly) motivating them to play, giving them ideas, and strengthening their attention spans!

She played with the counting bears much longer when I sat and sorted them with her.

Do I use a curriculum?

Yes and no! I haven't always used a curriculum (with Zeke, I wrote my own curriculum and have sold over 250 in my Etsy shop). With Zoey, and at this busy time in my life right now, I need the structure of a curriculum. I'm using ABC Jesus Loves Me, Year One (the free curriculum), and it's working pretty well. I like having everything listed for me to, and all I do is plug it into my lesson plan template! I normally add a few activities for her to do, but that's just because I enjoy it.

You certainly don't have to use a curriculum. Do a quick search on Pinterest or on my blog under the Toddler School heading - there are tons of ideas with things you probably have in your house right now! 

How long does it take?

Zoey's attention span is around 2-4 minutes right now, so we do two or three activities spread throughout the day. Sometimes she will stay engaged in an activity for longer, and sometimes she won't even give it a second glance. If you're just starting out, I'd aim for two, five-minute segments a day!

Cereal is a wonderful sensory base for toddlers who put everything in their mouth!

What do I expect her to get out of it?

I don't want to raise a baby genius, and I don't expect her to memorize any information right now. She's just learning to talk! I do tot school for this main reason: I want Zoey to have uninterrupted, focused, one on one time with me every day. I want her to have the exposure, experience, and engagement that I discussed above. 

And I also expect to get something out of it - time to sit and enjoy these toddler years, time to forget about the dishes or laundry and just focus on reading a book, or rolling play dough snakes, or watching Zoey push pom-poms into an empty bottle. 

She loves to use glue sticks, and the tissue paper was a new material she got to experiment with.

What if my toddler doesn't like Tot School?


Tot School should be simple and fun and enjoyed by both you and your toddler. If one of you isn't enjoying it, then you need to change it up! Maybe you're expecting too much. If so, drop all of your expectations - after all, toddlers are the most unpredictable things ever. Maybe you're planning too many activities. If so, decrease to one a day for a while. Maybe you're doing activities that are above your toddler's skill level. If so, set up a few things that are mistake-proof and easy, like dropping craft sticks into a water bottle. 

Is it worth the time and effort?

I absolutely think Tot School is worth the time and effort it takes! The investment is minimal, but the payout is abundant! Taking ten minutes on the weekend to plan out five days' worth of activities isn't a sacrifice at all! Spending ten or twenty minutes a day on focused play with your toddler will benefit you both greatly! 

If you need ideas for Tot School, follow my blog. I have posted many different things I've done with both Zeke and Zoey (search under "tot school" or "toddler school" to the right). 

Have you started Tot School with your little one?

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Weekly Highlights: Last Full Week of January

Somehow, I skipped my Weekly Highlights post last week! I think I've decided to post it on Sundays, after the week has been completed! I’m going to do it a little differently than usual -  I'm also just going to do what the title says - hit on the highlights of the week! Don’t forget to link up your posts from the week at the bottom!

I was so happy to see Silas helping Titus with his batting. Even though it was a cold and wet day, he still helped him out. They're 2 years and 1 month apart and have always been the best of friends - until lately. I'm sure it's just the 13-year-old and 11-year-old maturity differences, but it's been really making me sad to hear all of the arguing they've been doing. To see them outside, laughing and having a good time together with zero prompting from me, was a big highlight of my week!




The boys also got much needed haircuts today! Rod's aunt usually cuts their hair, but she couldn't do it until mid-February, and we couldn't wait that long. I woke them up this morning and drove them to town to the barber shop on Main Street. It was our first visit there, but the barber was really fast and efficient! I think we may be going back there next time, too. 

Zeke is always good for his haircuts.

We had Cowboy Church on Thursday. My dad has been preaching, and they have different people come and sing. This week it was a couple from our church, and I love to hear them sing together! We ate finger foods afterwards. I brought tuna fish sandwiches and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. It was a really fun evening.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mom came over to visit on Friday and took Zeke and Zoey to her house for a little while. I got to clean up a bit, go to the church to get the fellowship hall tables decorated for February, and then I ran to town. I went to Wal Mart and picked up a few things I needed before picking up Titus from baseball practice. It was nice to have a few hours to myself without the two little ones!




We did I is for Insect this week for Zeke's kindergarten, and Week 5 in ABC Jesus Loves Me for Zoey's Tot School. You can read more about that by clicking the pictures below, if you're interested.


