TOT School Jan 4 - Jan 8

So after a two month break we have started our TOT school time again. Isaiah has proven himself to be a very easy going baby, and it hasn't been difficult to work this back into our daily routine. In fact, I tend to be the type of person who can get more done with a little bit of extra pressure, so he has actually seemed to add just the right amount of pressure for me to be even more organized than before (o: We're working with a new curriculum called the Itty Bitty Bookworm that I love, but even so, through the course of this I week have seen ways I need to change things up a bit. Mostly I just need to loosen up a bit and have more fun with my princess!!! And this curriculum seems to be very conducive to that.

Along with the new year I've started adding some daily responsibilities for Olivia. Right now she has 2 to do all by herself - get dressed (actually I do set out the clothes for her...but as you'll see in the pictures she adds her own flare) and brush her teeth. I've had to work with her on learning how to put her own shirt on, but she is improving. Really, for 3 years old she is doing very well...with occasional help from me.

Our letter of the week "O." We made Capital and Lower Case octopuses.

Our "O" octopuses were fun to make, but as you can see she made the capital "mommy" octopus mad. Hhhhmmmm...this got me thinking this week a lot about how I'm interacting with her!

Baby school - sleeping and letting those brain cells grow and develop (o:

Our books this week were "Corduroy" (which Olivia pronounces Corduboy) and "A Pocket for Corduroy." She loved the books and acting out going and buying Corduroy and taking him home.

We talked a lot about bears this week, so one of our activities was building caves for all our bears.

This is another new curriculum I've added. It's called "Handwriting Without Tears." The basic premise is forming letters with gross motor skills using wood pieces, play doh, and other activities before bringing it down to the paper. So each day we did a different activity and then at the end of the week we practiced writing on paper. I think this is a great curriculum!

"O" is for owl dot painting...not one of her favorite activities, but not her least favorite either.

This must have been one of her least favorite activities all week - and this is definitely where I need to loosen up a lot or she'll continue to see me as mad mommy. I tried candy and chocolate and TV to get her to cut this entire Corduroy out, but after probably 30 minutes she had only got 3/4 of the way around and wouldn't go any further. And it wasn't a task too difficult for her...she did great. I think it was partly a battle of the wills, maybe a little boredom, and possibly a dash of laziness???

This activity was a close second for least favorite. She was to draw a number and then put that many buttons on the bear. She did it one time and then fell on the floor declaring "All this fun is wearing me out!"

More baby school. One day Isaiah laid on the floor in the room with us and I set up a book of animal pictures for him to look at on one side and a stuffed puppy to look at on the other.

This activity ranked very high on her favorites list. In talking about bears this week we talked about how God gave them a very special extra layer of fat to keep them warm in the winter. So I filled the sink with ice water and first she put in her bare hand. Then we made a "bear glove" with a baggie and Crisco and she stuck her hand in again. She declared, "Mommy, it's not cold!"

And her top choice for favorite activities was making bear paws by rolling biscuit dough in sugar and cinnamon...lots and lots of cinnamon (o:

After the bear paws were all dipped and made, Olivia decided they needed more cinnamon and sugar.

Baby school under the tent while in the living room while we were cooking in the kitchen.

Yummy!!!

Another aspect of our day is our Bible Time. I am still following Hubbard's Cupboard reading plan on this...though we are way behind. But I've also started using Songs for Saplings which is short little songs that teach memory verses. Our theme this week was obedience, our story was Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, and our memory verse was Colossians 3:20 (which is not on our Songs for Saplings, but was a much needed verse to learn).

So another week in our adventure of home school or not to home school. Some days definitely worked better than others, but all in all it was a good week (o: And just a note of reminder to myself for the coming week...she is only 3 and this is my special one on one time with her, have lots and lots of fun!