Happy Birthday Tita!

Sorting Silverware

While I unloaded the dishwasher Lizzy helped by sorting and organizing her own silverware. Tito helped. Getting Lizzy busy and helping is so important for her.

Kiddie Pool #2

Fishing Game

I made this fishing game out of construction paper then laminated the fish, punched a hole in them and attached paperclips. The pole is a dowel, some yarn, and a small magnet at the end. Since the fish are laminated I can write or draw different things onto the fish. Because Lizzy is working on her sounds I wrote letters onto the fish, each time she caught a fish she said the letter and the sound of that letter. Later we changed the letters to different shapes and Lizzy went "fishing".

Crayon Art Gift

Tomorrow is Lizzy's last day of "summer school" she has a two and half week break then the school year starts. The Montessori school uses the same calendar as public schools here so she will be having lots of breaks here and there also. Lizzy really likes her teachers and I have a lot of appreciation for all they do as well. Lizzy and I made them a little gift to hang. 

We glued crayons onto a canvas then heated the tips of the crayons with a blow dryer upside down to make "stems" then glued flowers on. A card attached read "thank you for helping me grow" Lizzy wrote her name in the card.

A tile I found to give as a gift. It reminded me of Montessori.

Update on Bird Feeder

As you an remember we made a homemade bird feeder from a juice carton. This is a fun activity but also great for the birds. We saw birds going into the feeder/house this past weekend when it rained. They ate the food and found shelter inside. Since then I have noticed more birds I guess they got the word out! I have such a new found appreciation for birds! I love times when I can just watch them in the yard.

 

Recycled Bowling Game

Using 10 drink bottles and a ball you can have yourself a bowling set. I used rice, popcorn kernels, beans, coins and different kinds of pasta to fill the bottles with to weigh them down to show Lizzy the difference in weight. We used all sizes and weights of balls to see which could knock the pins down and discussed sizes and weight of the ball and pins. This activity got Lizzy thinking and moving.

Hooked on Phonics

I have learned that Lizzy is very academic she enjoys learning letters, sounds, trying to read, number, sorting and counting much more than pretend play. In some ways I haven't focused so much on teaching Lizzy academic work because I like the idea of Waldorf schooling and allowing the child to learn just through play the first 7 years. In Waldorf education children don't learn to read until they are 7 and story telling is much more prefered than actual books before the age of 7. But in Lizzy's case she has a strong interest to learn to read, she has already learned all her letters and sounds of those letters. Lizzy's favorite things to do are lessons from hooked on phonics. I can see Lizzy reading very soon. I still believe in child lead learning and as long as Lizzy wants to learn to read I will support her in her interests.

Indoor Amusement Park

One of the things on Lizzy's bucket list is to go to an indoor amusement park. It's been hot and rainy this weekend so the indoor amusement park was good choice for us. We went to Jambo, they have a park in Mesa near us and a park in Phoenix. This is also a budget friendly option right now for summertime because they have a 50 % off coupon on their facebook page for any all day passes up to 4 people but everyday if your child is 3 it is only 6 dollars for unlimited rides. For the price and for a young child it is worth it. Otherwise for older children I would not recommend it. There are about 6 rides mostly kiddie rides, a soft play area, a jump house, and token machines to play.

Lizzy and Bella

Montessori School

It was not easy to have Lizzy start Montessori school when I began working. I knew Montessori was what I wanted for Lizzy but I was unsure about the school because it is a new school and different and unfamiliar to me. In Friendswood Lizzy went to a school literally next door to where we lived, on a wooded lot, with a vegetable garden and nature center, they ate their meal outdoors, had pets in the school, and listened to the teacher's play on the grand piano. The outdoor experience and unstructured play was most important. Looking back we were very lucky to have such a school for Lizzy's first school experience. Lizzy's school now has plenty of outdoor play space, great teacher's, very small student to teacher ratios, and certified montessori teacher's with plenty of true montessori materials. Lizzy is thriving in this environment. She now writes her name, knows all her letter and sounds to each letter, and loves learning. She will be attending preschool at Bella Montessori this coming school year. I believe child led learning is so important in a lifelong love of learning. This is her last week of "summer school" then break time for 2 1/2 weeks when Tita and Tito come visit again!

