Catch Up

What a busy month! My last post was about our activity bags and all my planning. Shortly after that life got extremely busy. We had a vacation, birthday party, record heat, trips to Granny's, and a lot more going on! I will try to do a brief catch up. Both tot school and preschool were sporadic. These pictures and activities are from the past month (or longer). I have become more intentional with school lately but still not in a groove. I am beginning to think a groove may never happen for us!

Tot School
Lyla is 28 months old

Lyla has been very cooperative with her activities. Our only conflict is that she wants to do whatever her sister is doing and vice versa. So I try to find similar activities for her that she will be successful at. Here is the run down on her tot trays:

small spaces with a pringles can (mini) and chenille sticks


sorting with pom poms and star ice cube tray


beading


sorting, I got these animal erasers and tray at Dollar Tree, the tray had a busy pattern on the bottom so I taped some pink paper down


color file folder game, I made this when I was in grad school, all children love it

Lyla knows most of her colors, some still trick her up though

sticking toothpicks in a styrofoam circle, found the toothpicks and sytrofoam at Dollar Tree

Abby did this activity too but I tried to encourage her to make patterns or shapes with her toothpicks

matching objects to pictures, these are actually patterning cards that I found in a Scholastic book order ages ago, she likes to use it for matching


Preschool
Abby is 5 years old

Abby has been more defiant with her activities. She doesn't like to use the materials the way they should be, she wants to make up her own. I like that she is creative but I also want her to learn to follow directions. I usually have to make a deal that if she will do it "right" first, she can play with it any way she wants after. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Here is what Abby has been working on.

Raising Rock Stars Preschool, she loves reciting the memory verses


"cooking" with a recipe book

Lyla was in on the cooking too!

sorting colors and shades with paint chips, found here


counting cards, found here


a puzzle she completed with very little help


pom pom game, huge hit, found here


see and spell she got for her birthday


patterning, found here, she isn't a huge fan of pattern activities but she really liked this one


measuring activity, found here, she did not enjoy this at all

She didn't enjoy it because it was too easy for her. I am going to make her a game where she actually uses a measuring tape. I will save this for Lyla to use soon.

ABC train puzzle, she got this for her birthday, everyone had fun with it

I had Lyla find the pictures I named and Abby had to find the letters I called out. Lots of running and giggling went along with this.

farmers market game, found here, this sparked her imagination and she played farmer's market all day with our play food


popcorn sensory activity, made a huge mess, my blood pressure went through the roof, the girls loved it


Heat
Our area has been under heat advisories for weeks. It does not cool off, even at night. It is hard to keep little ones cooped up for so long but I think we dealt with it fairly well. A few things we did to burn off energy included:

ribbon dancing


ballet, I found a ballet video for her birthday and both girls love to do "ballet class". It is called Baby Ballet. I highly recommend it.


Life
Abby turned five this month. She wanted a ballerina birthday. I had so much fun planning and hosting this party. It was in my mom's garage and it couldn't have went any better. She loved it.


We also went on vacation this month. Branson, Missouri is close to home so we took the girls for a long weekend. It was extremely hot but we still had a great time.


That wraps up the last month (plus some) at our house. We have started a new routine in a new room this week. Can't wait to share the details with you next week!

I am linking up to the Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations and Tot School at 1+1+1=1. Go see what other kiddos are up to!