2 for1

This is a 2 for 1 post! Last week was so CRAZY for us we did tot school but I had no time for posting. (sorry in advance for the length!) So here we go:

Community Helpers Theme

Doctors are Community Helpers


Reno loved her X-Ray project and showed me X with her fingers



Firefighters are next on our list... we will be doing more next week on them... but this was a fun Math lesson with Dalmations ~ the fire dog!

After we read our book and I was setting up for our next activity, Reno was pretending "her dolly had fallen and got caught in a fire. The firemen are coming hold on...she is okay..thank you fireman..." too precious!


St Patty's Day
Reno cut green paint samples


Reno loved categorizing the Lucky Charms in her rainbow. When the prject was finished she enjoyed them as a snack!


Pipo and Reno
Reno LOVES her Busy Bugs from Discovery Toys. Pipo is color blind so Reno lead the way! Love the High 5 for a great effort!



Reno is very into trying to write her name. She really trys her best. We are still working of proper hold of the pencil. But she'll get there.


We have been doing the bottle cap name activity for awhile but Reno was putting the letter of her name on in any order. Now we are working on puttin ghtem on in the correct order.


Beginning Sequencing
Reno wasn't really into this activity until I brought out her favorite numbers. This sequencing packet came with about 10 cards and I took out 3 to start with. That seemed less overwhelming for both of us.



H for House~ http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/



J for Juice and Jewel



Moon Sand~ Although this was a big clean up job, both girls LOVED the moon sand. Thanks Aunt Teresa!

Numbers and Letter Q

We had a fun week at Reno's Way. Reno is really interested in number. She loves counting. She can almost make it to 20 with all the numbers in order. Reno LOVED this number puzzle I pulled out for her. I thought we'd just put the numbers back in the puzzle but she had other plans... she wanted to line them up like a number line. Then she put them back in the puzzle counting down from 20. I am glad she lead this activity!




I have seen so many of my tot school friends do the paint chip cutting. So while I was in the hardware store I picked some up. Reno loves to cut now and is getting better every time we she cuts. She really enjoyed this and the only thing that got her to stop cutting was the number puzzle :).



We have also been doing Starfall. I have used this web site a lot for Reno's older sister but Reno and I just started using it a couple of months ago. It is fast becoming a favorite.


Letter Q was so fun to do! Reno painted this week instead of coloring. That was a fit! Every inch of Q was covered! She also really liked bedazzling her Q and the crown! Thank you to http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/




Finally we did a following direction and spatial activity. Reno would listen to me say "in the cloud" and she would stamp in the cloud. Or I say "out of the cloud" and she would stamp out of the cloud. It was a good activity, BUT I really liked the post from a tot schooler who used an barn and horse to do the same activity. I am so doing that this week.. I think Reno will like it much better!

Daily Work and Feeder Fun!

We had a great week. We have been busy working, and playing and Reno's way has been something I look forward to daily. He's a re cap from our week

Daily we go over our numbers. To work on fine motor skills too Reno clips the right amount of clips her number card.


Daily we sing (Reno is now insisting on singing herself) "these are the letters that I know" Reno points and says the letters on the line she knows. Then she sings "this is the letter that I am learning". She points and sings the letter that she is learning for the week or day in the pocket chart.


Alice Loves these letter of the week projects. WE focus on other letters all week but we do a project on one or tows a week.



Snowflakes and our tree. In the Fall we erected a tree in the basement. We had fall leaves on it now it is covered with snowflakes. Kgirl, Reno's 5 year old sister, loved this! WE had white scraps for MONTHS... Reno liked it too. She loves to cut now so this was right up her alley.



Marbles is something I had fun with as a kid. I got them out for the girls and Reno made a snake! Scary:)


We have been stuck inside a lot lately do to illness. Even though it was cold we had to get some fresh air once we felt all better. Reno loves her scooter


Uno is another family favorite. We play and then Reno must organize. I have to say I was impressed with her ability to stack em all up!




Our special project this week was making bird feeders. I read the book "Stranger in the Woods". It is photographic journey into the forest when two children decide to feed the animals for winter. After the book we decided to make bird feeders, since although we live in CO we don't see any "wild" animals in our area. Reno and Kgirl loved this. I didn't realize that they would have to most fun spreading seed.



(sorry for the blurry pics.. I didn't realize Reno slimed my camera this morning!

Updating

So we are still here... I promise... we have been doing Tot School but it has been mixed in with a lot of "life school" as Carisa calls it. Alice is learning a lot of new things. I love the Tot School site. You all have so many great ideas! I love "stealing" them.

Here is what we have been up to recently. I will post older pics later

We have this cute little caterpillar that is more than a toy. It has a snap, button, zipper, laces, velcro and a button. Reno is very into getting herself dressed now and I thought the caterpillar would be some fun practice for her.



I got this great learning toy for a Teacher Store in our area... US Constructive Toys and Playthings. There are so many reasons I like this one: great for sorting, color recognition, fine motor skills, creative play...it was soup just the other day!


Reno knows most of her letters, but I am determined to do a little art project for each one... thanks Carisa for featuring No time for FLashcards. I love that site as well and am loving the letter of the week projects!


We have been going a lot of Valentines Projects. This one is for Reno's Pipo. His birthday is on Valentine's Day.




Reno is all about cutting right now. We tried to a few months ago but it was just too frustrating for her. But she has it now. I could hardly get her to stop cutting to glue on her zebra stripes. We will be doing a lot more cutting!




Life School

Ski School~ in Renos's words "my best time ever!"


Renos decided, with help from mommy and daddy, that it would be a great idea to have her friends bring in donations for her doggy friends at the local shelter in lieu of presents for herself. She was so proud to take the donations to her doggie friends.

Catch Up

These activities took place back in august... when we were having all our computer trouble. I know it is late but I loved them so I thought I go ahead and post them...

Alice beginning sound matching



Alice in large motor skills activity~ While Pipo and Gigi were here Alice got to play some tennis... this was so FUN for her and she got to work on her hand eye coordination and balance as well as other large motor skills.





Alice loves to practice her letters in shaving cream. This is a normal Monday morning activity!



A letter 'T" hunt! She was great at finding the letter T

Math Reno's Way

We have been busy finishing up our 5 senses unit, Reno always loves her activity of choice. I don't have trays, but I have bins... so I guess they are bin activities. This one she loves is BINGO addtion and subtraction. She LOVES, LOVES this one. Along with adding and taking away cards you get to be silly and stand up spin around and quack like a duck... too fun...




Alice also loves her stackable cups. She usually sort her teddy bears in them, but she she has take to gettinghtem to nest back inside each other. She still has trouble with some of them...but she wouldnt even attempt this task a couple of months ago... so we are making progress!