Tot School {37 Months}

Tot school has been very informal this past month.


Olivia has taken to helping herself to the homeschool closet, choosing an activity, and sitting down to do it.  Lately she seems to prefer to work alone, and bossily tells me to GO PLEASE!


Oh boy….


While I like that she is becoming more independent, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up this special time between the two of us just yet.  Hopefully this week, while the rest of the kids are getting back into the swing of school, she will too.  A mom can hope, anyway :)





We are all working to help her expand her vocabulary and encouraging the older kids to stop speaking for her.  She is starting to make progress, and speaking more than screaming to express what she wants.

Less screaming is good for this momma’s nerves….


Here’s a bit of what she chose to do:



She’s mastered this magnetic designer now.  I’m impressed that it holds her attention for so long.  She will sit and fill every hole with a magnet!







Olivia loves her Ladybug Bean Bags.  We use these for a lot of activities, but on this day she was counting them, naming their colors, and assigning a family member to each one.


She played this matching game…








Did some lacing and stringing activities….





And read a lot of books!




The rice and the water beads were out a lot during the month.  All of that scooping, pouring, stirring, and mess-making is going to make her a great cook someday! 

(Click here for a tutorial to dye rice.)

Teddy Bear Counters are always a hit, along with…




ABC Food Fun….



and Stacking Pegs too.



Shaun the Sheep was one of her Birthday gifts, and he is carried around all day long.




I woke up one day and she was already downstairs, drawing with the AquaDoodle.  Isn’t it nice to have such a captive audience?




This is the first time she has been able to match up the beads for this activity. 







We use the Building Gears for many different activities, but this day she made a long road out of them and then ran back and forth over it.  It was fun  to watch her create it and then find another way to play with it!




Her beloved magnetic fishing set was out a lot…




As was our Scented Christmas Playdough.






Olivia turned three over our Christmas Break. It was fun to spoil her and celebrate her life!

(See her Birthday here.)






I’m not sure where we are headed yet with Tot School for this year.  She is not ready or interested yet in learning letters or numbers, so we will wait and follow her lead before starting anything more formal.  I have lots of theme work planned for her this winter/spring so I know we will have fun with that. 

For now, I’m going to just enjoy watching her learn and grow!



(Linking to Tot School with 1+1+1=1)