P Is For a Perfect Week!

When looking at Amelia's "list of things she loves and wants to learn more about'; I came across the name Pinkerella. Pinkerella is her beloved pink stuffed penguin. So I decided to focus our week on the letter P, the color pink, penguins and pies. Here is what the week looked like...

We had some great fine motor activities such as putting letter P pictures on the coins that go in our piggy bank, putting letter P pictures on a giant P with glue dots and connecting the animal that begins with P to it's home. I was super impressed with how Amelia caught on to the last activity. We haven't discussed animal habitats often and she knew right away that a pigeon can be found in a city and a polar bear can be found in a snowy mountain.

For Math and Literacy Activities I had an "Awesome Penguin Fact Match Up". I found out some cool facts about penguins like; the Magellanic Penguin makes underground nesting colonies during mating seasons. I told Amelia some facts and then gave her a penguin on a clothes pin. She had to match the penguin to the fact.

I also took out my old pizza game. I made this game using a pizza image off the internet. I printed two copies and on one I made slices with different colored items and different numbers of the items. For example there are 5 brown meatballs and 4 green broccoli pieces. This was an absolute favorite in my preschool class. The pizza slices are laminated and attached to the larger pizza by velcro. The song goes like this, "Pizza Pizza On My Dish. What Kind of Pizza Do You Wish?" Here is a moment of sharing with brother.

Songs are always a great way to learn different concepts. I use songs often for counting activities. I discovered a cute counting poem about penguins and cut/laminated 5 adorable penguins for the felt board. Each penguin has some velcro on the back so it sticks better. Amelia wanted to do this every single morning.

For my felt board I attached some felt to the back of an old picture frame from IKEA that had a plastic backing. It works perfectly. Last week we used it for my cut out felt ballerinas.

For Art and Sensory Activities we "Painted like Professionals" :)
I gave them both real rollers and a real paint bin to put the paint in. I was disappointed to not have a lot of pink paint but we used reds and purples. Amelia was fascinated by the word "professional". I told her if you work really hard and learn all that you can about something; you can be a professional at it. She told me she would like to be a "professional princess".

I have had a sensory bucket of pink stuff for a while now. It was a hit this week.

Other highlights of our week included making Pink Lemonade after her favorite book Pinkalicious and The Pink Drink. I didn't have fresh lemons but a whole lot of light lemonade cans. And we added strawberries to it so it would be a bit more pink; just like the story.

Creating

Pouring

Enjoying

We also had a letter P hunt, a trip to the Playground, a puppet show and Charlie really enjoyed watching a live web cam of penguins at Discovery.com. It's crazy adorable!

It was an awesome week!

We Are Back!

I can't believe how much has changed since I started this blog two years ago. I was a stay at home mom at the time who quickly began expecting a second child. Two kids and jumping back into work left no time to update the blog. The purpose of this from the start was to update Amelia's teachers, friends and loved ones about her little adventures and BIG changes. She is now an incredible three year old with a strong will and awesome sense of humor. We are on a new adventure of homeschooling until she is off to public school (oh the support I will need then!). 

Since I made this decision many people have wanted to ask me about the curriculum that I plan for the children while they are home. I believe strongly in creating a rich learning environment full to the brim of the kinds of things that Amelia and Charlie LOVE. Amelia has given me a list of what she wants to know more about and it grows/changes all the time. We talk together about what Charlie loves and as the week goes on she will say things like, "hey mom; how about next week we do a pink and red week. Won't that be great?" :) We do a small circle time, literacy and math activities, sensory play, field trips and more. I have some great resources that I will share and I hope to use this blog as a way to inspire other moms, dads and teachers.

Our first week was right after her birthday. As a team we decided to focus our week on the letter B, the color blue and topics such as ballet. Here are some highlights. 

We had a sensory bucket available with "blue stuff" in it. These are things that I had around the house and one of those random bags from Savers with fun little treasures. 

 

Charlie enjoyed trying to put long tubes that used to be a part of a wind chime into this m & m container. Giving toddlers challenges like these will provide endless scientific play. 

We went on a "Letter B Hunt" in the neighborhood and of course brought along the Binoculars. With the help of her aunt and uncle Amelia found butterflies, a basket ball hoop, birds, bikes and more. I took photos along the way and then laminated them and punched holes in the pictures. I attached them all on a key ring so she now has her own letter B book. 

