Learning Arabic

We have been studying Saudi Arabia on our way around the world. Kit was supposed to look in a book and copy the Arabic alphabet. I was able to find a YouTube video that explained each letter and told us the sound for the letter. It was a much more interesting. She is writing each letter as the video explains them. She will not be able to write any words after the lesson, but she will have an awareness of the writing. In know that I never had this experience. After we were finished we looked up some Arabic alphabet songs. It was interesting to compare it to how we learn our ABC's.

Learning Numbers

Today Mr. Wheels was matching his refrigerator magnet numbers on the number sheets. I am always amazed at what he can do.

Dogs Day 2

Well I made the magnet pom poms but Mr. Wheels loves the marker thing better. He went and got out the marker bag. I did add refrigerator magnet numbers to the story each time Dog gets a spot. He does like it. After I made all the stuff I looked online and someone had the same idea before me. Here is a bunch of ideas at Making Learning Fun.

Painting

Mr. Wheels loves to paint. Today I just pulled out a marker and made a 3x3 grid on the paper at the easel. He picked the color he wanted to use I wrote the word in a square and he painted it. He didn't didn't always stay in the lines, but that is OK. He knows his colors pretty well because of an IPad app that I found: Shapes Toddler Preschool. He can also learn his letters, numbers, and shapes. The shapes portion is free, but you can add colors, numbers, and letters for about $0.99.

At first my goal for this activity was to keep him busy while his sister did her school work, but I realized this was a good activity for a lot of reasons. He was developing his fine motor skills, decision making, word differentiation, wow lots of cool stuff.

Patterns

Today we used blocks to build the patterns. I have realized that all the hands on toddler activities for Mr. Wheels are good for Kit too. I know that I don't do enough tactile activities. The math lesson had us look at the beginning drawing and then draw the remaining in the pattern. She had much more fun building it and I believe she learned more because she had to manipulate the blocks to construct picture. I was then able to take it apart as we discussed the pattern. It made a better visual understanding of the concept.

Dogs Colorful Day

I have a desire to have my kids love books and a way that I encourage that is by finding ways to interact with the story. I have a copy of the book Dogs Colorful Day by Emma Dodd. I printed a page and laminated it. Then as I tell the story Mr. Wheels makes a mark on Dog with his marker with the color that corresponds to what is happening to him in the story. Mr. Wheels loves it. Then when it comes time for Dog to have a bath we use a wet paper towel as wash dog. He loves it and brings me the book to do again and again. I want to make pom pom magnets and magnet numbers next.