Wednesday's Website: Brite Music

We all know the power of music. It can bring you to tears, make you roll on the ground with laughter, even give you an extra energy boost.
Music also has the power to teach.

OK... so this is more of an incredible curriculum review.


With that out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about Brite Music. This company has been around since the 70s (and so some of you, like me, may be familiar with it already).
They are most known for their fabulous music. There are two music sets- one is called Watch Me Sing and the other is called I Have A Song For You. This is just clean, educational, fun tunes for kids.
Some songs you may be familiar with are:

• I'm a VIP in my Family
• Sharing, Caring
• When I Grow Up, I want to be a Mommy (not sure if that is the correct title)
• No One Else Can Walk my Walk

These songs teach positive characteristics, good morals, and more! I have countless memories listening and dancing to these songs as a child and I want my daughter to have similar experiences. They just have some really good, pure music available.

THERE'S MORE!


Brite Music also publishes the SAFETY KIDS.... a book/music program that teaches kids about saftey from strangers, personal saftey, drugs, and more. There is also a catchy song about learning your telephone number. I learned as a tot how to be safe with the aide of this great program. It is just plain fun!!!

AND THERE'S STILL MORE!

STANDING TALL is a wonderful collection of stories about 12 character building attributes: love, service, self esteem, gratitude, obedience, dependability, courage, work, forgiveness, honesty, happiness, and cleanliness. I read this books growing up, too... I wish I still had them to pass to my daughter! From what I remember, they are wonderful books and we enjoyed following along with the tape.

BUT THERE'S MORE!
I have recently learned about their SING, READ, WRITE program that teaches little ones to read and write with music. I don't know anything about the effectiveness of this 5 volume set, but if it's anything like their other products I am sure it is amazing.

What a trip down memory lane! I just wish I had extra $$$ to buy it all! Does anyone else have memories with Brite Music or other great curriculum suggestions? Please Share!!

Something Perfect

As the anniversary of my little one's adoption finalization approaches, I have taken some time to reflect how our lives have changed. I no longer feel the deep emptiness in my heart. My arms don't physically ache to hold a baby. My heart is full of joy and my arms are full of one squirmy, beautiful, brainy toddler.
Take a sec to read these lyrics of a song called Something Perfect by Michael Mclean... adoption is a PERFECT, beautiful process.

Something Perfect

There's an ache that's missing today
There's an emptiness that's been filled
There's a cloud that's lifting and drifting away
There's a ragin' storm that's been stilled
There's a joy that's real
There's a wound that's finally healed
There's a future replacing the past
There's breath of new life in the cast

And there's something perfect happening here
And this moment will bury the mountains of fears
And through countless tomorrows
It won't disappear
This something that's perfect
Happening here

No one knows, so no one can say
That tomorrow all will be well
Will the brightest promise that shines on today
Shine tomorrow? No one can tell
But one thing is sure
And will be forever more
When such unselfish love has been given
The world just made more room for heaven

And there's something perfect happening here
And this moment will bury the mountains of fear
And through countless tomorrows it won't disappear
This something that's perfect
Happening here



To our birthmom (and all birthmoms out there) THANK you for the sacrifice that you are willing to make. Without you there would be many empty arms and incomplete families. YOU are the reason we are WE and not just him and I. Thank you.

Montessori Checklists Period 2, 3, and 4

I recently had a conversation with one of the fellow teacher mommies out there about the Montessori Periods. I posted a checklist for Period One. Here are lists up to Period Four:

• Period One
  
• Period Two
• Period Three
• Period Four
  

I know some of you moms out there are thinking that checklists are too teacher structured and not focusing on the child taking control of their learning. Well, though it may be structured, I plan on having my daughter lead me through her learning using these lists as a guide. What can I say- I will forget unless I write it down!! :)

May's Curriculum Calendar

Here it is! May's curriculum calendar. I decided to keep it simple this month and just focus on learning the three basic shapes (circle, square, and triangle). She already knows hearts and stars. I want to use the following activities to help my little one learn these shapes!

• FOOD- of course we will need to eat our shapes! Whether its a meal or snack, too! I will post more about our food shape activities.
• DANCE- I found this adorable lesson plan online for the Shape Hokey Pokey. I will tone it down for my 18 month old daughter and just focus on one new shape at a time (while using the shapes she already knows)
• ART- I haven't researched this one yet- but I am sure there are tons of artsy ideas using shapes! Off the top of my head I am thinking collages, play dough sculptures, using stencils, stamping, making shape people... the possibilities are endless!
• BOOKS- we will be reading some shape books as well as making our own! I am not sure if I will make a separate book for each shape or one big one with all our colors. For the illustrations we could color, paint, or use digital pictures to create the shapes!

