Tot School

~James is 2 1/2 (33 months)~

Art & Music:
We did a-ha-lot of arts and crafts this week (click here to see that post). Oh happy are the days when James feels like crafting, which happened to be nearly every day this week!

James has been singing and singing and it's just so darn cute to hear Frosty the Snowman sung in a tiny voice, isn't it?! We used our instruments to make up a band and we rocked out to Jingle Bells. :)

Numbers & Letters:
Earlier in the week I created a bunch of holiday math activities (click here to see that post), which James really, really enjoyed.

One day I found James doing this...
arranging the numbers from his large playmat in numerical order. (It's kind of hard to see unless you click the photo to enlarge.)

These alphabet cards are one of my favorite school tools we have. I can't recall where I bought them, but you can buy them here. They are so beautiful and really well made. I like that there are unusual animals in the deck (narwhal, vicuna, impala) to enhance vocabulary. James took it upon himself to spell out the names of the animals! Here's a quick video clip:


Science & Nature:
James used some 3D glasses to look at pictures of Mars & the moon. He thought this was pretty cool and kept reaching out to touch the pictures. :)

I took a cue from my fellow Bermuda Tot School mama, Island Mama's Adventures, and had a lesson on trees with James. We went to the Botanical Gardens and walked around touching and exploring the different trees. To be honest, I was surprised this activity held James' attention as well as it did. Here he is examining the bark on a tree.

Practical Life:
Spooning sparkly pom-poms. I *love* putting together PL activities!! Especially seasonal ones. Thanks to the cute muffin tin this work was a huge hit with James.

Hooray! The days of potty learning seem to be upon us! James is finally showing signs of interest. I set up a little corner in his bathroom where he has his potty, a few special potty books, and a fresh pair of big boy underwear (for incentive). Come January we'll really move forward with potty learning. I would love to hear any tips and bits of wisdom you have to offer!

Other activities:
I purchased these awesome Christmas nesting blocks and nativity scene from here. Aside from the fact that baby Jesus looks a bit old for his age, I really like both items. James does too and carries the baby Jesus around the house. :)

Sorting erasers. I had two sets of holiday erasers, so James did two variations of this work. Sorting is always a favorite of his.

Sorting mini bows by color. This turned out to be WAY too easy for James, and he decided to count the bows instead, but I thought some of you with younger kids might like to do it.

James spent quite some time one afternoon playing with these "felt friends" I made (click here to see that post).

We are getting prepared for guests coming to stay with us next week. I won't be posting any Tot School stuff until after the New Year. In fact, I'll be posting very little over the next two weeks as I enjoy this beautiful holiday with friends and family. But, come 2010, we'll be ready and raring to go with all sorts of Tot School fun so stay tuned!!

Click the button to the left to see what others are doing with their children.