Snakes, snails and adventurous tales...of little Cooper

What Mommies/Daddies Do Best - Week 1

23 Months Old

Book: What Mommies/Daddies Do best by Laura Numeroff; Rhyme: A Family Fingerplay; Color: Brown; Shape:Square; Habit: Help Clean Up Toys

    

We started off this week in a very interesting way.  Dan was gone Monday evening.  That night we had a storm, and by the end of the night I could hear that there was a bird in our fireplace.  We have had this happen before, and they are so difficult to get out.  It was so late at night and Cooper was already asleep, so I decided to wait until morning to try and get him out (when it happens the bird ends up flying up the stairs and it is just a difficult experience).  He chirped all night, but I could barely hear with my door closed.

The next morning, first thing, I decided to fight the fight. But to my surprise, this was not a full grown bird.  It was a baby! Called a Chimney Swift, these birds nest in chimneys.  The storm had knocked down the nest and the little bird with hardly any feathers lay chirping on one of the logs.  I picked him up and put him outside thinking his mom would find him. Then, I called AWARE. The nice people here told me to bring him back inside so he didn't freeze to death - his mom would not come back.  The told me how I could feed him with an eye dropper, and said I could bring him in. Whew - over an hour drive.  But I just couldn't kill him.

He was super hungry and chirping so much that Cooper kept covering his ears. Put him in a tupperware bowl with tissue and put him in the bathroom, near a candle and shut the door.  As Cooper and I were headed out the door, I heard more chirping! Another one! Even smaller with less feathers.  We put him with his sibling.  After coming home, yes, we found another one! (And another that was already dead). So Cooper and I fed them and took care of them until the afternoon, when we traveled east to take them to AWARE.

Cooper enjoyed getting a tour at AWARE.  We saw owls, a bob cat, a beautiful red tail hawk, and learned a lot about the place. Here are pix of the baby birds (sorry, there is some bird poop in the picture).

   

 

While we were in Lithonia, we took a walk on the Arabia Mountain Trail (one of them).  Cooper really liked the big rocks.  Also, we saw a pretty dragonfly.

   

 

 

Some other things we did this week:

We watched our shape video, and played in the pool a lot.  We took some food coloring and added it to the pool - Cooper LOVED that!! We walked Roswell Area Park and downtown Roswell.  We went to the Roswell Fire Museum with MOPS (picture).  it was neat - small, but neat.  One of the firemen let the kids sit in the truck. There is an antique firetruck in the museum.  You are not supposed to get in it, but we didn't know because there was no sign or rope off, and the door was open.  I let Cooper in and took a picture - then someone came in and told us so only Cooper got his picture taken. After that, we went with Lori walking around Roswell.  Cooper enjoyed walking on the trails at one of the government buildings (picture), and there was a war memorial fountain there he liked. 

We watched a Caillou that emphasized "family" ; we colored a teddy bear and glued buttons on him (which cooper tore off promptly before I could get a picture - lol). We made brownies and got balloons for Daddy who just finished a very long and difficult assignment. So, when Daddy was home we played with him, and took a walk at the big tree nature preserve (picture). He and Dad had fun throwing rocks into the "river" (says Cooper).

   

 

We have decided on a summer vacation as well.  We are all going to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.  Woohoo - next week!  I know that most people plan a year in advance, but we have had no problems planning and reserving a cabin, dinners and white water rafting. Anyway, a lot of planning and getting ready for vacation happened as well. Overall, a pretty darn fun week!

Tot School - Huntsville, Alabama

For Tot School this week, we went with Daddy to his work in Huntsville, AL.  During the day while Daddy worked we explored the area. At night we just hung out with Daddy and played in the enormous hotel room. Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Monday

We drove to Alabama that morning.  After dropping of Dad at work, we went to the Big Spring International Park.  It was a little bit of a disappointment because there was sooooo much bird poop everywhere.  We were not able to picnic or sit anywhere...so we did not stay long.  But Cooper enjoyed chasing the ducks.

