Nocturnal vs. Diurnal. He definitely knows and understands the word nocturnal now. We've talked about it a lot just with our every day conversation. I searched Wikipedia for pictures of nocturnal animals and they were super easy to print. Then I just printed a random mix of diurnal animals (including a human baby) and created this game:
I used black and yellow paper to symbolize night and day and I told him the animals on the black (nocturnal) paper were awake at night while Will is sleeping. We talked about each animal and sorted them.
Afterward, I glued them all down and we later talked about each animals habitat.
Solid vs Liquid. Quite a bit of this concept was taught just with conversation too. We discussed aloud which objects were solids and which were liquids, i.e. Will's bath water is a liquid, the bath tub is a solid; his milk is a liquid, his cup is a solid; the pool water we swim in is a liquid, the plastic fish toys we play with are solids, etc. He understands this. I also wanted to show him how some objects can be in both solid AND liquid states. For starters, we made oobleck. Remember this from elementary school? Approximately 1 cup cornstarch : 1/2 cup water. It drizzles off your fingers and a spoon like a liquid, but immediately forms a solid when pressure is applied to it. If you squeeze it in your hands, you can even rub it into a powder. And then it immediately goes back into a liquid when it's released. Cool.
We also talked about how ice is frozen water and ice itself is a solid.
But when it melts, it becomes a liquid - water!
One thing we haven't gotten to yet is to make chocolate dipped strawberries and watch how a solid chocolate bar can melt into a liquid form for dipping!
We also talked about how ice is frozen water and ice itself is a solid.
But when it melts, it becomes a liquid - water!
One thing we haven't gotten to yet is to make chocolate dipped strawberries and watch how a solid chocolate bar can melt into a liquid form for dipping!This isn't a science concept, but I printed these letter tile pages from Prekinders and Will used his alphabet magnets to place the correct beginning letter of each word in the appropriate box. He really enjoyed this and diligently worked through all six pages.
Also from Prekinders, I found these pattern block pages that he used his Melissa & Doug pattern blocks to complete. Same idea, but these are a little more difficult because they're just black and white so you don't have the colors there to match. Will had to pay closer attention to the shapes this way.
Land, Water & Air. This was a cool sorting game where we talked about various animals and where we most often found them: on land, in the water, or flying in the air. I printed some more animal "flashcards" (I just searched "animal flashcards") and filled each of three plastic containers with 1) dirt (land), 2) water and 3) nothing (air). I first explained this to him and then he easily sorted most all of them.
From here, we also pulled out his nocturnal/diurnal pages and talked about those animals too and where each animal might build it's home. Will also felt the need at this time to show me how penguins walk and kangaroos hop. And then he spotted the spider web on our deck and we talked about that being a spider's home.
Alive vs Not Alive. I borrowed this book from the library and it did an excellent job of explaining this concept - better than I could have, for sure. The first time through, he really only partially grasped this idea. But after a second read and a sorting game, he seems to understand it.
To help him apply this concept, I pulled out his old word/picture flashcards and he sorted them as alive or not alive.
When he stumbled, we went over the questions that helped him figure it out: 1) Does it eat food and drink water? 2) Does it breath air? 3) Is it able to move and grow?
And one final concept that I didn't take pictures of was to classify Adult vs Child. We spent some time looking at our photo albums and Will decided who was an adult and who was a child. He understands this easily.
Also from Prekinders, I found these pattern block pages that he used his Melissa & Doug pattern blocks to complete. Same idea, but these are a little more difficult because they're just black and white so you don't have the colors there to match. Will had to pay closer attention to the shapes this way.
Land, Water & Air. This was a cool sorting game where we talked about various animals and where we most often found them: on land, in the water, or flying in the air. I printed some more animal "flashcards" (I just searched "animal flashcards") and filled each of three plastic containers with 1) dirt (land), 2) water and 3) nothing (air). I first explained this to him and then he easily sorted most all of them.
From here, we also pulled out his nocturnal/diurnal pages and talked about those animals too and where each animal might build it's home. Will also felt the need at this time to show me how penguins walk and kangaroos hop. And then he spotted the spider web on our deck and we talked about that being a spider's home.
Alive vs Not Alive. I borrowed this book from the library and it did an excellent job of explaining this concept - better than I could have, for sure. The first time through, he really only partially grasped this idea. But after a second read and a sorting game, he seems to understand it.
To help him apply this concept, I pulled out his old word/picture flashcards and he sorted them as alive or not alive.
When he stumbled, we went over the questions that helped him figure it out: 1) Does it eat food and drink water? 2) Does it breath air? 3) Is it able to move and grow?
And one final concept that I didn't take pictures of was to classify Adult vs Child. We spent some time looking at our photo albums and Will decided who was an adult and who was a child. He understands this easily. On another evening this week, we got out his new Mega Magnifier, which also happens to be featured in this month's Family Fun magazine! This picture cracks me up. Poor Will doesn't need anything magnifying the size of his head! ;) LOL
We looked at leaves, ants, pine cones, and corn stalks.
Meanwhile, Sophie was set up on a blanket working with her game from last week: Play-doh lids and an empty wipes container. She loves this! I used a Huggies container this time and it has that rubbery flap opening instead of just an open oval.
Open, close. Weeee! SO fun! I love this pic. :)
Will was having some activity-envy, so Sophie showed him how to play her game. :)
And, in turn, he shared the magnifier toy with her.
