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Sunday, May 5, 2013

May Toddler Homeschool



This is a very special month for our toddler homeschool...my little girl is turning TWO!!  Wow!  I'm so excited for the "Terrific Two" season!  Already I have seen such tremendous growth over these past few months, increased attention span, improved communication, new words spoken, pretend reading, singing, and independent play!

I was anticipating a halt to our homeschool with the arrival of our new student (baby boy) BUT just the opposite has happened.  Over these past few months school has become part of our morning routine.  This is something new for us.  Our first year we did school occasionally, no routine just if the day allowed.  Now we make it a priority.  I wanted to develop this habit as she approached age two and I am happy to report we are off to a good start.  

So what does school look like for a 24 month year old?  SIMPLE, FUN, PLAY with some intentional activities.

Intentional Activities this Month:
My goal for the beginning of year two is to continue to do "school" everyday.  I do this by telling my little girl, "It's time for school!" then immediately we go to our school area in our home.  At first I asked her, "Ready for school? or Want to do school?" but I felt like this is something I should change.   I didn't want school to be something optional for her I desire to develop the habit of when mama says it's school time then we do it!

Next. I wanted to begin to teach her to sit and listen to (at least) one story a day.  My toddler is very active and it is difficult for her to sit and listen (even for a few seconds!) so I desire to develop the habit of listening to a story.  This has become part of our daily routine.  I feel this is also developing self discipline and learning how to follow directions when told.  When mama says it's story time then she needs to stop and listen to a story (all stories that I choose are developmentally appropriate and very short due to her age as she gets older the amount of time or stories may increase).

Letters!  I desire for her to become familiar with uppercase and lowercase letters and work towards letter sounds this year.  I encourage this growth by focusing on a particular letter a week as well as reviewing all letters through reading ABC books, playing with magnetic letters, or ABC play dough cookie cutters, and environmental print.

Numbers!  Simple recognition of numbers and beginning to work towards one-to-one correspondence.  I use flash cards, number books, and number puzzles.

Bible Memory!  I am introducing bible memory with my letter of the week (see below).

Writing!  I encourage her to draw or color on plan paper with a variety of tools such as crayons, pencils, markers, and pens.

Name recognition! I constantly write her name in front of her and say the letters as I write.  I also have it posted so she can see it daily and manipulate the individual letters (See below).

We are beginning to work towards a routine with some of the activities above but I continue to make school a positive and fun experience.  I like to say I "sneak learning in!"

As you can see from above we have added a pocket chart to our homeschool.  This is where I plan to keep myself on track.  I have the letter of the week, correlating bible verse, number recognition, and name recognition all in one spot!  Notice the "Name" at the bottom.  I have it written twice.  The first name all the letters are connected and the next the letters are cut apart so she can manipulate them to make her name (of course I have her actual name on the chart but for the example picture I just wrote the word "name').

Each birthday I plan to purchase my little girl a book and write a special message in it!  This year I purchased the "ABC Bible Verse Book."  For each letter of the alphabet there is a correlating bible verse.  I desire to use this as our bible memory for the next few years!
Here I display the book we read each day and some days I may just reread the same book from the previous day.  I have seen my toddler choose one of these stories to pretend read so I feel it is important to keep them out for her!
We have also added a desk to our homeschool area that she loves to sit at and draw/color.  I found this desk at my local resale store!
Lastly, I have been writing quite a few thank you notes to our friends and family as they have welcomed the new baby with gifts.  When I write I also allow my little girl to write too!  She loves when I include her on things that mama does!  This picture also reminds me that learning does not just occur in our school area.


These are just some of the activities we will be focusing on this month!  Please check back each month as I feature new items added to our toddler home school!  I count it a privilege to be my daughter's teacher!  What a joy it is to see her learn and grow!

Happy Homeschooling!









5 comments:

  1. Enjoy those days. Your room looks great. I love the desk and the quilt.

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  2. Thank YOU! We have the sweetest lady at our church who makes a quilt for every new baby born! That is the quilt she made on the desk! Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. I love it! Age two is when we started doing 'formal' activities. I love how you have her contribute to the thank-you notes. I always am purposeful about having my kids do that too. I am sure that you are going to see incredible growth in her over the course of this year!

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    1. Thanks for all your encouragement Amy! I'm so excited for this year with her!

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  4. So glad you like The ABC Bible Verse Book! I've prayed that Moms like you will use it to teach little ones The Word of God! Blessings! Deedra Scherm

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