Toddler Tuesday June 28, 2011

Bitty Bug is 2 years 5 months old

 

Bug and Monkey were really into singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider last week, so I put out some sequencing cards for the song. With Monkey, she doesn't need any help, but with Bug, we sing the song and put the pictures in order at the same time.

Bug matching the plastic models of the butterfly lifecycle to the preserved species.

Bug playing with some little figurines--each figurine is wearing the traditional dress of a different culture.

Working on the latches & locks board

Since summer started this week, we changed the sensory table from the flower planting theme to a beach theme.

Bug and Monkey working with the sensory table

Working with the knobbed cylinders

Taking a break from the homeschooling room to play in the rain garden. She insists this is a swimming pool. And she insists on wearing a dress in it.

Here, Bug is working on this cone toy. It's really difficult for her, but she's finally starting to get it!

Transferring spiders from one bowl to the other. I did have tongs for this work, but she wanted to do it using a pincher grasp. And she wanted to wear the rings.

Working with the texture board.

Montessori Monday June 27, 2011

Monkey is 4 years 4 months old

 

Since this past week was the start of summer, we changed the Spring Tree to a Summer Tree.

Bug putting leaves on the tree as well.

The finished tree

Monkey practicing writing the names of animals.

Using the knobbed cylinders--this was her first time using all four at once.

Monkey was working on being able to retell a story. She is really into the princess stories right now, so she worked on a felt board of Sleeping Beauty.

Monkey is making patterns with the pattern beads.

We were talking about spiders this week, so the girls made spider web paintings. We coated a marble with white paint and then rolled it around on black paper.

Here, she was putting together the alphabet dragon. She recognized every letter and put them in order without help!

Pin punching the China puzzle piece

Monkey's final product!

Tot School–a couple more pictures October 26, 2010

I forgot to add a couple of pictures to the last post.  Last week at Monkey’s homeschool co-op, The Bug Lady came in to give a presentation to the older kids.  One of the co-op teachers invited Bug to come see the presentation as well since we were just playing in the nursery.  Now, here’s where she lived up to her blog-name….she *loved* the bugs.  Loved them.  The presenter made me hold a cockroach (yeah.  ew.), and Bitty Bug was all about petting the thing.  I’m pretty sure she would have taken it home as a pet if she would have been allowed to.  And then the tarantula came out, and she got really close to it (I wouldn’t let her pet the tarantula because she’s been known to grab spiders by the legs…I really didn’t want to upset the poor tarantula by having a curious toddler amputate it. 😉 )

And then…the snake came out.  Leave it to Bitty Bug to run right up to the thing and pet it.  Clearly this child has not developed any fear of nature what-s0-ever, which is probably a good thing.  The older kids in the room squealed and shrieked and stepped back a lot, and Bug was more afraid of the other kids shrieking than she was of the actual bugs and snakes. LOL!

She really liked this tarantula. Which means she's officially her brother's sister. Jedi wants a pet tarantula, and I think Bug would very willingly offer to pet-sit it.

Yep, she's petting a snake. She didn't get that trait from me, I can say that with a lot of certainty. 😉 I'm glad she has such a heart for nature though--it is a wonderful trait to have. Even if it means she's constantly bringing me spiders to me with her bare hands. And she does that a lot...

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Our own backyard September 19, 2010

This week’s nature challenge was to spend time exploring your own backyard.  Now, most people might think “eh, what nature is there in suburbia?  Well, besides mice.”  But, the kids and I spent about an hour just looking at the various bits of nature in our very own suburbian backyard.

We were having some nasty weather last week, with tornadoes hitting central Ohio. But after it was all over, this was left behind...

Caterpillar vs Spider. The caterpillar lost.

Some wildflowers

More wildflowers

The view from the backyard

As summer turns to autumn, our Queen Anne's Lace is turning to seed

More wildflowers

This little guy was building webs in the blackberry bushes

Another bunch of wildflowers

Just a couple months ago, these were tall, green, and full of the juiciest blackberries

Some purple berries on some really tall bushes--these are on the other side of the fence from us, but there are a whole lot of them in one grouping. And the plants are tall!

Some more plants seeding

More things from the neighbor's yard. These seeds look all nice and fluffy. But, once they spread, they make thorny plants right in our lawn. So these aren't my favorite.

A big spider--it's really pretty

Birds flying over the farm down the street

Some flowers in the front garden

More flowers in the garden

Fuzzy little caterpillar

More grass seeding

Jedi holding a toad

Closeup of the toad

View from the front yard--a million birds always come to eat the seeds, bugs, and grass

The nature explorers...Jedi (almost 7), Monkey (3 1/2), and Bitty Bug (20 months) And me. But you're not getting my age. 😉

Goofy children

My baby bug