   

 

 

Tuesday

We woke up to go to the Harmony Animal Safari (much like the safari in Pine Mntn.).  When we got there we discovered it opened later than the website said, so we had to find something to do.  Right down the road was the Hays Nature Preserve so we walked around there a while.  It was so hot though - at 9am in the morning! Poor Cooper was ready for me to carry him out, which is unusual. 

After getting some water and a snack we went to the Safari park. Luckily this is the type of place you drive around in your car...so we had air conditioner.  Cooper really enjoyed feeding the animals (and the way he says 'animals' is so precious).  We saw Camels and Llamma and Alligators and Zebra and Peacocks and Buffalo and Bulls and so much more.  I will spare you the animal photos except for the ones with Cooper in them. He enjoyed petting the turtles.

At Hays Nature Preserve

   

 

 

At Harmony Safari Park

   

Wednesday

We went to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.  They had a Treehouse exhibition going on - about 12 or 15 of them  Cooper really enjoyed climbing in and out of those.  They also have a train garden which is permanent.  I was trying to take a picture, so before I knew it Cooper had run under the fence and picked up the electric train.  I had to go and get him and he kept running away.  Finally, I had to try and get it back on the track - horrible :) Their children's garden was fun...lots of water fun but Cooper seemed only to like the water coming up from the rocks. And we went into the butterfly house.  He was much more interested in climbing the stairs inside than in the butterflies. LOL. BTW, we had the very best lunch there and a special tea made with lemonade and orange juice and something else...yum. I have emailed them to see if they will share the recipe.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday

We went to the train museum in the morning.  Problems again with the hours so we spent an hour walking around downtown first.  hot, hot, hot.  Did pick up a cute ruffle apron though!  He loved the trains of course.  He climbed on them until I thought he would pass out in the heat - gave him 5 more minutes - and then we went back to the hotel for a nap before the thunderstorms came rolling in.

   

   

 

 

 

 

Friday

Friday morning we went to the Green Mountain trail.  It was fantastic - so beautiful! There was a 1.5 mile trail around the lake.  We passed a log cabin, an outside chapel, a covered bridge, and lots more.  Cooper walked a lot and was carried a lot. Once again, he loved the water...the streams we passed over and a small waterfall near the picnic area.

   

 

What I noticed more than any other time is how much Cooper does not like getting his picture taken!  But we had a great time...learned a lot, saw a lot and had fun!

Itsy Bitsy Spider - Week 1

22 Months Old

Book: Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani; Rhyme: Hey Diddle Diddle; Color: Orange; Shape:Triangle ; Habit: Brush Teeth

 

This week was more Tot-Not School.  This was for a couple of reasons. First, we had a jam packed week. We were at my Dad's house Wednesday day and night, then after spending more time there Thursday we went to our Field Trip location.  Tuesday we had a doctors appointment. Monday was another Field Trip to Riverside Park - arg. More of that to come.

Second reason it was Tot-Not School is that he was not so into the book.  That is strange because this is a book we used to read ALL THE TIME.  Then, we lost the book for a while. Now that we have it back I can't get him into it.  We actually have 2 more weeks (3 total) of this book in the unit but I don't think we will finish it.  Some of the activities are difficult because it is not October (when this unit is scheduled to happen) so there are not spider paraphernalia to be found. But other activities and art projects are super cute. I'm still not sure what to do yet.

So, on with what we did get accomplished.  Monday afternoon we went to Toys R Us (I have only been there 1 other time with a girlfriend). I just had a longing to go.  We bought a new pool and a puzzle game.  The puzzle has insects on it, including a spider.  It is one of those M&D magnetic puzzles and he took to it immediately.

   

 
 

Tuesday afternoon we did some painting on orange triangles. I also got a new flash that day so I did a lot of practicing with it.

   

Wednesday after waking up we went to Athens to see Pa and Linda.  Cooper had a great time.

Here you can see my Dad letting him drive the Audi.  Why Cooper but not me?

