C is for Continents Weekly Wrap-up

We spent a good portion of this week learning about the seven continents and the letter C. Of course, we did lots of other fun things too!

Practical Life

Walking on a line

 DIY Birdfeeder - Spreading, sticking small sunflower seeds into almond butter, ripping up orange peel

Sensorial

Lollipops Concert

This program was amazing. Members of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra played along with the reading of The Really Awful Musicians. The musicians introduced themselves and talked a little about the instruments they play in the orchestra.

Binomial Cube

We just got this in an order I made from Adena Montessori. I have presented it to M once, and she enjoyed working on it a little this week.

Language

Rainbowlicious Tea Party!

M loves the Pinkaliciousseries books, and she's always up for a good tea party, so I knew this library program was right up her alley. We had a blast! The tables were decorated to feature the different Pinkilicious books (Pinkalicious, Purplicious, Emeraldalicious, etc.). The kids iced their own cupcakes and chose what color of sprinkles to put on top. They drank lemonade or juice from little tea cups, dressed up, listened to Pinkalicious, made wands, and had their faces painted. So much fun!

BOB Books
M got a new set of BOB Books (Set 1: Beginning Readers) for Christmas. She's hit or miss with whether she actually wants to truly try to read the books, or whether she just wants to flip through and look at the pictures and make up her own stories, but she's enjoying them so far. If she's in the mood, she can sound out the words and read the first few books (we haven't tried more than the first 3 or 4 books). I love how the books build on each other and introduce more and more letters as you move through the series. It sets her up for success, and I know that she won't be overwhelmed by too many words she doesn't recognize.

Technology
We have been adding apps to M's new NABI 2. She loves the Endless Alphabet app! She has also started to show in interest in "writing" with her tablet (or on my laptop). I guess it's pretty similar to the movable alphabet in a way - she chooses a word she wants to spell and I help her sound it out. She finds the letters on the keyboard (or screen of her Nabi).

Writing
M has been interested in writing letters and drawing shapes, especially if she can write in a notebook. I gave her a small notebook of her own that she can write in, and she also likes to take over my planning notebook to write in (I have blank sheets of paper that I let her use).

Letters
Even though we're "focusing" on one letter each week, I certainly don't discourage M from exploring other letters. After M made her coffee ground "c" she wanted to keep going to make more letters. I gave her some buttons to make the letter "b" as well.

She also assembled her Alphabet Train Floor Puzzle. She used her Dr. Seuss ABC book as a "control" to help her remember the order the letters should go. When she finished we played a game where I said a letter sound and she would find the right letter and jump onto it. She had a lot of fun with that one!

Mathematics

Shapes and Patterns
I have been storing this foam pattern block set on one of the low shelves. I took the materials out of the box and store them in open containers so they are more likely to catch M's attention. She likes pulling them out to complete a couple of the pattern cards or make her own designs with the shapes. She also really likes putting some of the smaller pieces together to make larger shapes.

Time
I have been making more of an effort to talk with M about time (mentioning what time it is, what time we are leaving for activities, what time we will eat meals, etc.). She has been pulling out this wooden clock puzzle, but she still resists when I try to show her how to read the time on the clock, and I haven't pushed it. She likes that she can pull out the numbers and put them back in order (so she's learning that the numbers go on the clock in the clockwise direction). The spaces beneath the numbers have the corresponding number of animals, so she is practicing counting and numeral recognition as well.

Montessori Bead Stair
Adena Montessori has a huge sale going on this month (quick - ends 1/31/14). I got a TON of new Montessori math materials at a steep discount (49-80% off). M isn't quite ready for most of these materials, but she has been really interested in counting, so I thought it would be a good time to introduce the bead stair.

I showed her how to arrange the bead stair from smallest to largest (1 bead through 10 beads), then I demonstrated how to put the number tiles in order from 1-10 and match the bead bars with the number tiles. She liked building the bead stair, and we worked together to match the bead bars with the number tiles.

I printed a bead stair coloring sheet from Imagine Our Life, and showed M how to find the colored pencil that matched the row of beads she wanted to color. She colored a couple of rows before she lost interest - we'll come back to it another time.

Number Rods
Because she liked arranging the bead stair, I decided to make some of her duplos into a quick DIY Number Rod set. I didn't have enough of any of the colors to make the full set match like it's supposed to, but she got the idea that the bars were made of different numbers of blocks.

She put the bars in order from smallest to largest, then stood them up to make some stairs for her toys to climb.

Science / Cultural Studies

Robot Zoo

How do animals move? M explored the new Robot Zoo exhibit at The Children's Museum, where she was able to control the movements of large robotic animals like a chameleon and a platypus. She also climbed up a "wall" to experience how flies "stick" to surfaces.

Airplanes
M will be learning more and more about single engine prop planes as my husband works toward his pilot's license. He recently purchased a share of this plane through Aviation Access Project, which opened a flight center at the local downtown airport. After much anticipation, the plane arrived at the airport this past week, and M was so excited to head down to the hanger to check it out. She can't wait until Daddy can take her for her first flight!

Shadows
While playing at the downtown airport's playground, M was fascinated by how her shadow moved. We talked about what causes shadows, and how her shadow faces different directions during the day depending on the position of the sun in the sky.

Nutrition
The Children's Museum has an interactive vending machine that M loves. You press buttons for the different vending machine foods and drinks, and the chosen item will talk to you about its health benefits (or lack thereof). It was a good opportunity for us to talk about healthy foods and eating snacks in moderation.

Physical Education / Just for Fun

Riding bikes and roller skating

Trampoline Park - Gravitopia

Walking the trails at Roper Mountain Science Center

Watching the sunset

We had another fantastic week! This is such a fun age, and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to spend every day exploring and learning with my daughter. There is nothing better!

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