Easy DIY Play Dough

After going through tubs and tubs of store bought play dough, we've
finally made our own homemade play dough. The kids are ecstatic
because we now have a fresh supply of play dough as soon as our
stock runs out.

The kids just love love love making this play dough. There very few
ingredients so they just dump everything in the bowl and mix away.
Minimal to no supervision required. And because the ingredients are
your everyday pantry items, you need not worry about spending extra
to make the play dough. Just mix up all the ingredients and you're done.

There are different ways of making play dough. This version is quick
and easy to make. No cooking required! It's a small batch which means
it wont be around for very long. If you have littles, I'm sure you know
what I mean when I say that the stuff can get nasty as the kids play
with it. If you want a bigger batch, just double the recipe. Voila! The
homemade play dough is now double the fun.

Easy DIY Play Dough

* 1 cup flour

* 1/2 cup salt

* 1/2 cup water
* 1 tbsp cooking oil
* 2 tsp cream of tartar

- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until well blended.

  Store in an airtight container.

Sensory Bin: Red

Sensory Bin: Red

Me:
Look P,
- a red helicopter,
- a red A
- a red wrench and a red bolt
- a red cog
- red "Legos"
So P, what color is this?

P enthusiastically replies (with the brightest eyes and the widest smiles):
Pink!

Well, she is in a season of Pink after all!

What's wrong with me?

This is why I never really made sensory bins. M didn't like them. 

I'm guessing P is not interested in them either.

Why?

- because all red is probably not much fun 

- because she was in the mood for "developing her gross motor skills" 

(Baby R and I had to go to the bedroom. Tot P tagged along and had a 

grand time making a pillow mountain and jumping around)

- because she'd rather play with something else period. Yes, kids are 

like that.

Maybe this is what she sees?

 I'll give it a few more tries before I decide if sensory bins are a go or no go.
There are other fun ways for P to learn. We can always use other methods
to achieve the same desired learning outcome. None of them will involve a
written exam.

p.s. My apologies for the off shots. We're still in between cameras. Just
making do with what's here.

Read Books

I'm dedicating the next few days to activities that you can 
enjoy together with your littles.

Let's begin with: Read Books.

I can imagine you rolling your eyes now. Reading books 
with children sounds simple enough. If this were really so
then we would be raising a generation of readers. Sadly,
the opposite is true. 

No need for statistics. All we need to do is look around. 
Techie toys are everywhere. Rarely will you find a child 
reading a book. And if you find one, you will have 
to ask too, is s/he reading because s/he wants to or 
because s/he has to? I'm sure many educators will agree 
as well.

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."
- Emilie Buchwald

I believe that reading books with one's children is a precious 
gift. When I read books with Tot M and Baby Pea I am not 
just reading with them. In reality, I am spending time that is
FOCUSED on them. Little ones just love and need that.


3 Tips for Reading Books with Your Child:

1. Read books that the children enjoy
Certain books seem to appeal to young children. Goodnight 
Moon, Guess How Much I Love You and Dr. Seuss books
are consistent favorites. These books are part of our little
library. 

Nowadays, we gravitate towards books that involve cars and cooking. I'm sure our book choices will evolve as Tot M 
and Baby Pea develop their interests. 

2. Choose books that are age appropriate and level 
appropriate
I usually scan through the books we borrow. This ensures
that the books we have at home are appropriate for them. 
The kids sometimes go through the books by themselves
when I'm doing chores. In general, I avoid books that have 
heavy themes. There's plenty of time for that when they're
older.

Every so often, I borrow books that I know will challenge 
Tot M's reading skills. It's a way for us to learn new words 
and concepts. 

3. Have fun together
Other moms have said it and I have witnessed it myself --
just read with your kids. Enjoy and have fun. Before you 
know it, you will have a budding reader right in front of you.

Happy Reading!

============================================


Confession time. Yes, there was a noticeable gap in my posts
for 31 Days. I hope to catch up in the next few days. Let's see 
how that goes. Such is life with littles. 

How to Teach Your Child the Alphabet

One of our current learning goals is to learn our ABCs. There are many ways of going

about this really. We're currently using a Montessori inspired approach: 

Order of the Alphabet

The order suggested in How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way 

by Tim Seldin:

First set:        c  m  a  t 

Second set:    s  r  i  p

Third set:      b  f  o  g 

Fourth set:    h  j  u  l

Fifth set:       d  w  e  n

Sixth set:       k  q  v  x  y  z 

- Living Montessori Now

Core: We have a youtube ABCs playlist for M. It's composed of various Alphabet Songs.
Some songs are focused on the letters while others are focused on the phonics.

Every 2 weeks: We focus on a set of letters for the week:

- There's a separate youtube playlist for the specific letters of the week. I chose 4
songs per letter. This gets played after the Core playlist has finished.

- We started with 1 art activity per letter. We might progress to more if Tot M shows

interest in doing so.

Progress Report
- After 3 weeks of using this method, Tot M can recognize most of the letters. He still
needs to learn them all but I'm confident that he's getting there.
- We now need a new Core playlist. Tot M is bored with the old one. Yes, after 2-3
weeks!!!, Tot M has grown tired of his favorite alphabet and phonics songs. Time
for us to retire the set and create a new one.

Getting Started
* Living Montessori Now has an informative post on the Montessori way of introducing
the alphabet to a child.
* If you're looking for youtube videos for your child, here are some that you might
want to check out:
- KidsTV123 has a great collection of "starter" videos - ABCs, numbers, colors, shapes
and more.
- Sesame Street is a favorite for many kids. I grew up with Sesame Street so I used
classic Sesame Street videos.
- Hooked on Phonics has great catchy songs. As the name suggests, it's mostly a
phonics program.


