Tot School: Spring Walks

Get Moving!

This week we had beautiful weather where all the snow had melted, then we got a whole bunch more. With the fluctuation of weather, it was inevitable that the littles are battling colds; Chloe more so than John.

We didn’t go on our usual Friday swim this week. We were so busy with prior commitments. We did get in more walks now that the weather is improving. Chloe and John absolutely love taking their strollers on walks. Chloe always takes Ina (the cabbage patch she got for her second Christmas) and John has a boy cabbage patch named Jeffery that he takes along.  They’re a part of the family. We celebrated Ina and Jeffery’s birthday in November, if you remember…

Sorting

We got frozen molten cakes on sale a while ago and I saved the containers. I also saved the baskets from strawberries last summer. I thought both may come in handy for craft time but this week, Chloe has been using them to sort pegs and other items. Sorting by color or size, then counting, rearranging…it’s been neat to see her incorporate them into her play. Who knew they could be so fun?

Choo Choo!

The littles got a train table and lots of trains for Christmas as a combined gift. They enjoy it though often I find the trains veering off the track and through the kitchen, dining room and hall. When I see that happening, I know that a full size choo-choo is following soon. As a child, I remember when mom washed the floor, we’d play choo choo with the chairs. A timeless, fun-filled activity for little ones!

Hats are a Good Thing!

Something that my children enjoy immensely is hats. We have many full sized costumes, including a beautiful “Scarlet O’Hara” type dress, animals and more. Though they enjoy playing full out dress up fairly often, I find that on a daily basis, they enjoy the hats we have more. We have a captains hat (that doubles as a conductor hat apparently), a fireman hat, a rain hat, a Scarlett O’Hara hat, a cowboy hat etc. I’d actually like to find a few more to add to their collection. It’s common to see them wearing one, pretending something or another. The wonderful thing about hats is that the don’t take up a lot of space, young children can play with them without parental assistance to put it on and also in inspires creativity or imagination for the rest of the costume. Yes, hats are a good thing!

Books We’re Reading:

This past week culled and organized our books a little bit. We have quite a few. If you’ve been around a while, you’ll know that we’ve been doing Before Five in a Row for our preschool curriculum (yes, a post about our thoughts is coming!). We bought the literature package; it contains quite the selection of books but we’ve already managed to read through them all many, many times. The children love the same stories over and over but I’m so anxious for new books; especially since I’ve been perusing new curriculum for fall and have decided on Sonlight’s Fiction, Fairytales and Fun for Little Learners for John and Explore God’s World for Chloe. Yes, I know, John doesn’t necessarily need a curriculum as he’s only just three in August but I think he’s ready. They could also do the same package and they will for future years but this year just with the difference in fine motor skills ability, I think it’s best to have their own. (Sonlight Coupon Code SV20318647 will save you $5 off your first order).

I know I could visit the library as a cure for my book boredom but lately the weather is awful, I’m feeling so tired these days or we have prior commitments. One day I was feeling particularly bored with our books so I visited my favorite book site: Book Depository (love the free shipping!!). Our order arrived this week: Sun, Moon and Stars along with In the Castle and The Nutcracker.

Chloe was delighted with The Nutcracker; the colorful illustrations and the story. I think it was particularly meaningful to her since we had the opportunity to see the actual live performance of the Nutcracker Ballet this year at the theatre!

John enjoyed In the Castle . He’s quite taken with swords at the moment so knights, pirates and the like simply fascinate him.

Sun, Moon and Stars was a bit more technical and is factual not fictional. I ordered it because my tots (like most!) are fascinated with the moon and stars. I’m not sure how much they got out of it but they listened and enjoyed the pictures. This will be a handy book as we continue our homeschool journey!

How was your week? Do or read anything interesting?

• Chloe is 4 years & John is 30 months
• This post links to Tot School, Explore, Play & Learn and Preschool Corner
• Don’t miss the BecoPotty Giveaway 4/10/11 Can & USA