"Learn Something New...": Tot School {Letter A}...Part One

This week:

Letter: Aa

Object: Apple

Color: Red

Vocabulary Development Theme: Fruit

~Sweet Pea is exactly 24 months old~

To say that he loved this week of "school time" would be such an understatement! We have done random activities here and there since he was born but using these printables from 1+1+1=1 have really helped me to focus and made it so easy to plan his week.

First up, we started with the main letter sheet:

I showed him how to write a proper capital and lowercase "a" and then he tried his best to copy. He quickly lost interest in that and just began drawing on the paper. While he drew I repeatedly said the letter name and sound.

Then we moved on to the "Find the Apples" sheet. I told him that the marker was going to eat the apple. So we started and the top apple and as we traveled down I would say, "Where's the other apple? The marker's going to eat it!"

He really like this!

Next up was the "Dot Paint the Apples". He did this all by himself and absolutely loved it!

Next up, "Dot Paint the Letter". Again, he did this all by himself and absolutely loved it and loved using the dot marker again!

He loved it so much that he did most of it like this! So cute!

On to "What Starts with A?" sheet.

I asked him to color - the ant, the astronaut, etc. The only one he actually complied with was the alligator. Otherwise, he just wanted to color the page. He didn't even want to trace the letters. Fine by me! He's 2 years old and for me this is definitely just all about exposure and experiences.

I loved this pose he kept getting into. He was loving his work! (Also, loving the view of Sweet Pea's favorite breakfast cereal.)

He tried his hand at "Stamp the Letter" but quickly didn't like it because he couldn't quite get the hang of stamp pad, paper, stamp pad order.

So, I gave him stickers instead which he loved!

I had to start the corner edge of the stickers for him.

I thought it was so cute how he actually ended up covering the few stamps he had made with his stickers.

Then, of course, we had to have an apple for a snack. The real treat was that I left it whole instead of cutting it. He loves when I do that! I think it makes him feel like a "big boy".

I love this face! He was saying "cheese".

Another "cheese", this time full of apple! Love!

And a look at the books we read. Oddly enough, his favorite was Apples by Gail Gibbons. I didn't read every word, just kind of summarized some things and talked about the pictures.

Later in the week he began to really enjoy Ten Apples Up On Top. Especially, when I got out my apple beanbags (I only have 5 - I gave the other five to a friend of mine).

Tuesday

For snack, I cut out apple circles and cut different shapes into them.

"Connect the Apples" - in order to get him to understand the concept of going from one apple to the next, I make a train sound. He loves it and totally gets the idea. (Before now I have free-styled this same concept on a large white board.)

On to his "Letter A Basket" (got the idea from here and here).

...and a stick of cheese for an additional snack...this boy NEVER stops eating!

I bought these letter pegs just a few days ago and he loved them! Not so much for the letter part but he loved building tall towers. And while he does it I just keep repeating the sound and letter.

I made these letter and picture pages for him a while ago. Just couldn't find anything online that I liked. He has already completed "a" and "b" so I just put the completed "a" in his basket. He wanted to color it some more.