5 Month Learning Activities

Time for another update on our learning activities.  I'll start again by saying that we really follow Archer's lead.  If he's unhappy about something, we discontinue.  While we do "learning activities," I generally try to just incorporate them in our day.  We spend most of our time playing, snuggling, singing and just relaxing together.

Physical Development:

We still have Archer on the floor as much as possible.  He's usually on these mats, for easy spit up cleaning.  They also have less friction than the carpet, so are easier for him to move around on.  We also got out an old baby pool for him to play in, until we realized it had a hole.  We'll probably replace that soon.

I did get him an exersaucer, that I feel serves its purpose when I have to finish up dinner, but his time in there is relatively limited.  He also watches his baby DVDs from there.

Archer loves to stand, so we spend a lot of time on the mats with him standing and hanging on to me for balance.  Slowly, I've been getting him to practice sitting as well.  He's getting better, but still launches himself forward or backward occasionally.  Initially I used a Boppy to keep him from hitting his head if he falls backwards, but he's better at catching himself now.

I also try hard to give him lots of vestibular stimulation.  We play games were I roll him, toss him, fly him etc.  He thinks they're all great fun, regardless of how tired my arms may get.  When it is safe and clean, I try to let him explore and try new things.

Reading:

This is probably the biggest change from the last update.  We have started using the Doman Method, although we've adapted it to suit our needs.  I only have two sets of words going, and we do each about three times a day (each lesson takes 5-10 seconds).  He watches either Your Baby Can Read or Tweedle Wink maybe 4-6 times a week.  We do just one Little Reader lesson a day, most days of the week (1-2 min).  Currently we're only doing Spanish lessons.  When he has a longer attention span, I'll add in English.  If Archer is cranky or overly tired (or I am), we don't do reading.  When I knew we had a lot going on and would be pretty stressed, we skipped a week.  It is better to take the break than be inconsistent.

Math:

We just recently added one Little Math lesson, most days of the week (~1 min).  

Baby Shelves:

Here's what is currently on his shelves.  I don't change these that often, because we do not spend all that much of our day in the playroom.  I expect that to change as he gets older and more physically capable.

 On top we have some of the English and Spanish Early Readers I made.  He is still only into books for eating, so we only read them occasionally.

On the left I have a ball popper and his One Two Squeeze blocks.  These seem to be a big hit.  He likes me to stack them for him to knock down.  He also likes to grab and eat them.  I think he likes the texture.

On the right I have his Farm Tails book, which he really enjoys crinkling and chewing on.

Next is a basket of instruments.  He particularly likes the clapper one.

On the bottom shelf I have some materials I used in Xander's old Treasure Basket. The metal cup is currently his favorite.  I'll slowly add more materials to let him experience different materials and textures.

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