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Tot Boxes and this year's plan... Banana (49 mos)

As promised, I have a plan.  Today, I will share this year's plan for my Tot Schooler, Banana.

Banana- 49 mos

I have been following Carisa's blog 1+1+1=1 for several years now.  I have always wanted to engage my kids in "learning" from a young age, and she made my goals make sense!  Tot School, as she calls it, is exactly what I needed to give some structure to our day.

I wanted to keep her activities simple and appropriate for her attention span.  I also wanted to be able to fit everything she needed onto one small bookcase (I already had it).  I found these boxes at Target in the Dollar Spot a few years ago and they work perfectly.

They are large enough for papers and supplies, but will also allow larger items (i.e. puzzles, books, etc.) to rest in them as well.  Six boxes fit on the bookcase well, so six it is.  Lucky me, Target had six colors!

Here's the plan...

To kick off our school day, we start with our calendar binder.  Banana does this with her older sisters, so it is a group effort.  This is a great way to focus on math skills and life skills from the very beginning.  She also loves being one of the "big girls".

Pages for her calendar binder are from Homeschool Creations and 1+1+1=1.

Then we move onto her boxes.  
Here is what filled her boxes today...

1. Green: Numbers- writing practice worksheet from Confessions of a Homeschooler

2. Red: Game- Apple Roll and Cover found at Ketchen's Kindergarten

We used M&Ms for cover our numbers... A yummy way to play!

3. Purple: Colors- Magnet/Dot Art page found over at Confessions of a Homeschooler

Apparently she got to this box before I could get a picture!

4. Blue: Puzzle- Turtle Puzzle from Confessions, as well

5. Green: Letter- Letter T lapbook

Download the lapbook here

Notes about the lapbook: The Bible verse comes from Carisa's Raising Rockstars preschool program.  I laminated the large letter Tt page so Banana could trace it with a dry erase marker.

6. Orange: Smart Skills- Fall Fun... 

Fall-themed printables I've found around the web- Dot Art sheets, Fall image matching cards, and a "how many" worksheet out of Jennifer Tillman's Fall Worksheets (FREE download!)

After each box is done, she puts the circle that is Velcro-ed to the side onto the tracking sheet.  I laminated it and attached it to the back of her calendar binder .  (The stars are for surprise activities I occasionally pull out.)

There are so many awesome options out there with what to put in your boxes/trays.  I will rotate the "theme" or type (circles) of activities in the boxes each day.  Sometimes there will be a book, bible verse memory work, cut-n-paste, art projects, etc.  She likes variety and I like that I can throw in a fun idea when I find one on Pinterest or an awesome blog. 

I will focus on 2-3 new letters each week, though... similar to Carisa's Raising Rockstars program and Erica's Letter of the Week program, just sped up a bit.  Banana already knows her letters by sight and sound (thanks to this FANTASTIC LeapFrog DVD), so my goal is for her to be able to execute writing the letter uppercase and lowercase by memory.  Working with each letter in various ways throughout the week will help solidify that in her mind.

I plan to start a K4 curriculum after the first of the year, but go to one letter per week and focus on more advanced skills and simple reading techniques.

That's the plan.  Carisa's method just works for me... for now. It will change, I'm sure.  Heck, even her's has evolved over time (and space)! 

Now it's your turn! What do you do with your tot?  
Share!

Reality Check

Good afternoon!

It seems that no matter how I plan, life gets in the way.  "Best laid plans" and all that.  Well, I have neglected this little blog for far too long and I need to resurrect it.  We have so much fun stuff going on in our little corner of the homeschool world that I would love to share it all with you.  

So here goes... this week's Reality Check.

1. I am homeschooling 2 elementary-aged kids this year.  And one tot/preK.  With a 15-month-old "participating" as well.  I feel like I spend all day schooling (and cleaning up schooling) at this point.  I may have to tweak that a bit and try to combine more, but 4th grade, 1st grade and preK are harder ages to combine.  We'll see.

2. I love workboxes.  I really love the IDEA of workboxes.  I even made up all the lovely velcro tracking sheets and number system... all of it.  But we never use it.  It just doesn't work for our family.  

Have you ever been afraid to give up on something you were so sure would work when you started out?  Yeah, me, too.

3. I am a planner.  I love to plan out exactly what I would love to have happen.  In a perfect world, it would happen just the way I have it on my spreadsheet.  But I have issues executing it all when it doesn't go as planned.  I always forget that kids get hungry, and tired, and cranky, and...

4.  I am NOT a morning person.  Luckily, 3 out of 4 kiddos aren't either.  But my day gets started way too late to get it all done, so I need to train this night owl to get up earlier.

Ok... That is my current reality.  Tomorrow I will tell you the plan for the year.  (I'm a planner, remember!)  How it gets executed is in God's hands.

