Raising Readers

Elliott and I are raising readers! We started reading aloud to both girls while they were still in utero, and we've read to them every day since their births. It has paid off, and they both LOVE books!

Reading aloud to my girls is one of my favorite things to do, but even if you don't enjoy it, you should still do it. Reading aloud to your children is one of the simplest things you can do that will have a tremendous impact on their educational development.

Lately, when E(1) gets quiet we can find her "reading" to her friends. She gathers her animals and/or babies and surrounds herself with books! I love it! I love how she arranged her bear to look at the book.


While I was making lunch on Saturday, I suddenly realized that E was very quiet. I felt a moment of dread and fully expected to find her covered with lotion or vaseline or something else that would be difficult to clean. I was SO relieved when I saw this!

I LOVE that our girls love books, and I hope that their love of books and reading will continue throughout their lives.

Learning Her Letters

I put the E(1) sandpaper letter on E(1)'s Montessori shelf. She enjoys tracing it with her finger. I was so surprised a few days ago when she picked the letter up from her shelf and said "e!" She's proud of her e!

I Spy Bag with Beans and Animals

I made an "I Spy" bag for E(1) for our recent road trip. I used a zippered pouch (pencil case) that I filled with mixed beans, plastic farm animals (from the Target dollar spot), plastic babies, and plastic cats. I attached some pictures of the farm animals to the bag with a ring.

I covered the zipper with packing tape, so that E wouldn't unzip the bag. She was determined to remove the tape the first time she saw the bag, but she's lost interest in trying to remove and just enjoys the bag now.





She is currently going through a phase where she thinks "hineys" are hilarous, and she loves to find the babies' hineys. She also loves to count to 2, and you can hear that in the video as well. Today, when we were looking in the bag, we could only see the babies' faces, and she insisted that I help her find their hineys! Funny girl!

Half Birthday Celebration

We had E(1)'s half birthday celebration last month! For her celebration, we made Cheerio treats with m & m's. They are delicious and fun to make. E was eating the m & m's as fast as she could :) O(4) choreographed a recital, and O and E danced for us in celebration of E's half birthday. What fun!

Beginner Pattern Blocks

E(1) loves her Melissa & Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks.


She has a difficult time getting the shapes into the correct places, but she keeps trying and is learning to complete difficult activities without getting frustrated.

These pattern blocks are a great way to practice shapes and colors, too! I love to watch O(4) help E complete the puzzles...sisterly love :)

(Just so you know...links to Amazon.com are affiliate links!)

Tactile Learning...Blue :)

Here's a fun way to learn all about blue!

I'm not sure if I'm in the minority or majority with this, but I really don't mind if my kids color on their bodies. We have a few rules...they must ask first; they must use washable markers; they must not eat the markers; and they must not color their faces (E(1) is still working on the last 2!).

The girls had SO much fun coloring themselves. It kept them quiet and busy for quite a while. E was especially engrossed in trying to color her toenails. Elliott came home from work while they were doing this, and I quickly asked him before he saw them "You don't mind if the girls color themselves do you?" He didn't, and he even joined in on the fun by drawing pictures on their hands and backs. They thought this was fantastic.

My mom was appalled, but I'm sure she enjoyed watching all of the craziness :) It took 2 nights of baths/showers to get all of the blue off of their bodies, so this is definitely not an activity that we'll do on the night before O(4)'s recital!


Btw, a reader asked me to include the girls ages by their initials since it can get confusing to remember which initial goes with which girl. So, we are now O(4) and E(1).

Enjoying Our Giant Chalkboard

We've been spending A LOT of time outside lately.  The weather has been beautiful, and I recently read a Charlotte Mason book (Charlotte Mason's Home Education in Modern English (Charlotte Mason Series Paraphrase)) that emphasized the importance of spending many hours (not just one or 2!) outside each day.   We always really enjoying our outside time, but sometimes it just feels like too much work to get out there.  It's definitely easier now that the baby is older, and I am committed to being outside as much as we can. 