As far as Montessori plans for this month- I want to continue our work with I Spy but focus still primarily on practical life stuff. (using my period one checklist). I will be posting the Montessori Lesson checklists for periods 2-4 soon as well as updates on my Brainy Boo's learning environment.
Happy Teaching!! And no matter what our little ones gain/ignore from our lessons, remember to Find Joy in the Journey!

Family Day Ideas Needed- HELP!!!!

In a couple weeks we will be celebrating the one year anniversary of my daughter's adoption finalization.

I am trying to come up with some great new traditions that we can have to mark this very special occasion....any ideas?
This is what I have thought of: (I am not doing everything on this list! Still in the brainstorming stage!)

• family picture
• personalized letters from mommy and daddy (to be read and then kept in a journal)
• make a crown
• mommy will make a special edition home video of my daughter
  
• her court date was on May 5- I am thinking of having a small Cinco De Mayo party with just the three of us with mexican food and a pinata
• eat from an "I Am Special" plate (we need to get one first)
• doing something fun as a FAMILY- like going to the zoo, aquarium, or amusement park
• exchanging gifts with all family members
• sending a package to our birthmom with some of my daughter's artwork
  

Let me know if you have any ideas.... I want this day to celebrate not only my sweet daughter, but also our family becoming complete.

Montessori Color Tablets (they look AMAZING!!)

A few weeks ago I was teaching my husband about Montessori and some of their great manipulatives. I drool over the wooden educational toys- especially the color tablets. Is it the array of bright colors? Or the challenge of sorting them by shade? Who knows! I was so happy to see that other mommys had figured out how to make them (now a password protected site).
We headed on down to the hardware store to pick paint samples. After that, my husband was super excited and insisted on doing the rest of the work himself.
Just look how amazing!
There are 80 tablets all together. There are 10 different colors in 4 shades. And I thought that we could do some early matching activities if we had 2 of each- so all 40 colors have a match! I can't wait to use them! And thank you hubby!!!! Our little Boo will love that her daddy made her an educational toy! :)

Our Orange Day

Orange Day is the last of the color days for the month of April. We have had so much fun, and my little one can now recognize yellow, blue, purple, and brown and can say half of the color names that we have worked on (except orange and green- and those just happen to be the last two colors) I am so proud of her! Here is our wonderful day in orange!

Wear Orange! My husband and I are both planning on participating in these color days by wearing the colors!
Work on color book- gluing pictures of orange things into pages of a blank book. I just printed 10 pictures of orange things such as a pumpkin, tiger, carrots an orange stroller, etc. I am going to have my little one help me glue/place these items on 2 pages of a 20 page book. I had my daughter paint in her book before we glued down the collage.

Color Squares- I will introduce purple, green, and orange color squares (I have these already to use but I just forgot! We will use them this weekend as a color reminder matching game.)

Here are some ideas I would like to try with her in the future:

• orange stamp painting (we have done this before, just not today!)
  
• play relay races with orange construction cones
  
• learn the nursery rhyme "Peter, peter pumpkin eater"
  
• orange play dough, orange bath paints, orange scavenger hunt, read books about the color orange
• make the color green using red and yellow (ice cubes, paint, water)
• make a necklace with orange beads
• draw with orange sidewalk chalk
• make freshly squeezed orange juice
• eat goldfish crackers and cheddar cheese
  

Check out these websites for more green fun!
Preschool Express
Enchanted Learning
Step By Step

Our Green Day (also known as Earth Day)

So Wednesday was green day and it just happened to land on Earth day! It was a total coincidence! We had a great time celebrating- here is a list of our activities:
Wear Green! My husband and I are both planning on participating in these color days by wearing the colors!
Work on color book- gluing pictures of green things into pages of a blank book. I just printed 10 pictures of green things such as a tree, Oscar the Grouch, frog, beans, etc. I am going to have my little one help me glue/place these items on 2 pages of a 20 page book. I had my daughter color in her book with a green marker before we glued down the collage.

Color Squares- I will introduce purple, green, and orange color squares (I have these already to use but I just forgot! We will use them this weekend as a color reminder matching game.)

Here are some ideas I would like to try with her in the future:

• green vegetable trays as snacks
• there are so many cute Earth day crafts that I have seen online!
  
