Weekly Update: Tot School

Tot School has been a bit challenging for us lately! I think the novelty of it has worn off for Lorelai (most likely due to the fact that my collection of activities is small right now). I know that Lorelai is on the younger end of readiness for Tot School, too (19 months). Keeping these things in mind, I've been doing my best to tailor our little program to Lorelai's needs. At this point I have found that it is much better to do a couple activities throughout the day instead of sitting down for a 4 activity marathon.
You know how kids are, next week will probably be totally different now that I have got the hang of doing things this way!

This is an AWESOME book...each page has a different letter, animal and adjective. Lorelai loved seeing the animal on each page and watching me dramatically act out each adjective. This book needs to be in your collection!

This was our CD for the week. I like picking out new music at the library for us to try (I'm making a point to take Lorelai to the library every Monday night...eventhough all she does is run around.) I enjoyed the CD...Lorelai just kept asking where Elmo's song was.

We almost make it through the whole bag of letters! Lorelai has really been coming along with recognizing letters. She pointed out the number 5 when we were at the bank and the letter O when we were at the mall this week. Hooray!

I guess you could say that friday was our 1st Tot School field trip. We headed out to see Sesame Street live. Both Lorelai and I had a blast! I can't wait to take her next year!
I've been inspired to set a mini-curriculum by some of you fellow Tot Schoolers, so come back next week to see what I planned :)

Sesame Street Live Was a Hit!

I'm so blessed (and relieved)to say that Sesame Street Live was a hit!
I mulled over the idea of taking Lorelai to see the show for awhile before I bought the tickets. She ADORES Sesame Street and for sure is Elmo's biggest fan, but I was worried that we would trek down to the Fox theater only to have her be bored and cry.
Boy was I wrong!
Lorelai was a little fussy about waiting for the show to start, but once it did, she was blown away. Actually, when the show first started it started quite suddenly and quite loudly, so she did bawl for a quick second. I think it was a bit overstimulating for her at first, but once she got into the swing of things, she was jammin'! She did her little Elvis hip-shaking moves the whole time, while simultaneously bopping her head up and down. I felt so blessed to know that she was so entertained by the show. She watched every minute of the performance, and when it ended, she stared at the stage for awhile to make sure that it really was over. I really think she would have watched it twice if she could have. I don't know who had the most fun...Lorelai or Tim, Me, and the Grammies! Even when I wasn't holding Lorelai on my lap, I found myself clapping and singing!

We Love Tot School!

Over the past week or so I have begun Tot School with Lorelai. You can find out more about Tot School by clicking here.
Tot School is all about exposing early learning skills through fun play. It takes place before your child enters Pre-K. There is no curriculum to buy and the only rule is that it be FUN. All the glory goes to A for introducing me to the idea :)
Not only has Lorelai been loving out Tot School activities, but I have been getting a huge kick out of creating activities and tools that fit/stretch her capabilities and knowledge. Here are some pictures of us Tot Schoolin'...
Music time with some Sesame Street hits:



Number time on our magnet board (thanks to target we got the board, letters, and numbers for a total of $4.50!):

Lorelai loves this color/shape stacker (thanks to buybuy baby we can all get 20% off their selection of Melissa and Doug toys with those never-ending BB&B coupons!):

Puzzle time:

I had fun creating the color cards, word spelling game, and alphabet garland. I even added a "polka dots", "stripes", and "plaid" card to the color cards. Cute!




I really feel that Tot School has renewed my passion for staying home with Lorelai. I'll be posting more about our learning adventures soon :)