Tot School - Aug 8-15

Esther is 33 Months Old

We finally had a week of tot school that was a little more planned and that I was able to take pictures of.

For Fine Motor Control we practiced folding using pages from a Kumon "Let's Fold" book.

Nature
We learned about White Pine trees and what makes them special. The needles are soft to the touch,

and sometimes can be sticky.

There are five needles to a bundle.

And they grow to be very big.

We used different parts of the White Pine tree to make a collage of the number five which was our project for Math Readiness.
Edit: I just realized I did not add that I got the idea for the five from the book "Nature for the Very Young". I took her idea and tweaked it a bit for us, but it was not my own inspiration.

After this directed art project, I let her use the left over materials to make a collage of her choosing.
You may not see it, but there is a rock covered in glue in there. This is definitely a project for outside.

The White Pines we were looking at were on the edge of a parking lot. Esther Loved walking on the curb, which made me happy, providing a Gross Motor Skill for the week.
Reading Readiness
We mainly just do a lot of reading, but recently I started something new. After we have read a book several (hundred) times, I encourage Esther to then read the book to one of her dolls.

This way she is practicing re-telling the story and playing at the same time.

Life Skills

We worked on our sewing and I also let her cut a banana with a butter knife for the first time (no picture to show since both hands had to be ready just in case)


Art
After reading some of Charlotte Mason's writings, I decided to add a little art appreciation to our house. I purchased some used books that had colored pictures of paintings. I then cut out a picture, framed it and placed it on our dining room table.

It will stay here for the entire month of August. Periodically I may point it out to Esther, or she may ask about it. There are days when there is no interaction with it, but it is always on display.

Esther is TOTALLY into glue right now. So I gave her a bottle of glue, paper and four different shakers with colored salt and let her go.
She had so much fun, that she sat there for 20 minutes!! This kid never sits still for that long. I am definitely stocking up on glue.

That was our week for Tot School. To see what others are doing, click the button below.