• do some gardening
  
• green play dough, green bath paints, green scavenger hunt, read books about the color green
• make the color green using blue and yellow (ice cubes, paint, water)
• make a necklace with green beads
• draw with green sidewalk chalk
• read our one of our current favorites- Green Eggs and Ham!
  

Check out these websites for more green fun!
Preschool Express
Enchanted Learning
Step By Step

Green Day also happened to land on playgroup day- check out these ADORABLE bird nest snacks made from Grandma! Aren't they a perfect earth day snack?

Our PURPLE Day

Tuesday was Purple Day at our house! It was a busy day with lots of exploration time outside since the much needed arrival of warm weather.

Here is a summary of our day with the color purple.
Wear Purple! My husband and I are both planning on participating in these color days by wearing the colors!
Work on color book- gluing pictures of purple things into pages of a blank book. I just printed 10 pictures of purple things such as a purple binky, grapes, purple flowers, etc. I am going to have my little one help me glue/place these items on 2 pages of a 20 page book. I had my daughter do some purple painting before we glued down the collage.

Color Squares- I will introduce purple, green, and orange color squares (I have these already to use but I just forgot! We will use them this weekend as a color reminder matching game.)

Here are some ideas I would like to try with her:

• make the color purple using blue and red (ice cubes, paint, water
• go on a purple hunt around the house/neighborhood. bring along the digital camera to snap these blue objects and create a slideshow of your days findings or print the pictures in a book
• learn the nursery rhyme- little jack horner and eat plums!
• eat purple popsickle, grapes, and drink grape juice
  
• read books about the color purple
• make a necklace with purple beads
• draw with purple sidewalk chalk
• Use coffee filters, a little water and purple markers to make flowers

Check out these websites for more purple fun!
Preschool Express
Enchanted Learning
Step By Step

The Drought Will Soon Be Over

I had a short dry spell this week on blogging... not that we didn't do anything, but that we did so much that by the end of the day I was too tired to type!! So just a shout-out to let you know that in the next couple of days you will be bombarded with the following posts:

Our Orange Day
Our Green Day (Earth Day as well)
Our Purple Day
More Montessori
Montessori Color Tablets~ homemade!

When it rains, it pours! :)

Dancing with the Stars- Muffin Tin Monday

Monday nights at our house consist of one weekly ritual- watching Dancing with the Stars. It is family bonding time- my husband and I plop down on the couch while my daughter happily dances along. So I thought.....
Why not make a Dancing with the Stars Muffin Tin Meal?
My afternoon (between reading Dr Seuss and playing outside) consisted of making my star-inspired meal. My daughter and I made star-shaped cookies (well, my little one ate the dough almost as fast as I could put it on the cookie sheets!), and even made star-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches.
Here is our final product (on a cupcake carrier tray- I love using it 'cuz the cups aren't as deep and it's elevated)

chocolate frosted star cookies, star grilled cheese bites,
green beans (veggies are good for dancers), strawberries (for the whole diva atmosphere),
and cubed cheese (for Bruno's endless cheesy remarks!)

So maybe you are wondering- how did my little diva take to such a star-alicious meal? Let's just say she ate 2 green beans and snuck the cheese to our dogs. Later, after fishing out a half eaten piece of dog food from her mouth, I began to question my cooking skills! Dog food over mommy's laborious meal?! When Daddy got home (and we had eaten human food for dinner) I filled up the tray again with just the star cookies that we all munched on during our family bonding! And that was a big success!

Mathematics Activities- More on Montessori

Teaching your little one math can be a very daunting task. There are many different aspects of math such as patterning, addition, subtraction, place value, etc. Luckily the Montessori approach has laid out an order of teaching these skills as well as 2 things to do with your little ones now before starting the math journey.

Setting the math foundation:

1. experiencing many of the different Sensorial activities will provide child with the concept of idealized things with isolated qualities.
2. through experiencing Practical life and Sensorial activities, the child will gain skills important in math such as exactness, calculation, and repetition.
   

