Tot-school | Week 9 | Letter INovember 20, 2016
This week’s tot-school…
…was handicapped!
Many alphabetical letters have too many basic words to choose from, not so with the letter I. It’s a tough week to find resources for and very hard to find things that a toddler will recognise that use the phonetic ‘ih’ sound and not the ‘aye’ sound. I’m hoping that the second time round we can concentrate more on the igloo and ink that are both phonetic and lend themselves to crafts, though this time I stuck with the already vaguely familiar ice related objects and the colour indigo in our unplanned play and songs.
Tot-school was hindered this week by much activity. Daddy needed to travel for work and a family funeral meaning that almost every day it was a mummy and Adam show. Knowing I’d struggle with this I overcompensated and invited people over, our nap times went awry and the resulting short tot-school sessions, when they happened, achieved little. In all honestly if it had been another letter I’d probably repeat this week but I’ve decided to plow onward. Sadly I had untouched activities left at the weeks end, but perhaps some of them can bless someone else.
The pack I’ve made is available for download at the end of the post.
This weeks read more questions:
singing the rainy-bow Bing song. Adam has just learn to sing and the Bing version starts with purple then indigo! Mummy loved both the crafts as per usual and seeing Adam do some well controlled lines.
the puzzle flopped. I tried to cut it into 4 again but the image was too narrow and it turned out just too difficult.
you’ll notice quickly that the font I’ve chosen to use has an uppercase I without a ‘stand and hat’, for this reason I needed to create a special letter image for some pages. Changing font may have been easier but I struggled to find one I liked as much.
Tot-school | Week 8 | Letter HNovember 12, 2016
This week’s tot-school…
…was compact!
Letter H was awash with ideas as there are so many great H related things we could use. For the printable pack we went with Horse (which Adam calls a ‘horsie’) and house, but that didn’t stop us from adding activities using hearts, hammers and even Hoppity Voosh from the TV show Bing! (Separate post coming for Hoppity Voosh)
This week we had something in the family diary every single day. If it wasn’t someone coming to see us it was half days of one parent. Tot-school was often shorter because of this, sometimes happening in the evening and while we got through loads we actually spent less time than usual doing tot-school.
The pack I’ve made is available for download at the end of the post.
This weeks read more questions:
Horses was a great theme though we identified well with all the H words and the now familiar word spinner proved popular. Hammers proved popular too and a renewed love for his toolbox has appeared.
Glue. While Adam loves applying the glue he likes the loose pieces aspect and while he rarely repeats a craft he wants the option. Also the hammer activity with play dough under the sheet was great, but wobbly tees had us folding the play dough in half, twice, to get the right thickness!
I’m hoping to cover the whole alphabet but planning to stop for December and do Christmas related bits instead. We travel mid December for 2 weeks with grandparents and would rather pause to enjoy other activities with family.
A two year oldNovember 10, 2016
Last month Adam turned two.
We bought him Lego Duplo which mummy and daddy Adam is having lots of fun with.
I loved Adam’s first birthday party with the hordes of people and the slight chaos of having so many non verbal kids in one room. I loved the homely feel and seeing Adam’s toys being really well used. I loved making decorations and laying the table with the dream of a pinterest worthy spread. It was hard work. This year I couldn’t face it.
Instead we hired a soft play place, got a friend to make a simple cake, and left the staff to run after the kids (for the few minutes they let us out of their sight). I figure he won’t remember so we didn’t need fireworks on the cake (potential scare averted), or party games, or pretty decorations around the house that he’ll probably just wreck. It was bliss and without all the frills of a party to purchase it wasn’t as crazy expensive as expected. I’m well aware this level of ignorance won’t last though.
Now we have a very verbal toddler, with all the associated energy we are having real fun exploring the things toddlers do, like jumping in puddles and pretend housework. Every object is a new word, perhaps 2 and he’s eager to soak them all in. The world is there to explore and discover. Mummy still struggles with the question of nursery, with the lack of peer play, it’s a tough call either way.
And so you’ll find us at the train set, or building blocks. We may be scribbling over pictures beginning with a given letter or dancing about to whatever music comes our way, or no music at all.