   

They also loaded shells (kinda went through the motions anyway), rode the tractor/mower, did some coloring, and various other exciting things:

   

 

 

 

 

Late Thursday morning we left Athens and went back to the Train Museum in Duluth with our MOPS friends. They had a hot air balloon demonstration.  I think Cooper would have liked it more if it were not so hot. They also made a craft and had a story.  He still likes climbing the trains best.

   

 

 

   

Some of our friends who were there also...

   

 

Friday we played with Daddy.  Ashley and Justin came over for the weekend.  Saturday we went back to the Sprayground.  He seemed more welcoming of it because A&J were there.  I really would like to have his BDay party there for a number of reasons.  But if he is not super keen then I guess I should not.  Although he LOVES the playground right beside it. We'll see.

That's all the pictures I have.  We had a fun week, though. Woo Hoo.

Old MacDonald - Week 2

21 Months Old

Book: Old MacDonald Had A Farm by Penny Dan; Color: Orange; Shape:Triangle ; Habit: Brush Teeth

 

Monday was Memorial Day and we had Ashley and Justin, which Cooper LOVED.  He spent the day playing with them; we went on a walk near the creek with the dogs, read books, jumped on the trampoline, etc.  We took all of his farm animals (and others) and put them in his little wagon and he enjoyed pulling them around.  I wasn't able to get the camera out until he had finished the walk and thrown out all the animals in order to take a seat himself.

   

Tuesday was exceptionally busy running errands.  We also went to PLAY with our MOPS friends in the morning.  After naptime we went to the Dr. to check his ears.  Dr. said they were clear but he keeps messing with one of them even now.  Some things to note: He is now successful about 85% of the time when he tries to jump with both feet. That is just super - he is great at it. He also had his first temper tantrum (with me - Dad said he had one for him the Saturday prior).  It was....shocking. He is so laid back so to see this was strange. What else? we played frisbee with a round lid he found, an activity he initiated. Pretty neat.

Wednesday we went to Gymboree. We painted with orange. We watched a new video - Meet the Colors.  We also played his Old MacDonald matching game. I am sure we did lots more on these days, but I am drawing a blank (and my journaling notes are horrific this week).

   

Thursday included another Dr appointment for mom, reading lots of books and playing with blocks.  We made a farm/ranch for the farm animals.  He enjoyed that - then he got into stacking the large ones - he was stacking pretty high, too.  But finally, he did what all kids do - got rid of the contents in the container and played with the container itself!

   

 

That afternoon we decided to go on a walk along the Chattahoochee.  We went to to the Johnson Ferry trail. It took about 2 hours, but he walked the first 90 minutes. Whew! I finally made him get in the stroller and eat a sandwich so he could rest.  The mosquitoes almost took us away! But it was fun walking in the wet lands and playing in some of the streams which run into the river.

   

And when we got home, he found his cow puppet and made cow noises (we had been singing Old MacDonald while we walked and he loves the sheep and the cow).

   

Friday we went to the playground and met up with our MOPS friend Darcy and her girls.  He played so hard that he finally initiated going back home, "truck, truck".  Very unusual. I could not get him to nap until about 3:30 so I let him only sleep 1 hour.  Ashley and Justin came over and also Grammy and Poppy and our niece on Dan's side (Cooper's cousin, although she is closer to our age than his). It was my first time meeting her because she has been in Iraq a lot.  Later that day I had a huge scare.  Cooper got into an ant bed and was COVERED in them.  I yelled to Dan whi turned the hose on to spray him as I undressed him.  Poor little thing was in pain and scared.  We did all the necessary first aid and with the help of Justin he was all better by night's end.  And he still has not complained about his little legs and back and arms being covered in bites.

Saturday we played with A&J more.  He did not take a nap at all (even though I put him down for over an hour).  Today - same kind of thing.  I put him down late (for him) at 1.  He finally fell asleep about 3 when I was going to get him up.  He wasn't crying - just playing in his bed.  I only let him sleep a little bit so he would still go to bed tonight.  What is up with this three nights in a row? He is way too young to go without a nap.