Mathematical Activities are divided into 5 categories:

GROUP 1: Introduction to Numbers

• Number Rods
• Sandpaper Numbers
• Number Tablets
• Spindles
• Numbers and Counters
• Memory Play
  

GROUP 2: Introduction to the Decimal System

• Limited Bead Material
• Number Cards
• Function of the Decimal System
  
• Formation of Complex Numbers
• Unlimited Bead Material (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
• Stamps (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
• Dots

GROUP 3: Introduction to Tens, Teens, and Counting

• Introduction to Tens
• Introduction to Teens
• Introduction to Counting
  

GROUP 4: Arithmetic Tables

• Addition Snake Game
• Addition Strip Board
• Addition Charts
• Subtraction Snake Game
• Subtraction Strip Board
• Subtraction Charts
• Multiplication Tables
• Multiplication Bead Boards
• Multiplication Charts
• Unit Division Board
• Division Charts
  

GROUP 5: Abstraction

• Short Bead Frame
• Hierarchies
• Long Bead Frame
• Simple Division

FRACTIONS: Using the Fraction Insets to show a division of equal parts

I read about these activities in Basic Montessori Learning Activities for Under Fives. I was shocked to read that some five year olds can accomplish lessons in Group 5! It is stated that this list is not to be used as a syllabus (so much for making a cute check list!) but to explore them when the child is willing and has had proper foundation for learning.

post 6 of 8 on Montessori Teaching

Language Activities~ More on Montessori

I am THRILLED to be typing up this post because of some of the great Language resources I have been able to find! I have to say thanks to Chasing Cheerios for their post recently on the nomenclature cards- I was starting to make them myself and it was taking forever!!!

So what are some Montessori beliefs with the language process?
According to my Montessori Bible (Basic Montessori Learning Activities for Under Fives), language primarily consists of cultivating reading and writing. And "since writing and reading are an adaptation of speech, the strategy Montessori uses to develop these cultural skills is to BUILD on the sounds of which speech is made."
Sounds easy enough, right? We know that we can't build a reader (or writer) without laying a foundation in literacy first. Our little ones need to acquire a strong base of word knowledge before they enter kindergarten classrooms. So before you think- my child isn't old enough to read or write yet, I don't need to spend time on language activities- think again... there are many Montessori activities we can do with our tots now!
early learning activities:

• Classified Pictures- their purpose is to teach kiddos to organize their thoughts, that there is more to language than just speaking what one needs or wants, and to increase vocabulary. Great for sorting activity!

Check out Montessori for Everyone for free downloads of these cards (and so much more)! Also another great resource for Classified pictures is the language page at Montessori Materials.

• I Spy- a great game anytime of the day! To play pick up an object, such as a book, and say "I spy something that starts with buh" (b sound). This teaches kiddos the phonograms and makes the child aware of the sounds in our spoken language. Eventually you can make the game more challenging by saying ending sounds. (there are 6 stages to this game!) This helps children to isolate sounds in words and can help them as decoders later on in their reading journey.
  

Download this PDF of the full instructions from Montessori School of Casper.

• Sandpaper letters- helps child put a symbol to their existing knowledge of sounds. These are smooth colored boards with sandpaper letters in upper and lowercase. There are sets with a single letter and a set with phonograms.
  

Check out this website for instructions on making them yourself with sandpaper. And Shu-Chen Yen website on instructions on using sandpaper letters. I found these tactile letters online at Toys-R-Us for under $20- sounds like a great deal! Has anyone used these before? Let me know!!

I won't go into detail about the following activities (I have a few years until my tot will be ready for these. However, I am really interested in learning more about them!). The two sites I cited earlier- Montessori for Everyone and Montessori Materials have additional great language resources.

writing activities:

• metal insets
• movable alphabet
  
• writing individual letters
• writing families of letters
• positioning letters on lines
• sandpaper Capitals

reading activities:

• object boxes and these
• action cards
  
• reading folders
  
• puzzle words
  
• book corner and library- a must have!!

Teaching reading really is a science, but it can be fun! These activities are great to build that strong little reader we want to see in each of our kiddos.
Enjoy!!!

post 5 of 8 on Montessori Teaching

Our RED day

I am kinda embarrassed to even call today a red day. My daughter has taken much needed rest and when she is awake she is not interested in my little color lessons and I won't force it. So I will write what we did do, and write a list of other great ideas that I hope to do with my little one on our next red day!
But first, I have a question for all you with little ones out there..... would it be more effective to have the color days the same week as a holiday (red-Valentines/4th of July, orange- Halloween, yellow- Thanksgiving, green- St Patricks Day or Christmas, blue- Earth day/ 4th of July, purple- Easter, pink- Valentines, etc) or to teach them all together during a rainbow unit?
Wear Red! My husband and I are both planning on participating in these color days by wearing the colors!
Work on color book- gluing pictures of red things into pages of a blank book. I just printed 10 pictures of red things such as a red strawberry, red car, red rose, Elmo, etc. I am going to have my little one help me glue/place these items on 2 pages of a 20 page book. I had my daughter color in her book with different red crayons before we glued down the collage.
Red Squares- I will introduce red, yellow, and blue color squares to my little one today (paint cards from Home Depot). Every day that we are working on colors I will take out these cards, label them with her verbally, and have her try and point out the yellow, red, or blue ones. By the end of this week I am hoping for mastery on these three colors... but we will see!! She is really not interested in playing with the squares so I need to think of more large motor ways to tie in her learning (she is a little athlete!)
We will experience RED again when she is feeling more herself!
Here are some ideas I would like to try with her in the future:

