Tot School- c is for carrots, cows & caterpillars

Jonathan is 26 Months

This week we didn't do "tot school" as heavily. We had family in town at the beginning of the week, but at the end of the week we finished up learning about the lowercase letter c. We're focusing on the hard c sound such as in "caterpillar" and "cow".

Bible 


We continued to review our memory verse this week from the Songs for Saplings CD:

"We will be changed into his likeness" 2 Corinthians 3:18. 

We printed out the memory verse from the Totally Tots printable. Right now, all we personally do is sing the song together and look at the memory verse page.


Books 


We read several books this week about carrots, cows, and caterpillars. Here were some of our favorites- click on the links to see our reviews!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sherdain Cain
Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarrett
The Cow that Went Oink by Bernard Most
Little Calf by Kim Lewis
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Enormous Carrot by Vladimir Vagin




Motor Skills 


We're still waiting for Spring to hit Chicago. Towards the end of the week, we had a couple days of almost nice weather (40s), so we played outside a little bit. Jonathan got a new tricycle from his Gram, and he was pretty excited about his "bike". He can do the pedals while we push him, but otherwise he just scoots with his feet:

On one of the colder days the kids found a more creative way to get their energy out. I had put on some '80s music and put Gracie in her bouncer. Jonathan had decided to join her by bouncing on his horse:



(I love that he's trying to boss her around already!)

For fine motor skills, we played with puzzles. Jonathan got a puzzle with the letters of his name for his 1st birthday and I pulled that one out again. He really enjoyed it and told me all the letters as well as their sounds.

Math


We attempted a couple math activities this week, but they didn't go over very well.  Jonathan really didn't want to sit still to do activities this week:

We played the How Many Spots? game from 2 Teaching Mommy's farm unit. In this game, we used black pom poms (they also recommend black beans) and would put the appropriate number of spots on the cow. Jonathan  mostly wanted to throw the pom poms though-- but at least he had fun, right? 


We also did a vegetable pattern file folder game from homeschool share. Overall, this wasn't a hit. Jonathan isn't interested in patterns yet. He did match the vegetable cards with the pictures on the pattern, but that only lasted five minutes.


We talked about sizes, comparing big and small seeds and big and small carrots. 


We also tried to put a caterpillar together in numerical order using a printable from Confessions of a Homeschooler. He really didn't sit still for this at all, though. We may try it again in another unit. 

Art



Jonathan was so not into any projects this week. We attempted a "C is for Caterpillar" do a dot page from Confessions of a Homeschooler, which he did for a couple minutes before moving on to another activity.

We also tried to color a "c is for carrot" coloring page I found over at Twisty Noodle. He wasn't as interested in coloring either.

We also used glue to glue down pictures of produce that begin with the hard C (/k/) sound- cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, and corn. I found that activity at Homeschool Share as well. But even glue sticks didn't hold their allure this week-- oh well! 

Music


We sang the children's song "Arabella Miller" to go along with the book Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar. 

We played with a cowbell and mallet and experimented with tapping the cowbell softly, loudly, quickly and slowly. This was a huge success-- I had to take the cowbell away during Grace's naptime! (You can see the rhyme we did this to over on our C is for Cow post)

Pretend Play


We used puppets to retell the story of The Cow that Went Oink:

and we also used felt board pieces to re-enact The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Food

We had a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" lunch with everything the caterpillar ate from Monday-Friday: apples, pears, plums, strawberries and oranges. (We also did have cheese for some protein). Jonathan loves fruit so even my picky eater enjoyed this lunch!

Practical Life 


Potty training is about the same as last week. Jonathan will use the potty pretty much every time I put him on it. He still won't initiate. But, at least it's something. Less diapers for mommy!


We also planted carrot seeds along with pumpkin, basil and oregano. Jonathan's getting very funny about sensory experiences-- he didn't want to touch the dirt at all. So he helped Nana plant the seeds:

Looking back on the week, we did a lot more than I thought we did. I think both Jonathan and I were feeling a little burnt out by the end of the week. I'm not super mom! I'm still trying to find a way to balance planning activities/spending time with the kiddos/spending time with my husband/taking care of the house/hobbies such as blogging or reading a good book. How do other moms prioritize their time?

Anyways, this upcoming week we're starting on the letter "d" for dinosaurs, dogs, ducks. At least, I hope to. Jonathan's starting to sound like he might be coming down with croup again...

I'm linking up to:

Link & Learn @ No Time for Flashcards

Tot School @ 1+1+1=1

What My Child is Reading @ Mouse Learns, Mouse Grows

c is for caterpillar

Sign Language 


We reviewed the sign for caterpillar. We watched the Signing Time Episode "The Great Outdoors" which covers caterpillar and other outdoorsy signs. It also has a cute song about caterpillars.

Books 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

How can you learn about Caterpillars and not read this classic children's book? This book has been a big hit around our house. Jonathan used to love sticking his fingers through the holes in the pages-- now Grace is discovering the holes! It's a great story for counting and reviewing the days of the week as well. I printed out and laminated felt board pieces from over at Making Learning Fun and he had fun acting out the story as I read it aloud.

The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cain

This is a cute story about a caterpillar who wishes he could fly like his friends bee, bird, and butterfly. The story, like Eric Carle's book, follows the caterpillar through the life cycle of making a cocoon and becoming a butterfly. It isn't highly original in that regard, but Jonathan found it very entertaining nonetheless. I think he was drawn to the bold illustrations.

Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarrett

I picked up this book because I was familiar with the children's song about Arabella Miller. This book elaborates on the song and tells the story of a little girl (Arabella) who finds a caterpillar and brings him home. She carefully takes care of the caterpillar and observes his transformation into a butterfly. The book is in the same rhyme/meter as the children's song, so I sang most of it to Jonathan. This drew him into the story even more and he seemed to enjoy it.


Music 


We sang Arabella Miller which is just a silly children's song. :)


Art 


We did a "C is for Caterpillar" do-a-dot page from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Jonathan did the page, but he hasn't enjoyed arts and crafts as much this week.

Snack 


We had a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" lunch-- apples, pears, plums, strawberries and oranges. My picky eater tried everything-- although he favored the strawberries and oranges.



Library Links 


The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cain
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarrett


Web Resources 


The Very Hungry Caterpillar tot pack @ 1+1+1=1
The Very Hungry Caterpillar printables @ Making Learning Fun
C is for Caterpillar @ Confessions of the Homeschooler
C is for Caterpillar (a very Hungry One) @ Delightful Learning