Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Day 4 Activities

This is my planned activities for today. The word in blue following the activity is which theme of the week it is geared towards.
Note: These activities are geared towards toddlers ages 1-2 years old. My son is not very conversational at this time, however we are working on encouraging him to speak more.

Fine Motor Skills:
  • Trace a printout of the number 1
  • Color picture of the number 1
  • Using a shallow tray filled with rice or pudding, trace the number 1
Discovery:
  • Count 1 of items throughout the day (1 banana, 1 book, 1 car, 1 mirror, 1 diaper, etc)
  • Science: What Foods Attract Ants? Take a paper plate and divide into four sections (draw two lines making a T). Put 4 different foods that ants may be attracted to (my son cannot talk, so I will be guessing and explaining my reasoning to him. Click here for instructions on how to carry this experiment out.) Place the plate outside and come back to it in a few hours. See which foods ants were attracted to. Then watch the ants interacting with each other and the food. *May or may not hold my son's attention. Also dependent on if the rain continues in our area or not.*
Arts & Crafts:
  • Egg Carton Ants: Materials needed: cardboard egg carton, paint, pipe cleaners, markers. Instructions: Use 3 sections of a cardboard egg carton to form the body of an ant. Have the kids paint it and add antennas (pipe cleaners) on the first section and 8 legs (longer pipe cleaners) on the back two sections (4 on each section). Then glue some googly eyes on the front.
Books:
  • Are You An Ant?
  • Ants in Your Pants: A Lift the flap counting book by Sue Heap
Songs:
  • The Ants Go Marching *yet again*

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Day 3 Activities

This is my planned activities for today. The word in blue following the activity is which theme of the week it is geared towards.
Note: These activities are geared towards toddlers ages 1-2 years old. My son is not very conversational at this time, however we are working on encouraging him to speak more.

Fine Motor Skills:
  • Trace the letter A
  • Color picture of the letter A
  • Using a shallow tray filled with rice or pudding, trace the letter A
Discovery:
  • Find the letter A in books we read, signs we see, cereal boxes, etc.
  • Find items that begin with the letter A. Write the name of each item on the whiteboard and discuss and pronounce.
Books:
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (letters)
Songs:
  • The Ants Go Marching (letter A, Ants)
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Monday, June 29, 2009

Day 2 Activities

This is my planned activities for today. The word in blue following the activity is which theme of the week it is geared towards.
Note: These activities are geared towards toddlers ages 1-2 years old. My son is not very conversational at this time, however we are working on encouraging him to speak more.

Fine Motor Skills:
  • Make cookies from scratch. Use cookie cutters (A's, circles or number 1's). Decorate with Red Frosting and sprinkles.
  • Color a picture of a Circle (circle)
Discovery Activities:
  • Look for circles wherever we go.
  • Collect circular objects to touch and discover more closely. (circle)
Books:
  • How do Apples Grow? (apples)
  • Round is a Pancake (circle)
Songs:
  • Little Apples (apples)
  • 'Round the Apple Tree (circle, apples)
  • We Are A Circle (circle)

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Day 1 Activities

This is my planned activities for today. The word in blue following the activity is which theme of the week it is geared towards.
Note: These activities are geared towards toddlers ages 1-2 years old. My son is not very conversational at this time, however we are working on encouraging him to speak more.

Gross Motor Skills:
  • Ring around the Rosies (circle)
  • Make a large letter A on the ground (sidewalk chalk, masking or duct tape, something visible and durable), and "walk" the letter the way you would write it. (Introduction to the letter A).
Books:
  • Read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. (circle)
  • Read Johnny Appleseed. (apple)
Songs:
  • Apples and Bananas (apple)
  • Mr. Golden Sun (circle)
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Week 1 Themes

Homeschool Preschool weekly themesThere are many important reasons to have themes in education. For educators, it is to be sure you "cover" or "go over" all the needed, necessary, and essential material. For kids, it is for predictability, variety, and structure. Kids need a routine that is predictable to feel like their lives aren't in chaos. However they still need variety to spice up their lives *wink*.

The themes for this week are:
  • Letter: A
  • Number: 1
  • Shape: Circle
  • Color: Red
  • Food: Apples & American food
  • Animal: Ants
  • America and Independence Day
Join me Monday through Friday this week to see what activities I have planned each day.

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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Weekly Link Finds

To keep you busy making your own ideas until I post mine each day, here is a list of links with wonderful resources for toddlers:

Magazines for Babies & Toddlers
Homeschooling Babies and Toddlers - excellent blog post from The New Homemaker

Click on the pic below for loads of toddler and preschool activities:



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Friday, June 26, 2009

About Myself and This Blog

Hi,

I am Mel, a 23 year old new homeschooling mother. I have a 6 year old step daughter that I am test driving homeschool during the summer with, and a 1 year old son I have been partially unschooling his whole life now.

I have created this blog to document my progress and post my daily lesson plans, so that other mothers out there looking for activities, books, lessons, etc for kids under the regular preschool and school age can see what links, resources, etc I have found and what I am actively using with my kids.

I also have a 3 month old that has just grown out of her colic phase, so I now have more time to spend enjoying my kids, teaching them, and growing with them.

Won't you please join us on our journey of learning together?

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Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Homeschooling Toddlers makes no representations as to its accuracy, completeness, recentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.