Today we did his 6 week toy/book rotation.  So, he has new things to play with.

This week we didn't do a lot of "official" tot school activities, but I think he learned a lot. He brought us his fish puzzle pieces, individually, naming each color as he brought them.  Also, he has demonstrated some letter recognition - several letters even though we aren't teaching this to him.  Kids are so smart.

See more tot school fun at http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/

Tot School Zones

This post is in response to the 1+1+1=1 Tot School request to see our Tot School Zone.  I am really excited about this, mostly to see everyone's area and get some new ideas.

We don't really have "a" zone - I think if we did everything in the same area of the house, even the same room, I would go insane.  So I set up centers all over the house and use signs from Itty Bitty Bookworm.  They are not all the "true" centers of a school, but they work for us.  Here are the basic descriptions and pictures.  To begin with, I will say that we divide Cooper's toys into two sets.  This includes everything - gross motor toys, books, puzzles, music stuff - everything.  I store the items not being used in large plastic tubs in our walk-in attic.  Two tubs.  And we change out every 6 weeks.

As you walk into our front door, there is a room that has a fireplace, a love seat and all of our books in bookshelves (the adult books).  From this room you can go upstairs to the older kids rooms, or go to the master or Cooper's room on the same level, or go into the main part of the house.  In this room I keep some gross motor toys (the hardwoods are better for some riding toys), our current "learning poster", his block station, and a toy box (used to belong to my husband) for the toys that don't fit anywhere else.  It has a lid I can put on if company is coming. Gotta love that.

   

 

As you walk through the door to the rest of the house, you enter the dining room.  This is the largest room in our house (we live in an old farm house which is why the plan is so disjointed).  In this room is his table and chairs where he eats meals (or at the big table) and where we do art and other projects.  On the door to the bathroom (yes, the bathroom is in the dining room - I told you it is strange) you can see we post his Healthy Habit pictures. You can see his color pictures, and on the door we walked through (can't see here) are his shapes.

   

To the right is the main family room.  As you walk through the dining to the family room, you first see the Music area.  This is where his instruments are, and also the CD player and MP3 player, etc. Also here, you can see pictures of my big kids.

   

Finally in the living room are his Cars and Trucks center which also holds his puzzles and our "family" puppets. (You can also see our strobe light.lol. and his older brother's metal detector. On the other side of the room are his balls basket, more gross motor toys and his little library complete with his bean bag.  I try to display the books we are focusing on for the week. And I leave out the flannel board for him to use.

   

 

Finally, from here you can get to the "play room".  This is a really small room where we store all sorts of stuff - games, cards, sewing machine, etc.  It also holds the computer and all my tot school prep stuff.  The TV is in here.  We don't have TV, although we have "a" TV.  You can see we actually have a huge one that we invested in before deciding to cut it out.  We still watch movies and stuff.  I try to keep Cooper's TV as low as possible.  He likes to watch a 30 min show at night.  And maybe a show during the day, especially busy-mom days or rainy days.  Here he is watching his colors DVD while I write this. This is the most embarrassing picture to post, as this room always can use a tidying up!

   

So that's it.  Sorry the photos are grainy. It is night time and getting dark out.

I pretty much let Cooper play with almost everything all the time except the art supplies - he has to ask for those first.  I have things each week that I offer up, mostly taken well.  But the other 85% of our time I let him take the lead, and we learn from whatever he is doing. 

I keep our weekly plan in a 3-ring binder (my go-to book for menu planning, chores, Tot School, etc).  I keep other things for planning in the room with the computer (behind the black curtains). It seems to be working right now, but we have only been at this for about 6 weeks.

Again - I cannot wait to learn from others - I'll be watching for all the new posts.