• little red hen nursery rhyme and activities
• red fruit treats such as dried apples, raspberry fruit roll-ups, strawberries, etc. and a little red candy such as licorice (my favorite!)
  
• sunset paintings with red, yellow, and orange paints with black silhouettes out of construction paper.
• discuss fire safety - create an emergency exit plan for your home, visit a fire station, stop drop and roll, etc.
• there is a million things you could do with red apples- eat them, cut in half and stamp, talk about Johnny Appleseed, make applesauce, pick apples, count apples, drink apple juice, etc.
• host a red carpet family/friends event- roll out a red hallway rug or red towels, blankets- be creative! Everyone comes all dressed up, take pics on the red carpet, have a talent show, and don't forget about passing out awards
• anything Elmo! unless you are like me and have seen one too many videos of Elmo's World!
• red play dough, red bath paints, red scavenger hunt, read books about the color red
  

Wednesday's Website: Early Learning Coloring Pages

I have been really focusing on the colors this week with my daughter. I found this site Early Learning and Coloring Pages that has some great ideas to teach your little one colors, such as this song:

Color Hop
(sung to the tune of Old McDonald)
I see something that is _____________. (color)
Do you see it too?
I see something that is _____________. (same color)
Hop there if you do.
With a hop, hop here,
And a hop, hop there. Hurry up! Hop it up!
Hop as fast as you dare.
I see something that is __________. (color)
Do you see it too?

I also LOVE this art activity with bubbles:

Bubbling Balloons
Pour 1/4 cup of dishwashing liquid into a contaner (a low shallow dish works well). Add small amounts of water and tempera paint until the color is intense. Put a straw in the paint mixture and blow carefully until the bubbles start to overflow. Gently place the paper over the bubbles, then lift carefully. When dry, cut into desired shapes.

And this jello parfait, great for a review of the primary colors:

Jello Parfait
Make three colors of jello. After jello is set, layer into a clear plastic cup.

This site has SO much more than color ideas! Some of the links include:

• national geographic animal coloring pages
  
• youtube videos for kids (CHECK out this site!! I LOVE it!)
• a list of toddler games online
• list of 10 different edible crafts
• storyplace preschool library- different stories, activities centered around several themes
• core knowledge preschool lesson plans they also have other grade as well
• brown bear activites- a week's worth of lesson plans or just the printables
• alphabet ideas- such as alphabuddies , the animated alphabet, and some letter activities for each letter of the alphabet
  
• and some great early childhood websites such as Kids Chalkboard, Printable Games, and the Activity Cupboard.
  

Take the time to browse and see what will work for you. My experience with resources like this is to take the time to download the must-have lessons now- you never know when a webmaster decides to shut down their site.

Our BLUE day (also known as BLAH day)

After the big yellow bash we had Monday, we were pretty tuckered out for Tuesday's Blue Day. It was a stay in your jammies until dinner time day. And it didn't help that my little girl was sick. Poor thing had a nasty cough! So we were really low key about our activities today and spent a lot of time napping. If nothing else, she was exposed to the color blue today and it will build a little bit of background knowledge when we revisit this color in the future.
Here is a summary of our day with the color blue.
Wear Blue! My husband and I are both planning on participating in these color days by wearing the colors!
Work on color book- gluing pictures of blue things into pages of a blank book. I just printed 10 pictures of blue things such as a blue butterfly, blueberries bluebird, cookie monster, etc. I am going to have my little one help me glue/place these items on 2 pages of a 20 page book. I had my daughter color in her book with a blue marker before we glued down the collage.
Blue Meal- I wasn't going to make 2 blue meals like I did with yellow, but we did have blueberry muffins! I didn't make blue chicken noodle soup and I wasn't going to put blue food coloring in her orange juice!
Blue Soapy Water Bottle- I got this darling idea from KJ- she suggested putting water, a little soap, and food coloring in a bottle and letting your little ones shake and observe. This was the one activity that really captivated my daughter- so THANK YOU!! I will gladly accept other ideas!Color Squares- I will introduce red, yellow, and blue color squares to my little one today (paint cards from Home Depot). Every day that we are working on colors I will take out these cards, label them with her verbally, and have her try and point out the yellow, red, or blue ones. By the end of this week I am hoping for mastery on these three colors... but we will see!! She is really not interested in playing with the squares so I need to think of more large motor ways to tie in her learning (she is a little athlete!)
We will experience BLUE in all it's glory on a day when she is feeling better!
Here are some ideas I would like to try with her:

