The Very Hungry Caterpillar Mini Unit

ByKori
6 Comments

Recently, as a part of the Storybook Summer blog hop, Squeaker and I explored The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. He’s one of my favorite children’s authors and I plan to do a lot with his books- through in tot school, home preschool, and homeschooling. For our exploration of this book, I’ve also created a mini pack that would be great for toddlers and preschoolers or children with special needs. Thank you for taking the time to take a look at our The Very Hungry Caterpillar mini unit! To start, we read the book. Squeaker has a board book copy as well, but we used our bigger copy for the beginning of our exploration. If you prefer, you can also listen to a reading…

Planning Our Tot School Year 2015-16

ByKori
7 Comments

Though it may seem futile to “homeschool” a toddler, I fully intend to do just that with my Squeaker. I’ve already talked about how I’m preparing to homeschool my toddler and I’ve finally gotten around to figuring out what we’re going to do. When we finally get around to formal homeschooling, I do intend to do a year round method. I think this will just work better for us but that won’t be until we’re ready for kindergarten or first grade. Until then, I want to keep our homeschooling informal, fun, and playful with a hint of education. So here’s how we’re planning our tot school year. First things first, I want this to be about learning through playing, exploring, and every day experiences. We’ll…

Mommy Camp for Toddlers: Numbers

ByKori
0 Comments

Welcome back to another week of Mommy Camp for Toddlers! This week, we’re going to focus on numbers. Learning about numbers, much like the alphabet, takes place in the every day situations. For example, something as simple as counting cheerios or just reciting numbers 1-10 or 1-20 or 1-5 … can have a lasting impact and form a solid foundation. But, the point with mommy camp is to keep it informal and let learning happen as it will. Don’t try to force any of this and when your toddler is showing signs of boredom, take a break or stop all together. Is there a right or wrong time to introduce numbers? I say no because it’s like any learning opportunity. It doesn’t have to happen…

Natural Fingerpainting with Blackberries

ByKori
15 Comments

We have a wild blackberry bush in our backyard and every summer, I look forward to picking fresh blackberries. Usually they never make it into the house because I can’t wait to eat them. Today, Squeaker decided she was going to “help” me pick some of the berries. And aside from the occasional red berry, she did quite well with plucking them off the bush. Now, while I love blackberries, Squeaker isn’t a fan. So she tends to just smash them in her hands. Once I saw how vibrant the purple hue was on her fingers, I grabbed her and ran back into the house for some cardstock to do natural fingerpainting with blackberries on the deck. Squeaker, at times, has been a little squeamish…

World Culture for Kids: Learning About Poland and Polish Culture

ByKori
2 Comments

Growing up, I was incredibly fortunate to have experienced a very diverse upbringing. Living in California was a cultural melting pot of Hispanic and Asian cultures while living in Washington D.C. was the mixing center for almost everything. Living in Albany, however, it’s a whole new ball game for me. Yes, we have diversity but not quite the same. There is a large Italian American presence, a growing Asian presence, and also a Polish presence. I appreciate the Polish aspect because that’s part of Squeaker’s heritage. So, as part of our informal summer Tot school, we took some time to learn about Poland. I can’t wait to repeat this unit with her when she’s older so we can explore more in depth. But, in the…

Mommy Camp for Toddlers Week 3: Alphabet

ByKori
0 Comments

Welcome back to another week of Mommy Camp for Toddlers! This week it’s all about the alphabet. And while I’m not suggesting that your toddler will learn all of the letters the alphabet in a week, this is a good way to introduce the alphabet in a traditional way. For us, since we’re going to be using Montessori methods in our Tot School and home preschool, the alphabet will be introduced in a different way. Just remember that the point of Mommy Camp is to have fun. If something doesn’t work for you and your toddler, feel free to skip it! this post makes use of affiliate links With Squeaker, one thing that we’ve done with her is talked to her about everything. When we…