Concentrating

Mom is impressed

 

Proud girl

B is for beading! I hadn't tried beading with Amelia and figured that this week was the perfect opportunity. I had to really restrain myself from trying to help her get each bead on the string. She was incredibly patient and put 80% of this necklace together by her big kid self.

Using the Ballet Preschool Pack from http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/PreschoolPackIBallerina.html Amelia and I did some really great math and fine motor activities during circle time. Check it out!

Years ago I took my group of preschoolers to The Boston Ballet School and had a very nice tour. http://www.bostonballet.org/school.html. David who remembered me from the last time I was there was very kind and made sure Amelia really got to see some magical moments. We even got to go to the basement where they were creating costumes for upcoming shows like Snow White. How very special. She was a super star at finding the letter B all over the building as well.

Overall it was a great first week of homeschooling and I'm already putting some things together for the next week which I'm hoping includes a trip to a bakery to see how they make their pies.
I will leave you with a few favorite photos from Boston and a video that we enjoyed about a million times while discussing butterflies :)

B is for a Bunny in Boston

B is for a Big Boy in Boston

  

Don't miss this adorableness :)

Letting go

Today has been a hard and exciting day. Amelia started her first day of school in a toddler room at a nice daycare in town. Researching schools and applying to one has been a HUGE exercise in letting go.

As I drove away with my 18 month old daughter in the care of other people I just couldn't stop thinking about what we had when we were a part of the JHCCC family. I really think we all could have used some group therapy after losing our jobs with a focus on how to "let go". Little's new school is very nice and the teachers I'm sure will care for her. It's just that the magic that we experienced before is taking a while to shake off of us. No-one said, "how was her night?"; no-one asked, "does she have a favorite song?"; and no-one said, "how are you doing?" with care and concern for this emotional momma. At JH we took the extra mile always. We called moms and dads on first days or first weeks to reassure a parent that their kiddo was doing great. We wanted to hear stories from parents about their child's night, morning, or even car ride to school. I am so very proud of the care that I gave and the care Amelia and I received while we were there.

On Thursday her class is doing "hat day" which is super cute and I'm sure she will love. I laughed a bit to myself when they told me thinking, "would Paulette have allowed us to have hat day because there is always a risk of lice with hats in a toddler room?" I miss having a Paulette and I miss everyone caring so much about every single little detail at school that I felt so...safe. Sure as a teacher having so many rules we most likely complained but looking back, I feel so incredibly lucky.

Lucky that Carolyn cared if the eggs were going to crack, that Paulette cared about hats, that I cared so much about the furniture and toys I would stay for 2 hours after my shift so it was right, that Lynne cared about what noises Amelia made on the train ride over, that T cared about the water table looking amazing, that JRay cared about girls being firefighters, that Stephanie cared about the school being organized, that Linda cared about transitions, that Sarah cared about the kids feelings, that Amanda cared about music, that Erin cared about sign language, that all of Chestnut cared about things like a classroom zoo, that Ellen and Jen cared about classroom connections, that Neddie cared about those books, that N3 cared about laughing and making everything exciting, that Lisa cared about hugs, that Jen cared so much about naps, that Regina and Helen cared about making a small room a home, that Irina cared enough to engage me in conversations about education, that Warti cared if we had play-dough in the color we wanted, that Lorraine cared about singing, that Linda K cared to observe and appreciate everyone, that Stacey cared to make sure we could have the best friendship/working relationship, that Renalyn cared to teach us how to knit, that Bert cared about our troubles and Jason cared about our smiling or not, and lastly that Marcia cared about all of us.

I had a family there. This new adventure just feels like we are acquaintances. I didn't even know the teachers names when I got there. I'm sure over time it will be more of a friendship. I know I just have to let go. I have to let her play with Elmo at school even though she has it at home, I have to let her drink juice from time to time, I have to let her hold onto that stupid plastic rope that they use to walk the kids because you know what...I might be biting my lip about it but my kid loves it. She wanted to be a part of the walking line. She is going to help me on this journey. And I will always be sure to remember what we had.

