Gross Motor

I forgot to add these pictures yesterday.  We had another warm winters day, so we went on a walk and played at the park. 

 Remember back when I said she climbed a ladder by herself and she couldn't before.  Here she is doing it again!

 She has a double ear infection.  So even though the weather didn't really call for a hat, we still wore one anyway.

Baby B chilling in the stroller

Yup, It Was a Monday

 Our schedule was all messed up today for several reasons.  And when that happens, chaos is not far behind.  We had planned to attend an activity at the local library but we had to cancel for an impromptu doc appt. for AB.  Some other things happened as well...but no need to add that on here.  Because of the interruptions, we split the school day.  

 First time using the felt board.  I made it this weekend.  On Pinterest, a lot of people show how they use an oil drip pan as a magnet board.  So I did that, but took it one step farther.  On the back side of it, I put felt.  

 We are reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle.  While we are doing this, AB is putting up the felt pieces.

 She is comparing the felt pieces with the pictures in the book.

 Done!

 She is actually doing the whole puzzle this time...with a little help from Mom.

 Counting the bubbles

If you are wondering where I got the all of the felt pieces, I got them from www.feltfantasies.com.  They had a booth at a local art fair and I fell in love at first sight.  I'm just glad we are finally able to use them!  You will start to see us use a lot more felt pieces in the upcoming posts.  I just need to finish getting them cut out...ugh!

Assessment Day

You might be wondering, why on earth would I be giving AB a test?!?!  Well, let me start by talking about the importance of an assessment.  I feel they are a vital component to the learning process.  Assessments tell a teacher, what did the students learn and how effective was I, as a teacher.  Then, I know where I need to go, depending on the outcome of the tests.  Do I need to reteach to the class or a select few?  Do I need to teach the concept in a different way?  Can I go on to the next lesson?  In AB's case, I do a lot of informal assessing, through observation.  I don't keep a running record or anything of that sort, because I only observe her.  Obviously, if I had several children, I would need to.  How else would I be able to keep everything straight? LOL.

So yes, today I did a formal assessment on AB.  I was testing to see if she could name and identify the upper case letters, numbers 1-9, 13 different shapes, 10 colors, and lower case letters.  I did this a couple of months ago and wanted to see her growth.  Which is what assessments can also show.  AB is a few weeks shy of two years old.  I did not pressure her to do this.  In fact, we didn't do any lower case letters and did not identify any upper case letters.  She said, "all done" when I presented them to her.  So that was fine.

Was there growth?  Absolutely!  I was pleased with the results.  What will I do with this information?  Honestly, nothing.  I wanted to know the exact letters, numbers, shapes, and colors that she knew and didn't know.  I will continue to go about our learning in the same way as we already are.  Do I expect her to master all of these things at the age of 2?  No, I do not.  Do I expect her to have all these mastered by the end of Kindergarten?  Yes, definitely.

I will tell you that the things I assessed today, are the little things to me in the grand scale of what I'm trying to accomplish.  Those are just easy things to assess in a more formal way.  My big  goal for her, is that she have a love for learning, exploring, and trying new things.  That she will be kind to others and have a sense of independence and confidence.  And yes, I feel as though I have observed these things.  And as of right now, she does have all of those qualities.  Except for trying new foods =)

You also might be wondering the results from the tests I did today.  I would rather not put those results on here.  I never want another parent to say "my child can't do that, what's wrong with them?" or a parent to question themselves, thinking I'm not a good parents because my child isn't do that.  I stated previously, all children learn differently and at their own pace.  I will be happy to share the results privately, if any of you want to know.

