Tot School: k is for kangaroo and koala

Jonathan is 32 Months

This week has gone much more smoothly, so we were able to do a little more "Tot School". We turned our focus to the letter "Kk" and learned about two Australian animals: the kangaroo and koala!

Bible & Character 


We also learned about Joshua this week and read several stories about the biblical hero. We also started focusing on different character traits/godly habits.  We recently bought this book which focuses on 12 different habits and how they are lived out in different settings. My plan is to do one habit a month, and supplement with different activities. So look for upcoming posts about these topics!

Books 


The heart of all of our learning adventures is reading. I've really resonated with the Charlotte Mason philosophy of surrounding children with "living books". So, each week we try to read a lot of picture books about our subject. It's meant to be a fun way to get them interested in what we're learning about.

This week, we read (favorites are marked with a *)


Kangaroos: 

• A Kangaroo's World by Caroline Arnold
• I Love You Blue Kangaroo! by Emma Chichester Clark
• What do You do With a Kangaroo? by Mercer Mayer
• Katy-No Pocket by Emmy Payne*

Koalas: 

• A Koala's World by Caroline Arnold
• Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by John Butler*
• Koala Lou by Mem Fox

Geography 


We did a little mini-geography lesson about Australia. We recently got a Hugg a Planet globe pillow and talked about where Australia was on the map. Both Jonathan and Grace really enjoy our soft globe:

It's great for cuddling!

I live here! (kind of)

We also used some free three-part Australian animal cards and matched up animals from our Safari Land Down Under Toob. Jonathan loves to play with his animals. Every time one would be mentioned in a story, he'd find that animal (dingo, cockatoo, platypus, etc.).

Art 


We made a kangaroo:

and a koala:

I cut out the animals, but Jonathan did the gluing and placing "all by myself".

We also did some coloring with Grace this week, along with a page from our Kumon Let's Color! Workbook. Jonathan is understanding that he needs to color inside the lines, but doesn't always have the fine motor control to do so:

Fine Motor Skills 


Jonathan loves puzzles lately too. He's so proud to tell me when he does a puzzle "all by myself!". We did several puzzles lately:

Doing a 12-Piece Melissa & Doug puzzle

Doing his 24 pc transportation floor puzzle

Sensory Play/Math 


We played with our fall sensory bin and tried to make ABAB patterns, along with other sorting/counting activities (look for a Montessori Monday post tomorrow with more extension ideas).

Scooping apples

A Gourd/Pinecone Pattern

So those are the reading and learning adventures we did this week. We are linking up to these fantastic blogs. Have a great weekend- thanks for stopping by!