Then both kids got a little gross motor in with a ride on the swings. Will's learning how to pump his legs better.
And Sophie's just having a blast!
That concludes Will's Tot School work. Clearly, we've been preoccupied with other, less structured activities. The summer will do that to you!
Mostly, it's measuring utensils and a small spatula from the kitchen, plus a small mint tin, a crinkly draw-string bag, 2 beach shovels, etc. Random but sort of similar. I left it on her bedroom floor and she discovered it after her nap.
When presented in a new way, old toys have much more (renewed!) appeal.
I'd really like to do a bunch more sensory work with Sophie, so perhaps I'll make a strewing basket with all sorts of textures next.
I let Sophie play with some magnets on the dishwasher for the first time while I was making dinner one night. This was very entertaining for her. I spelled her name and gave her a few random symbols.
Another game I've been holding off on trying just 'cause I didn't think she was ready, and now after seeing her success, I wish I'd introduced it sooner. I took an empty, plastic container and cut a narrow rectangle opening in the top. Then I gave her that bag of green coins that Will played with for St. Patrick's Day and showed her how to drop them through the slot in the lid. 
She worked so hard and was so focused and entertained! That's a lot of fine motor and hand/eye coordination skills that she's working on. I'm really proud of her - she did so well. And after the numerous times that we've repeated this game, I've found that if she's whiney or crabby some time, she will calm right down and focus on this if I give it to her. Of course, with these plastic coins, I've watching her like a hawk. But surprisingly, she's never once tried to stick one in her mouth.
Once completed, the filled container makes a great noisemaker too!
This was a helpful distraction while I was trying to get ready one day. That's another great thing about all this Tot School stuff - it's such a handy (and educational) way to entertain/distract the kids while I'm making dinner or doing housework or while we're sitting at a restaurant.
And finally, here are a few of Sophie's favorite books this week. Sandra Boynton is always a hit. Sophie loves to turn the pages now and has stopped trying to grab the book and eat it like she used to a few months back.
And of course the classic: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I love that it's a great introduction to colors and animals and helps Sophie anticipate what she will see on the next page. 
We looked at leaves, ants, pine cones, and corn stalks.
Meanwhile, Sophie was set up on a blanket working with her game from last week: Play-doh lids and an empty wipes container. She loves this! I used a Huggies container this time and it has that rubbery flap opening instead of just an open oval.
Open, close. Weeee! SO fun! I love this pic. :)
Will was having some activity-envy, so Sophie showed him how to play her game. :)
And, in turn, he shared the magnifier toy with her.
Then both kids got a little gross motor in with a ride on the swings. Will's learning how to pump his legs better.
And Sophie's just having a blast!
That concludes Will's Tot School work. Clearly, we've been preoccupied with other, less structured activities. The summer will do that to you!Moving on to: Teeny Tiny Tot School!
I have found a couple of brief blurbs on other blogs about infant and young toddler Tot School activities. It's not much, so I'm still just inventing and tweaking others' ideas. But they're calling it Teeny Tiny Tot School and I thought that was cute.
One idea that's probably going to look totally pointless and strange is a concept called: Strewing. Basically, you just take a bunch (or a few) random, interesting objects and group them together in a basket or small container and then leave them around the house for your baby to discover and explore. This can also be done for older children, but right now it seems most appropriate for Sophie. For some reason, when you take a toy out of it's original storage container and display it in a new and unique way, or with other objects, it becomes much more interesting.
Here is my first effort at strewing for Sophie:
Mostly, it's measuring utensils and a small spatula from the kitchen, plus a small mint tin, a crinkly draw-string bag, 2 beach shovels, etc. Random but sort of similar. I left it on her bedroom floor and she discovered it after her nap.
When presented in a new way, old toys have much more (renewed!) appeal.
I'd really like to do a bunch more sensory work with Sophie, so perhaps I'll make a strewing basket with all sorts of textures next.I let Sophie play with some magnets on the dishwasher for the first time while I was making dinner one night. This was very entertaining for her. I spelled her name and gave her a few random symbols.
Another game I've been holding off on trying just 'cause I didn't think she was ready, and now after seeing her success, I wish I'd introduced it sooner. I took an empty, plastic container and cut a narrow rectangle opening in the top. Then I gave her that bag of green coins that Will played with for St. Patrick's Day and showed her how to drop them through the slot in the lid. 
She worked so hard and was so focused and entertained! That's a lot of fine motor and hand/eye coordination skills that she's working on. I'm really proud of her - she did so well. And after the numerous times that we've repeated this game, I've found that if she's whiney or crabby some time, she will calm right down and focus on this if I give it to her. Of course, with these plastic coins, I've watching her like a hawk. But surprisingly, she's never once tried to stick one in her mouth.
Once completed, the filled container makes a great noisemaker too!
This was a helpful distraction while I was trying to get ready one day. That's another great thing about all this Tot School stuff - it's such a handy (and educational) way to entertain/distract the kids while I'm making dinner or doing housework or while we're sitting at a restaurant.
And finally, here are a few of Sophie's favorite books this week. Sandra Boynton is always a hit. Sophie loves to turn the pages now and has stopped trying to grab the book and eat it like she used to a few months back.
And of course the classic: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I love that it's a great introduction to colors and animals and helps Sophie anticipate what she will see on the next page. 
1 comment:
After reading this... I am pretty sure Will is smarter than some of my 4th graders!!! Way to go :) Keep up the great work!
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