Happy learning!


Photo Credit

3 Tips on How to Capture the Interest of Your Child

Tot Tray - Pasting Cars

A friend once asked me, "How do you get Tot M to do the homeschooling activities?"

I must admit that Tot M prefers some learning activities over others. Reading is one
activity that Tot M really enjoys. I am not surprised when he grabs his books and
requests that we read them together.

Up until this week, arts & crafts activities didn't appeal much to him. He enjoys playing
with his play dough. But don't expect him to spend time on his coloring book. A few
scribbles was all he was willing to do. I'm amazed at how a few changes can improve
the learning experience of a child.


3 Tips on How to Capture the Interest of Your Child

1. Make the most of your child's preferences.
Some boys like dinosaurs, some boys like blocks. Tot M likes cars. Even at his
playgroup, he is the child that plays with the toy cars the most.

Last week, I decided to do a pasting activity.  I cut out images of cars from the
classifieds. Tot M put paste on the back of the images then asked for help to stick
the images on his activity book. Tot M really enjoyed the activity! As a bonus,
that activity made him more willing to do other arts & crafts activities.

Now, I use cars and other vehicles as a starting point for our activities. It is
just a starting point and it helps us transition to other things after.

2. Try different methods.
I've learned that there are different ways of presenting a concept to a child. Some
methods will appeal more to your child than others. Reading, watching videos,
doing arts and crafts, playing with toys, cooking, exploring nature, and so many
other things can be done to teach one concept to a child. Try different approaches
until you find a method that your child will enjoy.

We're still learning our ABCs. Aside from what I've mentioned here, we've now
used a few other ideas to make this a fun and enjoyable experience for Tot M.
More of that in a separate post.

3. Keep it fresh.
Hurray! So, you've found an activity that your child really enjoys. Keep in mind
that at some point your child will tire of that activity. This will happen a  lot
sooner than you expect. You may want to temporarily retire the activity or totally
replace it.

I am constantly researching on new activities for Tot M to do. Thankfully, many
teachers and homeschooling moms are sharing their experiences online.  

In addition, I rotate the toys, books, videos, etc that Tot M uses. This prevents
him from getting tired of one particular activity. It's interesting how unearthed
old toys can once more capture his interest.


I cherish the fact that I am able to watch Tot M grow before my very eyes. I
feel privileged to be homeschooling Tot M. But I know it's not for everyone.
What's most important is that we love our children and genuinely do what's
best for them.

Learning Our ABCs

Tot M is quite eager to read on his own. Here are some of the things we're using

to help him learn his ABCs:

Leapfrog Fridge Phonics - we bought this game because its been highly

recommended by other homeschoolers. It sounds off the name and the

sound of the letter. Quite useful as we want Tot M to learn phonics.

ABC Books - There are many ABCs books. Our current fave book is 

Dr. Seuss' ABC.

Starfall - We've recently started going through the Starfall ABCs. Starfall is 

great as it is a free online resource. I am considering getting the one year 

membership so we have access to the other lessons.

ABC Songs - We've been singing many ABC Songs. One of our new favorites
is the Phonics Song which we discovered through mommytg.

Photo Credit

Homeschool 2012 Updates

Tot Tray - Scooping Pasta

It's weird. Tot M is only 2.5yrs old and yet we are already feeling some of the
societal pressures other home schoolers are experiencing.

The Primary Schools here have a "big school" set-up. It is normal for a 3yr old
to start going to Kindy. It's really more of a preparation phase for the children.
If we're bent on sending M to a particular Catholic School, we've been told to
consider registering him with the Kindly this or next year. This is to ensure he
has a slot for the upcoming school year. After that, we run the risk of having to
send him to another school school. Hmmm... When M turns 6, we are required
by law to send him to school. If we do continue homeschooling, we will have
to register ourselves with the state. Hmmm... Thankfully, for now, we still
have time to enjoy our homeschooling. AND there is time to pray and to
discern.

What is a typical homeschool day for us?
This year we started homeschooling in January, our activities include:
       - A short morning prayer
       - 30 minutes of reading books
       - 1 Tot Tray Activity (occasional)  

At random times during the day, M plays with his toys, and reads books with
us or by himself. TV time is sadly a necessity --- I do have to cook and clean.

Successes
One of our homeschooling goals is to develop in M a love for learning. We
think we're headed in the right direction as Tot M enjoys reading his books.

M sings the ABC, counts 1-10 and says words and sentences. It's quite exciting
that he has shown interest in learning how to read.

We're quite happy that M knows how to make The Sing of the Cross. He's
slowly but surely learning the The Guardian Angel Prayer.

H and I are aware of the socialization issues people have with homeschooling.
We have made it a conscious decision to ensure that Tot M has adequate
opportunities to socialize with other children. Thankfully, we found this great
playgroup in our area. It runs for around 2 hours, once a week. On weekends,
M gets to play with the children of friends.

Areas for Improvement
Early childhood educators recommend that toddlers be allowed to just play.
Learning occurs while the child is playing. Sometimes I worry that Miguel
enjoys certain activities but not others. I had the chance to talk to one of the
moms at the playgroup. Afterwards, I realized that sometimes it's just a matter
of personal preference of a child.

One thing I feel I should do more of is to expose M to varied activities. It's
quite easy to just let him do what he enjoys doing. I think it's important for
children his age to try out new things.

Things to Do
I've been trying to look for a curriculum for Tot M. Something that will
develop M's 3Rs via play. I haven't really found one for his age.

I've decided to make a curriculum for Tot M. I have a basic outline but I'm
sure there will be plenty of fine tuning as the weeks progress. Get ready for
exciting times ahead!