We've started taking kayak rides in the lake several times a week.  I was always afraid to take them out by myself because I didn't think I could paddle and hold onto my squirmy baby (and I was afraid that she would stand up and topple over the side of the kayak!).  However, she is really good about sitting still in the kayak.  She understands that she must not stand up, and we have a great time.  It's so much fun to sneak up on the turtles, and we recently saw 5 baby turtles on the base of a Cypress tree. 

 In addition to our additional kayaking experiences, we've spent lots of time walking in the woods, playing on our swingset, and drawing on our giant chalkboard.  O is VERY interested in writing and drawing, and this is the perfect large space for her to do this. 

Homemade Puzzles

I made these 2 piece puzzles for O about 3 years ago, and I recently took them out for E to enjoy. 

To make the puzzles I printed pictures of us and O, cut them in half, cut cereal boxes to fit, and then glued the pictures to the cereal boxes.  E loves these puzzles!

Imbucare Box with a Ball

I bought 2 imbucare boxes for E a couple of years ago (before she was born, I think), and I gave this one to her a few months ago. She puts the ball in the opening and it rolls to the end of the drawer.  Then she opens the drawer to get the ball.  E REALLY liked it, but she kept putting the ball in her mouth, so I put it away for a while.  I recently put it back on her shelf, and she has enjoyed it. 

She especially likes opening the drawer and looking inside.



Fun times!

Cutting Wooden/Velcro Fruit

I had a Cutting Wooden/Velcro Fruit activity on E's shelf a few months ago, and she loved it.  However, she always took the fruit back to her play kitchen, so I stopped trying to keep it on the shelf as an activity.

I decided to work with her on this a little more after I watched her take 2 (raw) sweet potatoes from the pantry and take them to the kitchen table.  She then pushed a chair up to the kitchen shelves, climbed in the chair, and reached for a knife from the knife block while saying "cut, cut."  I think my heart almost stopped when I saw her reaching for (and almost getting) the large knives, and I quickly stepped in and got her off the chair.  I gave her a child's knife and let her pretend to cut the sweet potatoes for a while. 





After that I sat down with her to cut wooden/velcro fruit.  She REALLY loves this activity.  It's hard for her to orient the knife exactly right, and I used to have a craft stick out with her fruit that worked fairly well.  However, now that she is bigger, she only wants a knife.  O has also had fun working with E and showing her the correct way to hold the knife to cut the fruit. 




More than anything, E just loves to sit surrounded by her wooden food.  She loves to pull it apart and put it back together, and she loves trying to cut it.  She was so busy playing independently with her play food that I didn't know what to do with myself.  The house was clean; lunch was ready; O was at school; the computer was broken; and I didn't want to interfere with her independent play.  It was a strange feeling for a busy mama :) 

Magnetic Drawing Board

E LOVES this magnetic drawing board.  I bought it for O from Target about 3 years ago, and it has been used by both girls often.  E asks us to draw cats and dogs for her, but she mainly just likes to "daw" (draw) by herself.  I love that she has a no mess way to draw (she can't resist tasting markers, crayons, paint, and pencils, and she has drawn with a pencil all over my kitchen table). 



I'm not sure if you can tell, but E is wearing mittens on her feet in this picture.  She insisted that she wear them on her feet, and she wore them like this all day.  I love my silly girl!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? I Spy Bottle

I recently added this Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? I Spy bottle to E's Montessori shelf.  We had fun reading the book and looking for the different animals in the bottle.  I made this I Spy bottle for O a few years ago using lentils instead of rice. 



I really wish I'd put the pictures on both sides of the little cards.  It can be frustrating to look for the animals when all of the cards seem to turn over to the back at the same time and stubbornly refuse to turn back over no matter how many ways we flip, shake, and roll the bottle.  Although, to be honest, I was the only one who was frustrated...E didn't seem to mind at all :)

Lacing Beads

Lacing beads is one of E's favorite activities on her Montessori shelf, and she chooses it almost everyday.  We have a bead lacing set made by Ryan's Room.  It is made up of a wooden snake head with wooden beads and disks to string to make the snake's body.  The beads are a little too big for E to handle with her small hands, but she does well with the disks.  I love to watch the intense concentration on her face when she does this work.