All in all, it was a quiet week, but I really enjoyed it. How was your week? Let me know in the comments. Link up any post from your week below!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Saturday, January 27, 2024

Share Four Somethings: January


I'm linking up with Jennifer for Share 4 Somethings! We're sharing things we've LOVED, ACCOMPLISHED, IMPROVED UPON, and NOTICED this month.

I've LOVED:

  • Cowboy Church on Thursdays
  • having Rod home for the past two weeks
  • watching Titus enjoy junior high baseball practice
  • seeing Zoey's personality just shine out


I've ACCOMPLISHED:
  • the kids helped me clean out a few of or kitchen cabinets, and I got rid of a few things I no longer needed
  • consistency with tot school for Zoey and kindergarten with Zeke, even when the kids and Rod have been home
  • wiped down my car's interior after all the mud and snow (still need to vacuum it out)
  • reading my Bible and working through Search the Scriptures

- I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Cowboy Church -
I've IMPROVED:
  • since Zoey's been born, I've had a brain fog like I've never had - but I feel like the fog is slowly lifting, so I've been more organized and less forgetful lately
  • the house has been staying a bit cleaner since I've started rotating the kids with an evening chore - one sweeps, one mops, one washes dishes, and it helps me tremendously


I've NOTICED:
  • I'm trying to notice the beauty around me more often, like a sunset or the color of the sky against the leaves
  • lots of cardinals and doves around
  • everyone is always on their phones - nobody knows how to just wait without scrolling anymore - even the old men in the barber shop this morning were just mindlessly scolling social media - my kids and I were the only ones not on the phone while waiting



Thanks for stopping by!

My Father's World Kindergarten: I is for Insects

Insects are always such a fun theme for young kids! I decided not to deviate too much from the lesson plans in MFW because I feel like they're complete just as they're written - but there are so many fun things you can add on to this theme.

Every day we add to his 100 chart and calendar, saying the days of the week and months of the year. 

MONDAY:

We talked about ants today. We read in the A-to-Z book about insects, and I pulled out our jumbo plastic ant to talk about the different parts of an insect - the three body parts, six legs, and antenna. It helps Zeke to have visuals, so I'm glad I kept up with this set!





We read about ants in Proverbs and talked about how hard they work. We also started memorizing Colossians 3:23 in the NIV translation.

I found a cute math page with an ant on it, so I printed it out for Zeke. He had to read the numbers, add one and two and subtract one and two from each one. This was good practice and it counted as math for him today.



He also colored and cut apart his word cards, placing them in an envelope like he does each week, completed two pages in his Rod and Staff workbook, and then we called it a day!

TUESDAY

We started off with his handwriting page and sound discrimination page. 




I had a ladybug symmetry worksheet for Zeke to complete. He did a fantastic job! We used the jumbo ladybug from the insects set to talk about the parts of an insect again. 



For math he did a ladybug addition worksheet and one page in Abeka. 



I made an Insect Rescue with our plastic bugs, a wooden tray, some yarn, and some tongs. I simply poured the bugs on the tray, tied off the yarn, wrapped it around the tray every which way, and then tied it off again. Zeke loved doing this! He rescued them all and then asked to do it again. Of course, I said yes! Then he sorted them by type, and we discussed which were insects and which ones weren’t. 






WEDNESDAY:

Today Zeke completed a ladybug craft that doubled as a math activity! He had to color the lady bugs and put an even number of dots on each side. Then he cut out a leaf and glued the ladybugs to the leaf.





He also did his math worksheet from My Father's World and the cut and paste reading worksheet.



We had to cut school short because we ran some errands in town. It was pouring rain and the roads were beginning to flood, so we went ahead and did what we had to do. I planned to do some math when we got home, but it didn't work out!

THURSDAY:


Today we did the blend ladder page and read his word list. He’s getting a little better at sounding out the CVC words.



 

He also did an insect/not insect sorting worksheet that I found for free.




He did two pages in Abeka math and two pages in his Rod and Staff workbook. He loves those cut and glue activities! 




FRIDAY:


Today Zeke did his drawing page. This is always my favorite! He drew an igloo, insect, inch, and inchworm! 


He also completed a math page in Abeka and one from the Rod and Staff workbook he likes so much. We reviewed letter sounds and he read the words “on” and “in” and glued them to the correct picture. I didn’t get a picture of that side of the worksheet!

I feel like Zeke needs a little more reading instruction than he is getting. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to supplement with - maybe just some games and hands on activities - but I have the weekend to plan it out! 

Again, we don’t do a few of the activities I had planned, like painting a ladybug rock and playing with hexagons, but it was still a fun week of kindergarten!