This is an important time for me. While she is there I can figure out what to do with my career, I can go for a walk, or I can do laundry like I plan on doing next. I will also have more time with Charlie when he arrives this summer. Maybe I will have the opportunity to work with some of those family members again.

Here is Little having a "bana" at the table with her new friends.



Sigh...

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Snowy Day Ideas

Man has this been an incredibly hard winter for us here in New England! Amelia and I have been dealing with being stuck indoors for days with no ability to see any friends. No outdoor time means a toddler who is a bit more cranky and bored as well as a mommy who may just go right out of her mind. :) I have been trying to make the best of it and counting down the days until April 1st (because even March is not reliable). Fifty Seven more days by the way!

1. Bake Bake Bake
I know this girl is mine, she loves to bake. If she sees me taking out the measuring cups, she runs for her apron and says, "Bake!"
I have been finding that during baking I need to put a smaller container with spoons in it for Little otherwise I can forget about the measurements in my bowl because she will throw it all out. The BEST baking activity we have done is frosting because I don't have to worry about her eating any raw eggs. And of course Amelia loves it. Frosting is super easy to make too. We recently made peppermint frosting for Daddy's Birthday cake.

 We just recently discovered that we don't always have to bake food as well. Just yesterday we baked some homemade play-dough. I added glitter to it and made it purple. It was very easy and a bit shocking as to how much salt goes into the recipe. We haven't played with it yet. That is the plan for this afternoons snowy indoor activity.

2. Climb til you can't climb anymore
I know how important it is for a toddlers to move their bodies. We can only have so many dance parties! We needed a change so I started to drag out some giant tupperware containers, boxes, and pillows. I have tried to place these items in all kinds of different ways to challenge her body and add some fun to her day. She now requests them when they are not in the room by saying, "Cimb".

3. Have a tea party!
We read a book called "I know a Rhino" by Charles Fuge. It is super cute and the little girl in the story has tea with the Rhino. Amelia picked up on this and now plays with her tea cups and says "sugar". I decided when we were cooped up to let her practice pouring water and gave her a little tea party at the table. It was a hit!

 4. Ride a bike
This was my mom's idea and although it didn't last long it gave us yet another gross motor challenge. Her tricycle is a bit big for her but she was brave and tried it out. I put a rope on it and pulled her through the house. Then of course we had to see if Minnie would enjoy a ride.

 5. Paint
With this freezing weather I could have a warm tub every day so of course I think Amelia would enjoy one too. But before taking a tub we have to get as messy as can be! We have been doing a lot of painting. I miss having all the colors of the rainbow to choose from at work. We make the best of the few we have and she has created some real masterpieces!

6.Create a new toy
We had a great cardboard tube lying around from Daddy's birthday and I created a new ball/car/toy slide. She has really enjoyed it and will put Buzz and Woody down it saying something that sounds like, "And Zoom" for To Infinity "And Beyond!" Too cute.

7. If the snow lets up...Go Outside!
There have been a few days that we have braved the snow to go sledding. It was especially fun at Grandma's and Grandpa's because they have a large yard and some hills. I think she takes after me. She likes to sled as long as she stays in the sled but playing in the snow is really not her thing.

And if the weather doesn't permit outside play...Bring it Inside!
Although a bit confusing Amelia seemed to enjoy bringing the snow indoors. She liked it best when I told her she could taste it. Maybe we will have to make some snowcones soon.

 Until we can have a little more of this...

 I will settle for this...

As long as we are staying happy. I'm trying to talk Amelia into enrolling into college in Hawaii.
This post is brought to you by the website that taught me how to make play-dough...
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/

Fear

Yesterday morning I woke up to this news...
Link between siblings close in age and autism
Being pregnant with baby number two who will born before Little turns two, I was intrigued. I'm also an Early Childhood Educator and have great respect for studies that are attempting to find answers about Autism and ways to ensure that we see a decrease in the diagnosis of Autism in years to come. However, all I thought of after reading this is how many parents out there will read this and feel so much fear. Fear about their decisions in having children, fear for their second child, and fear that autism is their fault. It made me think of my own fears that I have battled over the years.
I will never forget when I was fifteen and first diagnosed with Diabetes, talking to my friend Andy. I was touched and a bit distraught to hear him ask with tears in his eyes, "can you have kids?" I knew the source of his asking me this question was...Julia Roberts.