• making an edible aquarium with blue jello
• go on a blue hunt around the house/neighborhood. bring along the digital camera to snap these blue objects and create a slideshow of your days findings or print the pictures in a book
• learn the nursery rhyme- little boy blue and do corresponding activities
• eat blue popsickle, blueberries, and drink blue kool-aid
• read books about the color blue
• make a necklace with blue beads
• draw with blue sidewalk chalk
• if older, talk about other definitions for the word blue

The Rest of the Week in Posts

So yesterday during yellow day I learned a lot about what activities are age appropriate for my daughter. The color hunt with yellow objects was just not captivating for her and at this age learning must be fun! She wasn't really digging doing two little art projects. I will tone it down to one art and one meal. (did i mention that for yellow day i hand picked yellow fruit loops for my daughter to eat in her little yellow bowl with a yellow spoon? i mean it when i say yellow day was crazy!) My little one is also coming down with a bit of a cold and so I realize that I need to be sensitive to her needs right now. Nevertheless, blue day is still going to happen on Tuesday- just more calm than the hectic day we had with yellow!

• Tuesday Night- a review of our BLUE DAY

• Wednesday Night- Weekly Website and a review of our RED DAY

• Thursday or Friday will be another MONTESSORI post

Our YELLOW Day

Monday is officially YELLOW day in our home. We have plans to teach our little one all about the color yellow with fun crafts, catchy songs, and hands on activities. I chose to do yellow first because it is the only color that my daughter kinda knows already- I figured I would start out easy and then we'd progress to more difficult colors!
Here are the scheduled activities and some ideas that I think are worth mentioning:
Wear Yellow! My husband and I are both planning on participating in these color days by wearing the colors!
Yellow collage- take a piece of yellow cardstock, collect yellow stickers, and cut out some basic yellow shapes for the collage. I was originally going to do this activity with my daughter but I am doing something similar with her color book so I might not do this one.
Work on color book- gluing pictures of yellow things into pages of a blank book. I just printed 10 pictures of yellow things such as a sun, baby chick, pencil, lemon, etc. I am going to have my little one help me glue/place these items on 2 pages of a 20 page book. There will be 2 pages dedicated to each color. If I am feeling particularly brave I will have her do some yellow painting on the pages and then glue the items on top of the dried paint.

Muffin Tin Monday- a yellow feast!- I am going to prepare dinner for the family in the good ole' tin tonight! Planning on corn, banana, macaroni and cheese (more orangey, but it will work!), and a yellow cake for dessert!

clockwise from the top: macaroni and cheese, banana, corn

We're Going on a Yellow Hunt- my little one and I are going to go on a walk in search of things that are YELLOW. I will place things around our living room- such as a yellow plastic egg, marker, crayon, block, and other small toys. We will collect them all in a basket and play again if she so chooses. So we tried that activity- must have been too many structured activities- she picked up two or three items and was ready to just play.
Bath Paints- In the tub we will paint with yellow, blue, and red paints as a review on those three colors. I will probably be doing this activity Thursday or Friday with my little one.
Color Squares- I will introduce red, yellow, and blue color squares to my little one today (paint cards from Home Depot). Every day that we are working on colors I will take out these cards, label them with her verbally, and have her try and point out the yellow, red, or blue ones. By the end of this week I am hoping for mastery on these three colors... but we will see!!! As of today, my little one thinks that all three colors are yellow!

Other fun ideas:

• get a yellow balloon from the grocery store
• sing "star" songs such as twinkle twinkle little star
• read the story 5 Little Ducks Went Out to Play
  
• drink lemonade or other yellow fruit juice
• make a necklace with yellow beads to wear
• crayon coloring with a yellow crayon
• teach your little one the sign for yellow
• make yellow place mats to use for the day
• have some yellow flowers as a centerpiece
• dye water yellow and freeze in ice cube trays
  
• eat yellow Popsicles
  
• make banana bread
• go to the dollar store and see what yellow things you can buy for cheap!
• go feed ducks (yellow beaks)
• sudsy color bottle (add soap, water, and food coloring to a clear plastic bottle and let your little one shake it all about!) THANKS KJ FOR THIS IDEA!!
  