Dilemma

Where do I begin?  I wanted AB's classroom to be in the small room for several reasons.  The most important reason was because, I needed a small room to fit her learning tools and the bigger room could house her bed and other random toys.  This way, if we had company, the children still had toys to play with and stay out of the classroom.  BUT now that I have done that, she is missing out on her dramatic play things.  Those are in her bedroom.  She plays with them still...but not as much.  She likes to use her beans, beads, pom poms, or marbles as the food she cooks.  They are more fun to stir and scoop than play food.  So here is the dilemma, do I move the dramatic play into the classroom?  Or do I leave it in her room?  I think she would play with it more in the classroom.  But then there are even less things for her friends to play with, when they come over.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?

 Fine Motor~ Place the marble onto the golf tea.  It was kind of a breeze but she enjoyed it.  

 You already knew right?  She then took the marbles and played with just those for a long while.

 I made this puzzle over the summer.  It was supposed to go into a quiet book.  There are eleven shapes.

 Now that she finished the puzzle, she takes off the pieces and places them back onto the blank side.  It is made from stiff felt and velcro.

 Multi-tasking at its best...Cleaning up and holding her straw in her mouth.  Why not just put the cup down?

Reading books...we read a ton today.

New Trays

Today AB got some new trays on her shelf.  It's always very exciting for her!  I take the trays that she hasn't played with and replace them with something new.  

3 for 1 special.  ABAB pattern, color matching, shape matching

 She loves this!  Actually, yesterday I gave her the pots and pans to use, she said "oh no, beans all gone?".  I told her we were done with them for a while.  She has been getting so good with her sentences.

 Puzzle ~ I showed her how to do the first one and she did the rest.

 We discussed color and the shape of the name.  I use the name rhombus instead of diamond and ellipse instead of oval.  On the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and her iPad apps, she hears diamond and oval.  So I feel, she gets all the names.  But my teacher training says, we will use the names, rhombus and ellipse.

 There are only eight sticks, but she counted, on her own, to nine.  I think she went straight to two and counted from there.  I was shocked.

The plan was to match the upper and lower case letters, but she started drawing instead.  She can't really draw a line (we have tried several times) but I want to keep practicing anyway.  She is great at drawing circles though!

Not much to report from yesterday's school.  I was exhausted from the weekend still.  So we had a low key kind of a day.  

 She's shaking the stuff that's inside...making music

 We listen to classical/instrumental music while we are in the classroom.  She all of a sudden heard it and started dancing.

 AB has gotten very good at putting things away when she is done using it.  In fact, I don't even clean the room before we leave, because its already picked up.  I love this!

 Playing games is really teaching her patience and about taking turns.

 Finished result after we learned more about the lower case "g".  She was very confused by it.

 Reading our library books.  AB now has her very own library card.  

 "I see ya!"

Not So Manic Monday

Often Monday's are crazy, but not for us today.  I was not ready to get up this morning.  After a very busy weekend, I could have probably slept the day away.  But we had a busy Monday and it was a great day at that!  We had school this morning, went to the library for story time, then off to Chick-fil-a for lunch and play with friends, nap, and finally we went to the park.  Told you it was busy!

 Mickey Mouse Dominoes 

 Playing memory.  Her shirt is off because she sneezed and a bunch of boogers got on it.  Okay, okay, I wiped her big boogers on it because it's all I had.  LOL

 She is telling me the letters

 Very proud of her doing this...it was all her!

 She is still having trouble using the tongs, but we keep practicing

 AB didn't do this today, but she has been the whole weekend.  All you do is put the q-tip in the holes.  

 My first attempt at a sensory box.  It has heart shaped jewels, XOXO jewels, foam letters, foam heart shape stickers, pink pom poms, a drum, a heart shape ice tray

 Threading the lace through the bead is still hard.  She can't quite hold the bead and the lace, so she can then pull the lace all the way through.  But if I hold the lace, then she can do it.

 At the library

Chick-fil-a balloon at the park.  She lost it soon after this.  Tough lesson for a toddler...don't let go of the balloon or it will fly away.  I tried to convince her to leave it in the house, but she wanted to take it.  We had huge alligator tears.  She later got two green ones at the tax place.