Teachable Moments

I was reading a blog that I regularly read that belongs to a friend of my bestie.  She does Tot School with her kids twice a week (or maybe more).  They learn so much through hands on activities.  Now, my girls both go to daycare since we are both working parents, but the teacher in me still feels that it is my duty to be teaching my girls.

I have been using sign language a little with Little L.  At 6 months, she doesn't necessarily get it, but it is the exposure and repetition that are needed.  We also talk to her a LOT, and I do mean a lot.  As I am folding laundry, I am telling her what I am folding and who it belongs to.  While I am emptying the dishwasher, I am describing the bowls and plates to her.  As I am building a train track with D, we are talking about the shapes of the pieces and the colors of the cars.  This is great for both girls.

Big sister D is a talker.  She has been talking since before she was walking and I think it has a lot to do with the way we talk to her and how much we talk to her.  When I was driving her to work with me, I was talking to her the entire ride or I was singing to her.  Just the exposure to the language was important to me.  D loves books too.  Once again, it is because we read to her all the time.

So, as I was reading this blog, I followed a link to another Tot School.  This site called 1+1+1=1 was talking about Tot Books and Lap Books.  Basically, these are a new version of File Folder Games and thematic units folders.  You pick a theme, skill, letter, etc. that you are learning about or that your child is interested in.  Then you create a "book" made out of a file folder full of mini-books, counting activities, writing activities, etc. all focused on the same area.  The homeschooling community appears to use them a lot.  Well, D is really into princesses all of a sudden (last week it was trains). 

So, I followed one link to another link and found a Tot Book on Cinderella.  I went to One Little, Two Little where the book was already created.  All I had to do was print, cut and glue.  No really, that was all I had to do.  So, I made it for D.  As I was working on it, she woke up from nap and walked out.  She was so excited to "play" with it that I had to move it to give the glue time to dry.  I just had to pass on this new project.  I am sure that I will be making many more and their difficulty level will increase with her age and abilities.  She is so excited!!!  She likes that she can "read" it by herself and can play the games by herself.