Toddler "School"

E(2) and I have fun having "school" together during the afternoons while O(5) listens to audio books on the ipad (tales 2 go...this is O's favorite part of the day!  That girl LOVES to listen to audio books!).   E likes to pretend that she is the "mama."

She was teaching me how to sew.  I love for her to be the mama or teacher...so cute!






She really loved matching these art cards (from A Bit of This and That)!  E(2) especially loves the Degas cards, and we spent some time looking at the painting and talking about it.












She had fun playing with our water beads.  It's fun to squeeze them in our hands.  (Don't leave your child unsupervised with waterbeads...they look like candy!)






We had lots of fun playing with blocks, and then we really enjoyed making the block patterns while looking at the pattern cards.







One of E's favorite activities is playing with unit blocks...so much fun, and she's learning so much through this free and independent play.  This is one her recent "houses."  She was SO proud of herself!






Sorting silverware is always fun!





Matching animals in her animal flip book.




E spends the vast majority of her time engaging in pretend play, listening to me read aloud, dancing, and playing outside.  However, she does enjoy having "school"  a few times a week (for maybe 20 to 30 minutes at a time...it just depends on the day).  She spends maybe 5 to 10 minutes per week on printables (worksheets)...she likes them, but I am careful to not overdo this type of activity at her age.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into what sweet E has been up to in our "Lakeside Homeschool!"

Here is the link to E's blocks (per email request from a reader).

These are not the exact blocks that we have, but they are similar.  

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"I" Week

During "I" week, E(2) had fun tracing a sandpaper "i."  She matched a tiny igloo to the sandpaper letter.




We had fun reading the "I" story about "itchy insects" in our Amazing Action Alphabet book.   E had fun scratching her knees while saying "i, i, i."





We read an "i" book (that I bought from the thrift store for 25 cents).





E enjoyed a few iguana printables from 1+1+1=1.  She liked coloring the iguanas with her dot painters.







She also had fun painting the "I" with her dot painters.





She found an insect and kept putting him on top of the dot painter tops that she had stacked.  When she put him on the top, she said "King of the world!"





She liked cutting out the iguanas and gluing them to her "I."










She fed insects to the frog.





We looked at the "I" from our Alphabet Stomp Game and talked about the pictures.

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Quick and Easy Letter ID Game

One morning during our Lakeside Homeschool, I needed to think of something quickly to keep E(2) happy while O(5) finished her work.  I quickly wrote several rows of letters on a wipe-off board and gave E the eraser.  She erased the letters as I called out the letter name or sound.  She enjoyed this activity until she had erased about half of the letters, and then she was done!

Polishing Silver

E(2) spent a long time (maybe 15 to 20 minutes) polishing a silver cup when we were at O's school for her last day.  She loved every minute of it!  Since O(5) also loves the polishing works, I'm planning to have several of this type of activity set up in our new school room.

To polish the silver cup, E(2) dipped a q-tip in toothpaste and rubbed the toothpaste all over the cup.  She then wiped it all off with a small washcloth.  Fun and simple!

Water Transfer with a Baster

E(2) and I spent O's last day of school with her (I am the class photographer, and I'm making the school yearbook, so I wanted to get pics of graduation practice and last day activities).  I didn't actually intend for E(2) to do "work" like the other students, but she jumped right in, and since it was fine with O's teacher, it was fine with me.  E thoroughly enjoyed herself, and she showed me several works that she wants to have on her homeschool shelves.  She particularly likes any "work" involving water.

She enjoyed transferring the water from one bowl to the other using a baster.  This is an easy and fun work that I'll definitely be putting on the Montessori shelf in our new school room!

A Fun Transferring Activity

I revamped our frog and insect transferring activity by adding in a set of chopsticks and putting it on a new tray.  E(2) was EXCITED when I offered it to her this morning!


She loved feeding the insects to the frog, and she did a great job.


I love that we can do "school" activities on our deck.  We almost never used our deck until we FINALLY (after several years of thinking about it) bought furniture for it about a month or so ago.  Now, we eat all of our meals out there, paint out there, the girls dance and put on recitals, and the girls have started playing in their formally neglected deck playhouse almost everyday.  Good times!

The "School" Plan for E(2)

I realized as I was writing the post about O(5)'s first grade curriculum that I should also share my plan for E(2).  Then after getting countless emails and a few comments asking about it, I realized I should write it sooner rather than later!  So, here is the plan for E(2)...


I will have several Montessori shelves set up for E...practical life, sensorial, math, reading, etc.  The girls will have some shelves with shared items (science, art, music), and some shelves that are just for one or the other (although I'm sure they'll go back and forth with them).  I'll give E lessons on any new "work" and she will be able to choose the work that interest her.  I plan to put out lots of work involving animals since she really loves animals.  (I'm hoping that she'll work independently while O and I do her math and reading lessons.  If not, she can join us and we'll make it work.)


E will participate in the art lessons and projects and the composers study.  She has REALLY enjoyed studying the various artist each month so far, and I think she has enjoyed it as much (or more) than O!  I am anticipating that she will LOVE the composer study and will probably dance her way through the study.  (she instantly becomes "Clara" from The Nutcracker anytime she hears classical music).


E will participate in all of the Spanish lessons and Sign Language lessons.  She LOVES Little Pim, and she loves learning sign language.  She stands in front of our ASL ABC poster and tries to make the hand signs for the various letters. 


I'm sure that E will also want to join in when we are reading the books that go along with O's Ancient History and American History curriculum.  She enjoys listening to chapter books and asks tons of questions as I read (which is sometimes frustrating for O).   I'm sure she will also participate in our science experiments and nature study.  I'll adapt the materials for her and give her a nature notebook and crayons so that she can do her own work while O is working. 


E has been receiving ABC Fun Packs this year (a subscription that I put together as part of her 2nd bday gift), and next year she will receive a weekly or bi-weekly book and activity in the "mail."  I'll use the books and activities from BFIAR, Peak with Books, and FIAR Volume 2.


I'll use Montessori at Home by John Bowman as a guide for activities for E, and I'll also look back to Chasing Cheerios 2009 for activities (unfortunately a lot of the pics are missing from that year, but maybe I'll get them restored this summer...). 


E will spend the vast majority of her time listening to books read aloud, playing outside and digging in the dirt, and playing pretend with whatever she chooses  (boxes, straws, dress-up clothes, play food, blocks, etc. ).   Although there are so many tempting printables out in blogland, I am going to try to avoid worksheet type activities for E as much as possible.

Rainbow Water Xylophone

E(2) and I had a great time making a rainbow water xylophone last weekend!  (since we hadn't done this activity in more than a year, I decided it was time...we repeat a lot of our activities around here...if it's fun, repeat!)


First, E poured water into 7 glass baby bottles (leftover from my breastmilk storage days).


She added food coloring to each bottle of water.


Then she made music!  She quickly handed the mallet to me and said "Play the music, mama, so I can dance!"




Here's a quick video of E having fun with her rainbow water xylophone!


She discovered that she can make music on the porch railing, too!


We decided to leave the rainbow water xylophone on our outdoor table as a fun centerpiece, and they girls have had fun playing with it every day at mealtimes!