RockerTot is currently 21 months old.
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This is a disclaimer, not a boast. I've been accused of pushing and expecting too much. RockerTot is guiding every decision I make regarding our "school trays" as he calls them.
RockerTot knows all of his letter sounds and can recognize most of his letters. I never pushed this, he just loves the sounds associated with anything (animals, letters, vehicles, etc.) The leapfrog letter factory taught him all the sounds in less than a week (not even watching everyday - it's really that good!). He points out uppercase letters on signs and in books constantly, so I'm following his lead to the best of my abilities. It's all about exposure, not mastery.
We still have most of the lowercase recognition to work on, but he's doing very well. This week, we focused on Aa & Bb as well as the number 1 and circles. I plan to do a vowel and a consonant each week or so with him until we've worked through the consonants a few times. (We'll hit the vowels more times since they occur more frequently in words anyway.) Well, here's our recap.
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RockerTot loved the mini mat letter puzzles I got for $1 at Wal Mart (where they keep the cheap junky toys). He loved the texture and that he could put the letters into the boxes and then put the boxes together.
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I guess that's one way to get the last marble out of the bowl.
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He loved the many puzzles I had out for him this week. He has loved to work puzzles since he got his first one. You can find them here and here.
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Stringing different sized drinking straw pieces onto a desktop flagpole (don't ask.. it's what we had) was very popular this week.
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I thought that it would be fun to use his new bamboo tongs (great texture) to transfer popcorn, but he had different ideas.
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Drawing in a tray of rice was not as messy as I feared and he didn't want to stop.
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We made blueberry muffins together. He enjoyed making them as much as he enjoyed eating them.
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I let RockerTot try the bottle top circles puzzle/matching board that I made for him. He did well, but was soon bored of it. Oh, well. He kept wanting to wear the bottle tops as hats.
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I started his alphabet notebook late in the week. We will probably continue with the same letters/number next week. Here is a photo of his A pages. We trace the ones on the left with his finger. I held his hand to draw the crayon a's on the right (he needed a lowercase "a"). He loved the stickers and gluing. It's a work in progress. We'll figure out what works and is fun eventually. He did love coming back to the page and pointing at all the A's, though.
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Before I put them back in the Tot School containers, I took a pic of all the things we used this week for the Aa, Bb, 1 study (so I could remember what to grab/make for the future letters). I thought I'd share.
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As always, I'll end with my favorite photo(s) from this week.
I guess RockerTot doesn't care for tuna salad...
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I love the puzzles! You said you got the foam ones at walmart? Where in walmart? also, where did you find the parents magnetic letter set? and where did you find the three piece puzzles! Those looked like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteThe foam puzzles were in the toy section where the "cheap" toys are. (Gag gifts, magnetic letters, and other silly stuff). They are like the big floor mat puzzles but very small. The parents set is called Magnet School and it was from Target. The three piece word puzzles came from an educational store. First Words is what they are called. I'll edit my post to show links to these things. I'm so ashamed that I forgot to do this.
ReplyDeleteThanks fpr another post filled with great ideas! My little one has yet to have an intrests in puzzle but I'll keep these ideas in mind for the future
ReplyDeleteAnother thing you can do with your alphabet book if you have lots of stickers is put the picture in with the letter it goes with. Lion on the L page, bat on the B page. That's been wildly popular with my kids.
ReplyDeleteI was accused of pushing my son too. He is 4 now, but he knew every letter and the sound it made before 18 months. I NEVER forced this on him; he was curious and loved learning about letters. He LOVED the Leapfrog fridge magnets and played with them constantly. He also had a cloth alphabet train with animals that go into letter pockets that he loved. He still loves learning and at 4 is reading and doing simple math. I tune people out now. My daughter just turned 3 and is still working on learning the alphabet. All kids are different and learn at different rates. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteAdorable as usual ;) I know what you mean, and I agree you are not pushin-just following a tot who loves to learn!
ReplyDeleteFYI-On Totally Tots we are startng a new ABC feature today!!! Each week we will be giving new ideas and books for each letter of the alphabet to create an ABC notebook too! Might be some nice additions to your ABC book.
I have one started with Krash too, but look forward to going back to some letters and adding some of the new projects Shannon will be writing about on TT.
:) Carisa
Oh. my. Let me fawn over that boy in his cap! :D I constantly put hats on my son's head. Sometimes he'll wear 'em, other times . . . well. :D
ReplyDeleteYour foam letters are the second I've seen on the Tot School links today. I've some purcased, but never opened. I'll pull them out this week!
What a great week! I have an alphabet foam puzzle that I got at the dollar tree that Emily loves more than any of her others. I actually went back and got the lower case letter one and the numbers. They make great paint stampers too, and if you use washable paint it comes right off. I was excited about that!
ReplyDeleteWow, you guys had a great week. I can tell Rockertot is really enjoying what he is doing. He is one adorable little guy. I also wanted to let you know that I nominated you for an award on my site. Just a little *hug* to brighten your day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great tips!
ReplyDeleteLooks like everyone is asking you lots of questions about where you got things! I am looking for those little wooden tongs that you have your son using. Been looking for those!
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