Friday, September 30, 2022

Oceans and Beaches Activities

After the new baby, we have been a little slow to get back into a regular "homeschool" routine. Since Archer is still young and goes to preschool a few days a week for socialization, I am not too worried about it. We will get there. In the meantime, I have been trying to use some themes to bring in some fun learning activities for him. Most recently, we worked on an ocean theme. Here are some of the activities.
Ocean Themed Playdough. I included a bunch of sea life pony beads, mermaid buttons, some seashells, fake aquarium plants, sea animal cookie cutters, design rollers (bubbles and scales) and our Ocean Life Rollers.


Fish hole punching activity from Early Learning Ideas
Under the Sea Little Transfer Book Even though I have been a UBAM consultant for a while, this was the first time I have used one of these books. Both kids were pretty impressed by it.
Sea Life Inequalities. I used an overhead marker to write numbers on the pony beads and had him draw out two at a time. Then he put them in the bubbles to make the inequalities correct.
Digging starfish (star pony beads) out of therapy putty to make a graph and answer question. Graphing sheet can be printed here.
I found these cute little pails on clearance at the craft store, so we used those for adding coins. Coin addition sheet can be printed here.
Beach sensory play. I used sand I had left over from other sensory bins (recipe from Surviving a Teacher's Salary), some blue and green gems, Toob sea creatures and some more little pails.
Starfish pattern making with pony beads. Pattern sheet can be printed here.
Water dropper activity. I gave him some sea creature shaped bathtub clings and an eye dropper with some water. He enjoyed dripping water into each little suction cup (so much so, that he asked to do it again a couple weeks after I had already put the materials away).
Putting the days of the week in order. You can print the cards here.
I picked up a sea creature themed suncatcher kit at the craft store. We'd never done one before, but Archer enjoyed it and made several.
Ocean Themed Cuisenaire templates. I hadn't gotten one of these out in a while, but he really enjoyed it and asked for more.






 

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Ocean Theme Cuisenaire Templates

 Recently we have been doing some Ocean and Beach themed activities. I made some Cuisenaire mats to go with the theme. These are great for visual problem solving and he always chooses to do them if I leave them out.

Hands on Math

Each page also has a place to count up the number of each rod used. While I made a version of each with in color, Archer prefers the blank ones.




Other resources you may like:






Monday, September 19, 2022

3 Month Baby Learning Update

Three months?!? Time is flying with our little one (and she sure makes blogging more difficult 😂). I thought I'd do a quick update on her "learning activities." She definitely likes stimulation and freedom to explore, getting fussy if she has to go too long without it.

While I read How Smart is Your Baby by Glenn Doman, and thought it was worth reading, I decided not to follow his exact protocol. It was just a little too intense for us. Instead, we're focusing on lots of face time, chatting with her and letting her explore her body and world.

I try avoid baby holders that limit her movement. Instead I try to put her in her crib/pack n play, on a mat on the floor or, if we are outside, in a wagon.
Juniper spends lots of time on this play mat. We have a Montessori mobile for her that she likes occasionally, but she REALLY likes her baby gym. She enjoys swatting at the toys and trying to grab the ring. I often set up infant stimulation cards or a mirror next to her so she has something to do if she gets tired.
We still do try to do tummy time or the crawling track. She's not a huge fan, so I don't force her if she's unhappy. 
I try to also do a lot of physical stimulation with her to get her used to her body and where it is in space as well as get her vestibular system going. I give her little baby massages. I sing head, shoulders, knees and toes while touching the appropriate areas on her. I will help her slowly roll from side to side or tilt up and back. I will also hold her in front of me and slowly move her side to side, up and down or in and out.
She LOVES chatting with us and big brother likes it too. We work on turn-taking in "conversation" by giving a pause after we talk to allow her time to vocalize. All of us enjoy the back and forth wit her, particularly when we are rewarded with big gummy smiles.
We often use toys to work on eye tracking skills. She particularly likes musical instruments and will do a great job following them back and forth. While I am so excited that she's good at tracking now, I am still holding off a while before we start teaching her to read. I want to make sure her eyes are ready!

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