Tot School

The past several months I have been trying to "teach" Claire some basic learning concepts: counting, colors, animals and animal sounds. But our teachable moments have been random and inconsistent. Plus, I don't feel as though I am a "teacher" at heart, so I'm just going over things over and over again, and I feel as though she gets bored at times. I almost feel a little silly writing this post because I know so many of you out there are already doing things like this with your tots. But, there may be someone out there (like me) who was unaware of things they can do with a child under the age of two...so I'm going to swallow my pride and write this post! Well, in the last week I have come across Confessions of a Homeschooler and 1+1+1=1 (thanks to my friend Heather for doing a similar post on her blog!) that have very detailed plans on teaching small children. Specifically, 1+1+1=1 has a "Tot School" link where she shares her ideas on what she's done to teach her tots. One thing that I got from these blogs is that I don't have to spend "formal" training time each day with Claire to teach her basic learning concepts. Just working on fine motor skills are helping her to learn. And while we "play" I can integrate colors and numbers and counting. So, today, I put practice into play. I went into her room with her and found toys that I could use as a learning tool and Claire LOVED having me "play" with her in her room. Here are some things that we did:




These little stackable cups were a gift from my mom last summer. She got them at Dollar General for just a few bucks! They are great because they are different colors so I can teach her about her colors. They also only fit into each other one specific way. Claire loved dumping them and stacking them and dumping them and stacking them.








I have put all of Claire's Little People into a gallon sized ziploc bag. We have been using Little People for a looooong time as a learning tool (we go over different animals, animal sounds, boys, girls, she has an angel, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus etc). But, today, we practiced taking them out of the bag and putting them back in the bag along with who they are and if they make a sound.

We have a TON of baby rings. You know the ones. They are small, plastic, and colored. You attach baby toys to them and dangle them over an infant for them to look at. Well, Claire uses them as "bracelets" and we have a ton of them. I have this tupperware container that I keep them in. She practices opening the tupperware and closing it (which takes a lot of practice), she puts the bracelets in the container and pours them out. Loving every second of it.

So, I have learned to just take it easy. No, I didn't get a degree in teaching like so many of my mom friends did. But, I can still teach my little girl basic concepts of learning other than what I'm doing now (primarily reading). Things that will give her a foundation to the schooling that she will start in just a few years. I hope to try some new things with her very soon. Things like stringing beads on a wooden stick, picking up beads and putting them in little ice cube trays, puzzles, etc. I plan on devouring the above links to find out more age appropriate examples of things to do with her. And I plan on loving every minute I have with this little toddler.