And We're Back! Happy New Year!

Oh. My. Goodness.  What a fall/winter it has been.  Due to many gall bladder issues, I was in the hospital over the holidays.  Talk about bad timing!  I'm so thankful that our school schedule is planned out to have the month of December off!  This year, I needed it!

So that being said...  We're back!

I'm so ready to take on 2012 and really ramp up our schooling time.  I have so many great plans made and I hope I can get them all in.  I have been scouring the internet (Pinterest!) and have stockpiled (pinned) a bunch of great things to accomplish... and just a ton of fun that will be had by all.

Stay tuned.  I promise lots of great things are coming this year!

I'm still here!

I am so sorry that I have "disappeared" for a bit!  I was hospitalized with a gall bladder attack and have been recovering.  Chasing 4 kiddos has been about all I can handle lately!

I promise, our regularly scheduled posting will resume ASAP!

We have a winner!

We have a winner!  

Thank you for all that participated in the Curriculum Clean-Out.

I gave away Saxon Math-First Grade.

And the winner is...

Lindsey!

"MamaMunky said... I did all three things! Thanks for an awesome giveaway!"

Congrats, Lindsey!  I will be contacting you for your mailing info.

Check it out!

Check out this awesome Fall Learning Pack from Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations!

Tools We Use: Pattern Blocks

One of our favorite school tools is our pattern blocks.  What an amazingly versatile tool!

Pattern blocks help kiddos to:

~ build visual-spatial skills

~ increase pattern recognition

~ practice shape recognition

~ visualize how shapes work together to create new shapes

~ master color recognition

~ learn beginning math concepts

~ practice creativity

You can buy them in various forms (plastic, wood, foam, magnets) or print them out on cardstock and make a set of your own.

Printable pattern blocks

The standard selection in a set is as follows:

green triangles

orange squares

red trapezoids

blue rhombuses (or rhombi)

tan parallelograms

yellow hexagons

How we use them:

The most common way to use them, and how they got their name, is to create patterns with the shapes.  Since most sets use the standard color/shape combinations, you can find MANY free pattern printables on the net.  

Here is a good place to start:

Confessions of a Homeschooler (pictured above)

Once your kiddo has mastered basic patterning, they can move onto cooler things... animals, flowers, rockets... you know, REAL pictures! :)

Number Pattern Block Cards

Alphabet Pattern Block Cards

Pattern Block Pictures- Set 1 and Set 2

Simple Pattern Block Pictures

Safari Pattern Block Mats

Christmas Pattern Block Mats

Pattern Blocks Activity Cards

For my 8-year-old, I wanted to add a challenge.  I had her design her own animal/plant/object and then fill out this response sheet.  This had her reverse the process and use more of her critical thinking skills.

Other ways to use pattern blocks:

From SpellOutloud:

"Have children sort the blocks by shape. I folded a piece of paper and then traced a shape in each section. When sorting make sure to say the shape names (green triangles, orange squares, red trapezoids, blue rhombuses (or rhombi), tan parallelograms and yellow octagons.) Don't expect young children to know these names, but rather work on introducing the terminology to them."

From SpellOutload:

"Create color mats that match the pattern block colors. These can easily be made with pieces of fun foam or construction paper. Have the children sort the blocks by color. You don't have to do a color sort of all the colors at once. In fact, for very young children just starting this skill, having around three options for sorting is better."

Just stacking them is a great way to let your little ones explore shapes, colors, cause-and-effect and spacial relations (tall/short, top/bottom).  Those these concepts are simple, even our older ones need reminded of these skills while covering vocabulary and patterning.

Game Printable!

One of my girls' favorite games is "Action 1-2-3", a game I found on a homeschool blog some time ago.  (I'm sorry I can't find it now.)  To change it up this year, I created a new set of cards.  (We used our other set to death!)

Game directions:

1. Roll dice.

2. Pick a card.

3. Do action on card the number of times on the dice.

Example:

1. Roll dice. You roll a 4.

2. Pick a card. Your card says "Hop like a frog."

3. Do action on card the number of times on the dice. You hop like a frog 4 hops.

Great time-filler or a get-up-and-move transition game!

Let me know if you play it and how your kids liked it!

Curriculum Clean-Out!

Woohoo!  It's time for the bi-annual Curriculum Clean-Out hosted by Homeschool Creations!

For this Clean-Out I'll be giving away...

Saxon Math 1- First Grade

TO WIN:

1. Post a comment to this post.  Make sure to include your contact info!

2. Follow this site on Facebook and post back here that you do.

3. Subscribe to this site via email (see right sidebar) and leave a comment that you did.

The giveaway will end on Friday, September 30th.  Winner will be announced here and contacted on October 1st.

Hope I can bless one of you!