Shelby from Steel Magnolias was a movie I loved and many kids my age had watched and loved. Shelby was a diabetic who's doctor told her she couldn't have children and did anyway. She becomes ill in the movie and dies. We never really now exactly what happens. We never see Shelby test her blood sugar, take insulin, eat a good diet, or have any conversations with her doctors about how to care for herself. But at 15 I didn't know how to answer Andy's question. Movies like Steel Magnolias and carelessly surfing the Internet to get answers just led me to more fear. A few years later I was being interviewed for an article about stem cell research and when the photographer came to my house she was shocked that I didn't look "sick." She too had fears about Diabetes and obviously didn't know what to expect.
Over the years I have overcome my own fears and try not to let every movie, article, and news report throw me off my game. It isn't always easy and doubt, guilt, and that fear will sometimes creep in. At age 29 I was blessed with a great pregnancy and a healthy happy daughter. Of course I still have fears. I hope to GOD she never has to deal with this...



But if I let that fear overwhelm me than I could never enjoy this...



So I'm going to approach this new Autism information the same way. I'm beyond excited about this next baby. I was a second child born less than two years after my sister and I'm pretty happy with how I turned out; diabetes and all. Whatever lies ahead for baby number two, he or she will be loved.
Here's a sneek peek :)




This post brought to you by...
The best place to get diabetes information
And
A great Autism resource

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It's been awhile

It has been awhile since I have posted about Miss Little. Seeing as how tomorrow I will officially be out of my first trimester, I think I have a fairly good excuse. We made our announcement about baby number two to the world with a Christmas card.


We are very excited and can't imagine the way our lives will change this next summer. We find out on Feb 7th if we are expecting a sister or a brother. Oh my!
Little has turned into a boisterous toddler overnight. She has been a challenge and a blast. Just today while putting away her toys I had some great flashbacks of cleaning up after toddlers at Hancock. Man I MISS my job! I still kind of feel like I've been on a crazy extended vacation. Maybe with a second one coming a home daycare is in my future. We shall see.
What you have missed if you haven't had the chance to see my amazing kiddo these days is...

A. A huge amount of language. Every time she says "okayee" in response to a question or her own needs, it melts our hearts. The other day while at dinner she said, "more more please please okayeeee". She started to say "mommy" and "daddy" on Christmas instead of mumma and dadda. So sweet. We have even noticed some 2 word phrases like "aw baby" and "sit-down". Every day I'm amazed at how well we can communicate with each other.

B. She's incredibly affectionate. She loves her family and will ask to sing songs about each family member. She finds a picture of her uncle Timmy and will kiss it and say "timmeeeee" while hugging him. She takes care of her baby dolls and is in general fascinated by babies. She feeds them bottles, pats their backs, and puts them to bed. When we recently saw her new baby cousin she was so interested in why he was crying. When I ask her, "what does the baby do?" she says "cry" and then we both say "shhhh shhh shhh." Out of nowhere she will give a hug or kiss and will sing along with her dad and I when we sing the night night song before bed. She also is starting to get attached to stuffed animals. Pierre the polar bear was a classroom favorite and now has become her favorite. He comes everywhere with us. Since Christmas she has fallen in love with a stuffed Mickey from her uncle. She hugs him so tight when she sleeps.

C. She is super independent. She eats with utensils and is becoming a pro. She steps on a little stool in the bathroom and brushes her teeth. And she reads books to herself. Of course with independence comes frustration. She hates getting her coat and shoes on and becomes a little sassafras when we have to do it ;)



D. She loves pretend play which is so cool! Her new kitchen from Santa (made with love by Papa, Nana and Daddy) is amazing. She cooks, washes dishes, and bakes cookies. She got a grocery cart from my mom and will walk around the house with it saying "shop". She also got a pretend vacuum just like mommas and when she used it for the first time she yelled, "yayee."






She is great. We are handling the winter weather as best as we can and now that I'm feeling better I think we will have some more adventures together before the baby comes. I hope to post again soon. I know how important it is for her teachers to see her growing up. I think so often about how much fun she would be having if she were still with that group. Not to mention my heartbreak that my next baby won't have those same early learning experiences. Sigh...
This next video always makes me feel better. ;)

This post brought to you by other people who have created amazing play kitchens...
Play kitchens

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