The Wheels on the Bus - Week 2

21 Months Old

Book: The Wheels on the Bus by Andy Cooke; Color: Red; Shape: Circle; Habit: Hand Washing

   

We went on a field trip on Monday to a strawberry farm.  We talked about RED strawberries, and we ate a lot :)

 

We played with the matching game again almost every day.  He is getting better at it. I also got him a M&D transportation puzzle which has a bus in it.  He really likes it.

 

We also used the felt board a lot more this week.  I think this really helped him to understand the story a lot more than he previously had.  Or maybe it was a way for him to better communicate his comprehension. 

   

I wish I could remember which other Tot School Mom blogged about Counting Colors, but it looked like a great book so I ordered it for Cooper.  He LOVES this book.  There are so many ways to use it, too.

   

We also painted a stop sign to use for a stop and go game the next day.  But he really did not like me taping the sign to the paper towel holder.  Not sure what that was about.  But we did talk about RED a lot more.  Funny, but I let him paint after his bath.  And afterward, we had to take another quick one.  He does not like paint on his hands, so he rubs it on his belly to get it off his hands. LOL.

   

We pulled out a circle cookie cutter and painted with it.  I think he enjoyed that as well. 

   

We had people over on Saturday to celebrate his big sister's bDay.  He helped me do some housework - here he is sweeping the kitchen (sans shorts). 

   

And here he is with Ashley and the socks he picked out for her by himself.

   

This week was also full of trampolining, playing at the playground, going to the park with friends, going to the last day of Spring music class, watching a new video called Meet the Shapes, and running errands to the consignment shops.  We wrapped up this book, color, shape, and healthy habit and are starting new on Monday.  Have I mentioned I love Itty Bitty Bookworm?

The Wheels on the Bus - Week 1

21 Months Old

Book: The Wheels on the Bus by Andy Cooke; Color: Red; Shape: Circle; Habit: Hand Washing

 

This week I made our first matching game. You can see more about it over at Itty Bitty Add-ons.  We have worked on it everyday, but he still doesn't quite get the concept.  Mostly he wants to just "drive" the bus around the room. lol. Any hints about how you introduced matching to your child?

   

We painted some CIRCLE-wheels for our school bus on RED paper.  This is the first time he has ever painted with paint (except finger paint):

   

We also got a new book to help with learning circles:

   

Cooper "reading" this lesson's book on his own:

   

We played inside the CIRCLE, which was a large hula hoop.  He seemed to like that:

   

We had a lot of fun playing cars with the blocks, using the traffic signs provided by IBB.  I don't think he totally gets the idea yet, but he is still having fun:

   

I finally bought us some dot-a-dot markers.  We used RED and made CIRCLES on the paper.  He really likes them.  A lot! He likes to make spirals with them too.

 

And we played a lot this week on a new trampoline that we got as a bday gift for his 13 yo brother and 15 yo sister:

 

Our field trip this week was with Grampa to the Railroad Museum.  You can see those pictures here. It was pretty cool that they had buses there - to match our "theme". And we used feltboard pieces for The Wheels on the Bus...but I never got a picture :) And we were well enough to go back to Gymboree 1 day this week - and music class, too.

Seems like a lot, but it was really another down week, since we were both still trying to fully recover. I think we are going to be able to start the next week at near 100%, though. 

The Best Laid Plans....

21 Months Old

Book: More, More, More by Vera Williams; Color: Red; Shape: Circle; Habit: Hand Washing

 

Only our second week of Tot School and we got derailed.  I know to expect this sort of thing, but this was a really horrible week.  Cooper had the croop, a virus infection and 2 ear infections.  I had a virus infection, was told by one Dr. I broke my foot, and then told by another that I did NOT break it.  So, add lots of main medication and, whew....On top of that, hubby was out of town and we had a garage sale over the weekend. Needless to say, what we learned mostly this week was how to veg in front of a TV (I know, I know), how to eat lots of yummy ice cream, and how to prep for a garage sale. 

Dad came home Friday.  He and Cooper spent some time together while Dan mowed the yard.  I think it was the cutest thing ever.  Check out the picture. Cooper rode around on his back in the sling; he was super content and lovin' every minute of it.