I hope this list helps.... it is almost one o'clock in the morning- I am going to bed! Tomorrow night I will attach pictures to our YELLOW day- and if you have any ideas PLEASE let me know- I am always up for anything creative! I am officially exhausted from yellow day festivities- blue day on Tuesday will be a lot more relaxed!

Check out this link for more ideas!

Bunny Ears- Last Minute Easter Craft

I love celebrating the holidays with my little one! i love it all- making special meals, learning about traditions, singing festive songs, and doing cute crafts! Preschool Playbook posted about this adorable footprint easter bunny project and I knew this was the project!


As a school teacher I stayed away from paints as much as possible to avoid the mess but as a mommy I embrace 'em! I planned on making 4- one for us and one for each of her grandparents. We did the footprints first- with white paint. My daughter LOVED it and kept signing and saying "more"... I had no worries on her part! One thing that I think really helped was that I walked my daughter through what we were about to do before she had paint on her feet. Once I could see that she could stand on the paper I knew we were ready! I also used her thumbprint as the nose. I walked her through this step first without the paint, then I applied some black paint and let her see what would happen on scratch paper, and finally she put then on the pre-cut circles. I love the end result!!
Happy Easter!!

Wednesday's Website: Sugar Doodle

If you are ever searching for cute churchy clipart, or Family Home Evening lessons, or ideas on incorporating religious teaching with your little ones, check out Sugar Doodle. I found them as a fabulous resource when compiling my daughter's most recent quiet kit and found myself downloading several fabulous lessons such as this GREAT week long Easter idea (I wish I had found this sooner!!!) and a cute way to present the Easter story. Enjoy!

I am a Child of God~ a Quiet Kit

Our second quiet kit is ready for a special Easter gift. I wanted this one to be more Christ-centered so that although she may not be understanding much during the talks at church, she will still be learning about Him! This will be the quiet kit we will save especially for Sunday whereas the other ones will be used more as learning kits at home. I have done some research online and found some additional activities to add on. And I am sure that as time goes on I will add more, so plan on at least one update post!

When you see the scissors - that indicates an activity or a great website with ideas to download for you to make!

The Basics:
a bag just for Sunday (which I have termed the Jac Pack)
small flannel board
accordion folder to store each of the activities


I am a Child of God Kit
I am a Child of God Coloring Pages/ crayons
This set of coloring pages was designed to teach my little one a little bit about Jesus and going to church. The pages have a blocked letter font and illustrations- many coming from Amy Dott Harmer (check her clipart out on pccrafter.com- it is adorable!)

Here is a pdf of some of the pages (without the copyrighted clipart) that you can add to your quiet kit or simply have your little one color!

Books
I created a book to the song I am a Child of God by Naomi Randall. I love that song- it teaches such an important and beautiful lesson that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father! I went and bought Greg Olsen's book I am a Child of God- it is such a beautifully written and illustrated book. I am also planning on rotating through her other church books, so every week its not always the same.
Here is the pdf of the I am a child of God book for you to make for your little ones!

Felt Stories
I wanted this felt activity to be based on the FAMILY, so I printed some of Amy Dott Harmer's stick people: mom, dad, babies, sister, brother, grandma, grandpa, and a home. This is open ended felt play where she can play with the family interacting with each other.

I also printed Amy's clipart explaining Heavenly Father's plan that will be great for Family Home Evening lessons. I found this felt Noah's Ark story and originally had it in my animals kit but I have moved it here.
And check out this website for several scripture stories with images ready to print to use on your felt board! You can print them off in black and white for the little ones to color as well!! Or attach a magnet for a fridge activity!
I have been staying up late researching some fabulous sites with great ideas and came across a few- unfortunately I don't remember where I found some of these activities!! I just got "download" happy in the late hours of the night! So if I am posting about one of your ideas, please let me know where I found it so I can give you proper credit.


