September’s Tot School

Nathan is currently 34 months old.

I’ve come to realize that a weekly tot school posting is just not going to happen these days!  With pregnancy progressing into the last weeks and our schedule these days, a monthly recap is much more doable! :)  We are still doing tot school weekly, but I’m not following closely behind with the camera these days.  I have a hard enough time getting the preggo body from point a to b, much less toting a camera around too! :)  I digress… oh to more important things… our tot school times this month, at least the ones I managed to photo!  :)
Real Life School… learning to vacuum and use the dust buster… and I tell you what, he’s good at it, very thorough, he loves it, and his little body can get to so many places mine can’t!    He loves to get every last Bailey hair and dirt spec and loves to be a big helper in this way.  He enjoys the responsibility too.  Only once did we have to talk about what things were good to clean up and which things weren’t… that was when he sucked up the food in Bailey’s food bowl… that way she didn’t get it on the floor, he explained. :)

Preschool activities… these are going on at school… learning to write upper and lower case letters… he knows most all of the uppers, but we’ve not worked on writing them between the lines, nor had we worked on writing lower case letters.  This is great practice at school.  They’re learning to write the numbers too.  There is a center for worksheets/writing practice and he loves it. He brings home several worksheets most every day from school… and delights in telling us about them!  Here are a few pictures from the first week.  They work on one letter per week so there’s lots of practice time.  The crafts are also a huge hit, and there’s an art center open for “free art”.  Another of Nathan’s favorites and a great creative outlet.  Most of his artwork hangs on our art wall, but here are a few from safety week.  Of course he’s doing lots of other things at preschool, but these were just a few I wanted to share this month. :)

Drawing/Writing… this kiddo loves to draw, write and color!  He’ll do it with pencils, markers, crayons, sidewalk chalk… you name it.  He loves to create pictures and I love to watch!  These are pictures of a boomerang (bottom right), cup with milk (bottom right), and jellyfish (others) he drew one day… I love that concentration!

I also love the face he made when I asked him to hold up the picture for me to photograph… classic!  :)
 
To follow up with preschool during tot school, we’re continuing the number theme for the week and working on writing numbers, lower and upper case letters, as well as tracing.  This is probably one of his favorite activities, other than drawing and coloring.  We’re working on him remembering/learning to write his name on each “paper” too.   He’s definitely right handed although in sports, he uses both hands and feet equally as well. 

Puzzle time… another favorite.  Nathan can do a 12 piece jigsaw puzzle in no time, and we’re working on the skill building for 24 and 36 piece puzzles, as well as puzzles that aren’t a perfect rectangle.  He can do them well with guidance, but still gets frustrated when working alone.  He puts the puzzles together element by element (the bus then the airplane) in the picture, not by edge then inside.  This seems to work for him, so I’m going with it! :) 
Also, as you can see in the bottom pictures, we’ve had some opportunities with various friends to work on completing something like a puzzle together, working as a pair.  His buddy A, the only one I got pictures of, is a good teammate for this kind of thing because she and Nathan tend to like similar activities and aren’t overly competitive with one another. 

Size sequencing… Nathan loves to line things up and “park” things so we’ve been working on lining things up in different orders… biggest to smallest, tallest to shortest, etc.  
Playdough and it’s many uses… particularly cutting!  Nathan’s getting better and better with cutting using a knife and can cut some of his foods without help!  He loves to play with playdough, and this is one of many skills that playdough is perfect for!

More than just a leapster!   Nathan loves his leapster which comes out occasionally at home.  It’s a wonderful tool for teaching hand eye coordination, pencil grip (using the stylus), and so much more!  Lately, it’s also been a great tool for teaching Nathan to be patient with himself and to try not to go straight to mom or dad to ask for help or call it quits when something is hard.  Nathan is difficult to challenge, but when he is met with a task he can’t do perfectly (probably because most things come so easy) he is quick to give up, get frustrated, move on, or get anxious.  This is something we continue to work through, teach and mold as he grows older and more aware of his feelings.  The leapster is a great tool for this because he’s really motivated to keep going even when it’s not going perfectly.
 
One area he’s achieved great success in regarding this is getting dressed!  He can now get himself completely dressed without help!  His “tall socks” sometimes are a challenge, but he can do them now and is less likely to give up on the first try!  He’s also able to undress completely, although he still quickly grows frustrated with his shirt if it’s not super easy the first time.  We are so proud of Nathan for fighting past the frustration and for learning that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be good… One thing at a time… getting dressed… CHECK!  :)

Building school… Bob the Builder is a new favorite and Duplos are an old favorite.  Put them together and we have all kinds of new things to build!  :)  He’s also been able to play with real legos (as opposed to duplos) at my folks house and he really likes them.  Little does he know, Santa knows this and has already shopped consignment sales and found him some legos! :)
   
We’ve also been working on/learning more about prereading skills, sounding out words, pretend play, cleaning up a task before moving to a new one, riding a bike, scooter, and trike (brakes, gravity, physics, and speed on each), computer skills, more independence around the house, memory verses for building character, feelings, and so much more!  I love this time with Nathan, as does Chad and we’re so happy that he does too!   :)
Are you doing tot school with your little one?  Share your ideas, read about new ideas!  Check out Carissa’s blog, as she’s the tot school guru and host!  :) 
You’ll find it here: www.1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com