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.

 So excited for his sensory bin.  Loved using the tongs (for the first time) and putting the little apples into the apple ice tray.

He also loved the feel of these lentils. (They are so silky soft.)

 Sequencing cards - we just kind of worked through this together.

And then he again requested to get out his "Letter A Basket". It's evening now and he asks to do these activities on and off throughout the day.

I added in my sandpaper letters and letter bags (I have one for each letter of the alphabet).

Sweet Pea saying the sound while he traces (so precious)!

I also have a moveable alphabet in each bag and I love how he matched it up to the lowercase sandpaper letter.

Lacing...he enjoyed for a short time but I definitely had a to help a lot!

Letter of the Week - D is for...

DINOSAUR

Books that we read and liked:

 

We are also currently reading Doctor Dolittle in Munchkin's school and Ditto is (surprisingly) sitting through and enjoying every page!

DOGS

Books that we read and liked:
 Superdog: The Heart of a Hero (I found this one randomly at the library and in addition to it being about a dog, the dog's name was Dex...perfect!)
Harry the Dirty Dog
Harry and the Lady Next Door (I had Munchkin read this one to Ditto. Such an adorable moment...wish I'd caught it on camera.)
Detective Dog and the Disappearing Doughnuts
If You Give a Dog a Donut

Activities/Arts & Crafts:

I love his concentration face (pokey lips)!

He enjoyed this dog more than I thought he would've.

He especially enjoyed making it longer and then shorter.

So cute...

...and so happy!

He then made this dog by painting a paper plate (orange was his color of choice), filling it with beans and stapling it closed, then taping on the body parts.

 In the morning, we read these books while eating donuts for our morning snack.

Then Ditto chose this activity from his shelf. It was a simple Kumon Cut and Paste activity but he created even more cutting and pasting practice for himself...(and even some writing practice).

He was simply supposed to cut out the mouth at the bottom of the page and glue it on to the dog's face...

The finished product!

And then he decided he wanted to write the word "dog" all by himself...so sweet!

  DUCKS

Letter Craft: 

 

I am including this picture to show that I let Ditto decide how he would like his letter crafts to be and to do them all by himself. When I came up with this, I imagined the feet being much closer together and the feathers being here (I took this picture when he wasn't looking). But Ditto, as usual, had something different (and I think so much more him) in mind...

The final product! I also thought that he would want to use the googly eye I provided but he wanted the marker and to draw on a face...so that's just what he did! I love it!

Sonlight Core A - Week 24 Day 5

Since there are no extra activities provided for the Under the Sea book assigned to be read on day 5, if possible, I come up with an arts and craft for the boys to do (related to whatever they are learning).  Today, we read about jellyfish (and flatfish but I couldn't find anything to do for that) so we made some jellyfish.

Ditto is always looking to see how brother does things (although, at least this time he chose a different color)

I love the his face when he is concentrating!

 

Munchkin refused to smile in the picture because he said jellyfish don't smile...such my serious child.

Update 6/1/2013: They are still playing with these everyday. They love to run around and make the legs wave behind them.  Fun project!