Remember Jesus Wheel- this is a great way to remember Jesus and different aspects of his ministry. It's fun for the little ones to spin, too! Just color the pages, cut out the circles, and attach with a brad.

wheel page 1, wheel page 2
Sacrament Book - let's face it, I love books! This is a cute little book I found online somewhere that the kiddos can put together and color, and then read to remember Jesus.

cover, pages 1-2, pages 3-4, pages 5-6
Sacrament Manners Match Game- print of two sets of these cards from churchbabies.blogspot.com and you have a little memory game about what is appropriate during sacrament meeting.
cards
Sacrament Tray and Pictures of Jesus- this adorable activity that I found at sugardoodle.net (this week's Wednesday website) is a great way to connect the sacrament with the life of Jesus Christ.
tray, pictures
Additional Activities to purchase:

• Color your own! Religious puzzles- It's a coloring activity that your child can reuse again and again as a puzzle!
• Color your own! The story of Jesus- kids color small books about the life of Jesus
• Magnetic Noah's Ark- a great way for little ones to play/learn about Noah!

And of course, Treats
Treats are what keeps us going... feeling spiritually full doesn't always mean our tummies are that way, too! Especially if you happen to have church right during lunch!!

This is just a list to start with... I would go through it and see what would work for you and sift it to about 5 activities. Keep the end in mind that we want our children to be able to sit through a talk eventually and too much entertaining might delay that behavior. I will post pics after I am finished putting it all together!
Enjoy!! :)
Happy Teaching!

Spring Flowers~ Monday's Muffin Tin Munchies

OK, so this week our muffin tin meal seems pretty bland. My vision was colorful flowers with bright green stems growing out of rich, brown soil. The finished product overall looks BROWN. Don't get me wrong- I love brown, it just seems pretty dull in comparison to the previous weeks! And I think my little one noticed it too- she fervently pushed her food down the holes in the center of the tray. I guess you win some and you lose some! Oh well- we'll try again later!!:)

soil: crushed up cookies
stems: green beans
flowers: peanut butter on bread with a blueberry center
clouds: bread

On a side note, I have been working hard to finish up my latest quiet kit edition... look for that blog post in the next 2 days!

April's Mommy Made Book- I Am a Child of God

One of the most important lessons you can teach your child is of their divine nature and self worth. I want my daughter to know more than anything else that she is loved by her family here on earth and by her Heavenly Father.


So naturally the idea came to me to write a little book for her about just that! I used the words to the familiar primary song I Am a Child of God by Naomi Randall and inserted pictures of her that followed the text. It has turned out really cute and my daughter had me read a few times already today.


Here is a pdf to download of the text to Naomi Randall's song- download and insert your own images or have children illustrate. Then print, staple, and voila! Or to make them a little sturdier- gather up old board books or buy some blank books from barebooks.com and print the story on sticker paper. Attach the paper to the pages of the book. Either way, the finished product is a mommy made book!

I have an upcoming post on the I am a Child of God quiet kit- I have been compiling a lot of great activities that I have found online (as well as some mommy-made ones). This will be a great resource to helping our little ones stay reverent at church and learn about Jesus!

April's Curriculum Calendar

So better late than never, I guess! This calendar has a basic framework for teaching the following concepts:

1. I am a child of God
2. Colors (week 1: red, yellow, blue)
3. Colors (week 2:purple, green, orange)
4. Rough/Smooth I am trying to teach her one set of opposites a month

I am starting to incorporate some Montessori skills into her curriculum (such as color tablets and touch boards). I want to do more practical life skills... as of right now, I just teach 'em when they come up. I also use the book The Complete Resource Book for Toddlers and Twos as a resource for teaching ideas and activities.

Wednesday's Website: Free Rice

I am writing my Wednesday post with about 3 hours left until Thursday! My daughter is recovering from her very first stomach flu and so my mind has been very much preoccupied in her health! I can watch the dr.'s give shots but there is something about seeing my child cry in pain and throw up that makes my heart ACHE.
Today's website revolves around improving our vocabulary and helping end world hunger at the same time. To play- simply find the synonym to each of the words in bold text. For each correct answer, you will be donating 10 grains of rice to the UN Food Bank. It's a win, win situation- you learn and others receive something that they desperately need- food. You can even add a button to your blog/website to promote ending world hunger!I might be stretching to make this site apply to toddler teaching, but here is what I have come up with:
Playing FreeRice will not only build your vocab, but you will be a wonderful role model of continual learning to your little one. We just don't learn until college is over- it's a never ending process! And as your vocabulary increases, the more word-rich your tot's environment will be. You can also take time to talk about helping others in need.. although this concept might seem abstract at first (since it's online), it is never too early to set a good example!

Up and Coming Posts:
April Curriculum Calendar
More on Montessori
April's Mommy Made Baby Book
I am a Child of God Quiet Kit