School Daze- A Week of Play....

Ryleigh is 39 Months and Braeden is 12 Months

This week we did a watercolor stART project, musical mondays, dance class and lots of playdates...Lately Braeden has been really into wrestling...and Ryleigh really likes tumbling...so there is usually a lot of rolling around going on...

Braeden wrestling with Ryleigh...

Braeden successfully pounced....

Braeden...."I didn't do anything...." and Ryleigh laughing hysterically...

Ryleigh working on a huge floor puzzle to help practice numbers...

Braeden loves his farm animal block toy...great for fine motor skills

I had the girls transfer beans with the ice cream dollar spot finds...
(next time I set the trays up I will have them do the activity from left to right...
to help with pre-reading)

I used the math counting dot cards (from Confessions of a Homeschooler)and had the girls first count the dots, look at the number on the card...and then put the 3-D cylinder shape over the dot to help re-enforce the quantity of the number...
At target I picked up 2 of the magnetic alphabets from the dollar spot...so love the dollar spot... and had the girls each pick 8 letters from the first set...and then I drew letters from the second...and they had to "match" the letter...it kept them all entertained and focused...because they needed to see if they had the letter that was picked...

Then I used some of our Kumon tracing pages in page protectors for the girls to practice their pre-writing skills...

Ryleigh LOVES puzzles...and really liked doing these Melissa and Doug Jigsaws in a box when Granny came over this week....

During Braeden's afternoon nap...Ryleigh and I worked on Numbers with our Eric Carle number flashcards....they are so pretty!!

On a playdate with her cousin Sari, Ryleigh experienced the WII for the first time...did I spell that right?...they played bowling and dancing...and she LOVED it...the girls were so cute together..

During another Braeden nap, Ryleigh and I played Crazy 8's (which is what we normally do at some point during nappy time)...and Pooh's Go Together Game...which is great for a different kind of logic thinking...you match up cards that should go together, i.e. hammer and nail, wind and kite...etc.... and they are self checking....if you turn a match over they should line up to make a picture...

At another playdate, Braeden had fun exploring new toys...

and trying to yank the rug out from his friends....*sigh*....
he is cute when he is destructing...

To see what others are doing this week check out 1+1+1=1 for tot school; Homeschool Creations for Preschool Corner; and Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for the weekly wrap-up...

Braeden's First Field Trip- The Aquarium

Last Saturday after dance class, we packed up the kids and Aunt "Lissa" (Melissa) and headed for Brooklyn....to the aquarium. Ryleigh happens to love the Zoo and in fact continues to talk about our trip to the ecology center with her friend Emily. ("Went to Zoo with Emmy")... that trip was obviously epic.... anyways... Ryleigh had a great time looking at all the sea life and watching the sea lion show.

This was Braeden's first field trip and he did quite well. I had him in the rockin' baby sling that I borrowed from my friend so that I could walk around and nurse him when needed. The sling worked great, but he preferred the stroller for napping :)

It was a loooooong day, but a lot of fun. Hopefully we will go again soon....after I get some rest!

To remember the trip, Ryleigh got a Melissa and Doug Puzzle. She loves putting it together and talking about the different "fishes".