   

I have decided to continue to the next book, even though we did zero activities this week on More More More.  I love love love this curriculum, but I have to admit that I am not super excited about the More More More lesson for us.  The focus was on babies.  For us personally, Cooper is not separated enough from babyhood for this to really make sense.  He still uses a bottle.  We had to feed him baby food for longer than normal so that was not "babyish" to him.  He never had a pacifier, so he didn't know what that was...I think that the idea is a good one, but it didn't work for us.  Secondly, I think it is too bad that the book wasn't celebrated for the authors intent which is diversity in race and family dynamics. It was a courageous move on her part at the time the book was published. But, I have no idea how to make that work for young toddlers either.  I guess I'm just playing Monday morning quarterback.  Monday we start The Wheels on the Bus.  He loves vehicles!

Tot School: Hello and Help!! (long post; get your coffee)

This is not the usual post to friends and family, but to all my new, fellow Tot School Moms.  Hello!!

 

I have been lurking around your blogs for a few months, wondering if this was right for us.  Last week we finally made the plunge!! In this post I hope to share with you a little about ourselves and what we are doing at home in order to get your feedback and opinions.  I am a first time mom and have never had any formal early childhood education training.  Heck, I had to buy a book of nursery rhymes before my son Cooper was born just to remember them!!

Our education philosophy (this might be more for me than for anyone else. Lol.)

In so much as we have an education philosophy; we tend to lean toward unschooling.  We (hubby and I) believe that government education is not right for Cooper. We believe there is a hidden agenda in government run schools that does not parallel what we desire for Cooper. (Most school teachers have good hearts and are not really aware of this agenda, ala John Gatto's journey and revelations.).  We believe John Holt had it right when he said:

·         Children should direct their own education and be free to explore and learn their interests on their own – with the parent as a guide and helper.

·         There is no difference between living and learning.

·         Children are born passionately eager to make as much sense as they can of things around them. If we attempt to control, manipulate, or divert this process . . . the independent scientist in the child disappears.

·         Since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned.

·         It's not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go. It's a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life.

Anyway, we are not purists, though.  Who is? There are a number of things about Montessori that we agree with as well. A) Children need to be taught habits that coincide with their family values.  B) Children do not need too much mediation; Nature is her own mediator. “Mom’s job is to provide opportunities, and then get out of the way, staying in the background in case a guiding hand or restraining hand is badly needed.” C) Totally love Charlotte Mason’s thoughts about “lessons” which can be summed up here. However, she does believe in “teaching” and “school” in the most common sense of the words.

So, that was certainly not meant to alienate anyone.  It is just our opinion – which is still forming every day.  But, you can see why I struggled so much with “Tot School”.  When it comes down to it, though  having fun is number one. Tot School for us is a way to expose Cooper to multiple things until he is comfortable seeking out his own interests (probably at 7, 8 yrs old??).  Tot School is a way to practice fine motor, gross motor, music, habit and reading skills without pressure and by using things we already have or can make.  Tot School is a way to “fill the day” with play time and fun time, since I am no way experienced at that. If he doesn’t want to do something we don’t do it.  There is never pressure (except with learning our healthy habits), and I do all I can to not make him feel weird about not wanting to do something. (Have you ever spent hours making a cool “game” and then he doesn’t like it at all? Arg.).

OK. Enough of that.

The Daily Grind

Becoming a SAHM was very difficult for me.  I was managing several multi-million dollar software products, but I could not manage my household.  I had been trying FlyLady on and off for several years and really liked her ideas.  I wanted so bad to do everything but I always struggled and felt like a loser.  AND I felt like there were so many “15 min routines” that I was spending more time on the house than playing with Cooper. Additionally, I struggled with what to "play" during the day.  I was about to go out of my head playing blocks and reading “Barnyard Dance” 20 times per day.  Even if I did not follow it to a “T”, I needed a daily plan AND a cleaning plan.  Anal, I know.