Bath Time

Sometimes Lizzy doesn't want to take her bath which is strange because she loves water but this time can be challenging at times. Some things that have helped Lizzy get excited about bath time are bath tub paints and float or sink games. I let Lizzy make some bath tub paint by mixing clear or white hand soap with a couple drop of food coloring. Then she can get in her bath and paint while getting clean. Another thing Lizzy loves is float or sink games. She gets a small bag to go around the house to fill with items to use for a float or sink game. Lizzy and I guess which items float or will sink. Who ever gets most right wins. Right now these are Lizzy's favorite bath time activities. What do you do to encourage a toddler to take a bath? I need tips.

Having to slow down

Lizzy and I have been home sick with pink eye and a cold! I have been diagnosed with a chronic pink eye that I've had on and off for 2 or 3 months. Lizzy seems to have just had a cold with a little pink eye but she is fine now. It's not easy being sick but you just have to embrace it and slow down. I'd much rather be doing fun stuff with Lizzy or working at my new job but I have to slow down, rest, and be patient with Lizzy while we both try to get better. Thankfully tomorrow Lizzy will go back to school and I to work. Self care has become much more important to me now.

Brownie Batter

Sea life Water Table

For some reason we don't use the water table much now that Lizzy is older. We have it out but it doesn't attract Lizzy's attention much. To make it more fun and engaging for Lizzy I filled it with sea life toys, ice, and shells for Lizzy to pretend it was an icy ocean. Pretend play is so important at this age and so fun to watch. As a theme and our summer bucket list we will be going to the sea life aquarium in Phoenix soon.

Happy 4th of July!

It was quite an eventful day mostly at home today. I'm sick with a cold and Lizzy is just getting over a cold she had so we tried to rest and limit stress as much as possible today. Lizzy was very excited to bake a cake with daddy. Together they made a flag cake.

Later we went outside and Lizzy played with pop its...she really enjoyed herself throwing those little noise makers.

Later Lizzy played with glow sticks and we had a fireworks light show indoors. We used uncle milton's fireworks in my room. Lizzy absolutely loved it. I think for her age it is perfect but maybe older kids may not be so impressed after a while. Also a good alternative if you have a fireworks ban in your area.

To finish the day's excitement we lit sparklers then off to bed. It was a good fourth at home.

Water Balloons

As part of our summer bucket list we played with water balloons today. Mike filled them up, got two bucketfuls, then before you knew it they were gone. Lizzy threw all of them one by one into the yard. No one actually got very wet but Lizzy seemed to enjoy herself. We still have some balloons left over to use....maybe 4th of July we'll let Lizzy play some more.

Recycled Bird Feeder

We still have lots of birdseed left over after our bird watching themed weekend but no bird feeder to put it in. Using a half gallon milk jug or juice jug you can make a bird feeder. We used colorful paper, Popsicle sticks for the roof, little jewels and flowers for decor, and silk leaves. Lizzy helped as much as she could. Later we put the finished bird feeder out for the birds to enjoy.

Colonial Toys

I was contacted by Colonial Williamsburg to allow the use of the corn husk doll tutorial posted on my blog last November for their colonial toys lesson plan. The lesson plan on Colonial toys can be found online here and the accompanying PDF worksheet here. I have really enjoyed the free lesson plans available through Colonial Williamsburg's Teacher's Gazette which you can access online if you create a free account. This is a great free resource for any teachers or parent's who are homeschooling.  I'm honored they liked my corn husk doll tutorial enough to use in their Teacher Gazette.

Keeping Cool

As you can imagine the dessert is a hot place in the summer. I don't mind the heat if I'm in the water and Lizzy loves the water so I think we will be enjoying the summer mostly indoors or in a pool of some sort. Each town seems to have nice public aquatic facilities to enjoy. This Sunday we went to one in Chandler that was like a mini water park. It had a pool with diving board, water slides, lazy river, splash pads, and toddler pool and play ground in the water. It was only a dollar per family to get in! Lizzy had lots of fun. She enjoyed the spray area and the toddler pool the best. I only got a few pictures on Mike's phone of Lizzy at the water park. I think we will try the Gilbert aquatic center next and see what that's like. I also think I will start posting about local fun activities to do on a budget. Most of the places we take Lizzy are on free days, low cost, always free, using coupons, groupons, living social deals, and lately we have really enjoyed utilizing the Gilbert Library and their story time and summer programs. I will try to post about budget friendly family activities in and around Phoenix from time to time.