Thursday, August 25, 2011

School Begins

" Life isn't a matter of milestones,
but of moments."
-Rose Kennedy


As we are gearing up for school to start,
I thought I would start back to routine with my youngest.
The Diva was eager to "help" and the two of them had a blast this week!
(The boys are busy making the most of what is left of summer.)



I set out a lacing/bead game similar to these to work on fine motor skills for the Baby.
This is a great game with wooden pieces and a thick sturdy lacing string.
All of the beads are different colors and shapes,
which allow me to introduce and re-enforce those words with O.
We did this several times this week,
as she requested it every time we were in the school room!





We played a game with these Baby Einstein First Words Discovery Cards.
(Couldn't find a link...sorry!)
After choosing a few to work with,
I collected similar items that were on the cards into a basket.




Then we set the cards out in a circle pattern on the floor.
The girls ran around the circle, as I sang a song.
When the song stopped, they had to place an object on the matching floor card.
We could practice saying the object for O,
and spelling the object for E.
E also practiced her beginning sounds.



 

Here are a few examples of what we used:
Dog, Ball, Cat, Block, Tree, Phone, Cup, Bowl, Teddy Bear, Blanket.

Later on in the week, we took turns "hiding" the objects around the school room.  It was a race to see who could find the most objects!
E really liked this game.

 

The girls played with our Melissa and Doug Animal Nesting Blocks.
We talked about the groups of animals: Ocean, Farm, Woodland, African.
The Baby practiced making animal sounds.





The baby also practiced a very important life skill:
putting on and wearing heels!  Lol!

We just need to work on matching them!

We did lots of other fun things, these were just the few that I got on camera.
Next week, when school has officially started, the Baby will
go along with The Diva's Letter-of-the-Week curriculum and
other various themes that I have planned for her. 
My goal for the Baby is simple: 
learning through play! 

"What we play is life."
-Louis Armstrong

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