I only recently found a cleaning plan I like.  I tried FlyLady as I said.  I tried many MANY versions of my own.  I tried winging it. I was going nuts.  Then, during a blog hopping expedition, I found Motivated Moms.  Holy Cow.  This is even better than sliced bread.  So easy to follow. I love it.  As for our daily schedule, you can see it here.  As of last week I added times for Tot School.  I tried to follow Carisa’s manner of Tot School in the mornings, but that was not working for us.  So, I sprinkle it over the day. Please tell me how you manage your day!!! I’m always looking to learn something new and make this better for myself and Cooper.

More Tot School Detail

I needed/wanted something more than just “activities” for Tot School, though.  Through 1+1=1 I found Itty Bitty Bookworm.  They are heaven sent!  I adore how the “lessons” are planned around a book.  I could probably have done that on my own (eventually...yeah, right!) but it is hard, hard work.  Reading is so important to our family!! We have even given up TV in hopes of reading more together.  So, this fell right in step with our ideals.  They have a plan that is geared at 18-36 mo children – perfect for Cooper. 

Additionally, I like that there is focus on color and shapes but not numbers and letters.  We, personally, are not there yet.  Confessions…is a great place for us to go once we are ready for that step.  As for now, we are happy with this.  I also struggled with whether or not to do weather and days of the week, etc (for exposure only) but have decided no.  Bought a flannel board weather bear but we are holding him for later.  We do incorporate Healthy Habits each month, and a Bible verse (yes, we love love love Jesus….we are one of the not-so-many Christian families who homeschool for other reasons). 

Finally, we also do a few other morning activities.  We go to Gymboree 2x per week.  I really like him to be outside, but sometimes it is too cold or too hot (I’m in GA) for playing outside ALL DAY.  It is good physical activity, and I like him meeting other kids (and me meeting other moms).  We take Music through The Music Class.  This is so incredible.  What I love is that there is never pressure.  If he wants to sit in the corner with his back to the wall all class, so be it.  If he just stares while Mom and Miss Elysa and everyone else dances and sings, so be it.  But he really seems to like it, and it exposes him to something that I cannot (no music capabilities here at all).  Also, one day each week is a field trip.  Sometimes it is more for Mom (a garden tour, the Museum, etc) and sometimes it is for Cooper (a playground, a petting zoo, etc).  Again, exposing him to as much as possible. Also, I am trying to write a book about things to do with kids in Atlanta.  So, this is “research”.  Haha.

Conclusion

This post is over 1500 words – so sorry about that.  A lot of this I had to get off my own chest.  Much of it was to introduce ourselves to other Tot School Mates.  I hope that you will subscribe to us and share your comments and thoughts.  We will be reading about your triumphs as well. Thanks.

Beginning Bookworm Beguilement

20 Months Old

Book: More, More, More by Vera Williams; Color: Red; Shape: Circle; Habit: Hand Washing

 

Today we started the Itty Bitty Bookworm "curriculum".  It is more like... neat ways to have fun based on a specific book.  The next two weeks we are "studying" More More More by Vera Williams. It is really a book about diversity, but the study focuses on the "baby" aspect of the book.  We are also learning about RED and Circles.  And our Healthy Habit is Washing Our Hands.  Finally, I set up an art center today in the kitchen.  Now we have centers for Art, Blocks, Reading and Music.  The other centers are going to be in the front room, so we can't set them up until after the garage sale (the room is packed with junk right now).  Here are some pictures of the new set up and Cooper coloring his "baby" picture.  He also got a hair cut today before Gymboree.

   

Check out that look...haha
 

This is the area where we review colors each morning.  Each month a new ice cream scoop in a different color is added to the cone.
 

This is our healthy habit wall.  He likes playing with the hand washing pictures.  A laminator was a super terrific investment!
 

I made the mistake of turning on the TV before taking this picture.  He turned to me, but wouldn't move his eyes. LOL.