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)
  

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)
  

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)

Week 1 Themes

There 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.

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:

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?