Tot School

Julia Claire will be turning two this year! How on earth my 4 pound newborn transformed into a talking little person over night I do not know. I have wanted to start something called Tot School with her for a while now. I have been slightly busy with her brother (2 under 2 is not for those who like sleep!) but now that he is playing with toys and generally happy to be watching whatever is going on around him, I am ready to start some planned activities with Julia.

From the Tot School website: "Tot School isn't really school at all! Don't let the name confuse you! Tot School is basically a focused time each day on the tot in your family." "Tot School is the time each day I spend with my tot, exposing early learning skills through FUN play."

I am not much of a "planner" I would much rather just jump into something new and figure it out as I go. Brian and I believe that learning is something that happens all of the time. Through play, observation,reading and talking...learning is living. We strive to create an environment that promotes learning for all four of us, and as the babies grow older this will evolve into something more specific. (I would love to have a designated "space" for planned activities to take place.)

Yesterday morning, while Brian was slaving his life away at his desk at work, the kids and I began our Tot school. With Julia still being on the young side I decided to start small. I created a small sensory bin for her to explore. I just used an old Tupperware container and filled it with small objects from the house. Macaroni noodles, rice, heart shaped sprinkles and some gauze for added texture. I threw in a little container for her to fill and dump. (working on those pouring skills!) To say that she loved it would be an understatement. I parked her on a blanket, gave her the box and opened it up. She laughed. I showed her how to fill up the little plastic container and then how to pour all of its contents out. She giggled. I let her play with it for a good 15 minutes. Exploring the new textures, pouring, scooping, using fine motor skills to pick up the small pieces. And then she started to put the rice in her mouth...and we were done. She screamed, she kicked, she threw an all out hissy fit. Tot School was over for the day, and she was not happy about it!

Parenting is fun! I am so very excited to see where these little ones take us as they grow older and learn more and more about this crazy world and their surroundings.