Tot Tuesday: Our Favorite Things...

A few of our favorite things...

1. Logan is obsessed with Tractors, Trucks and other Transportationy things.   I created some Tractor/Transportation printables for him to help with educational play.  So far, we have used the number pages  (I printed and laminated each page).  He loves to look at them and say "tractor" 100 times over.  All attempts to actually count and/or recognize the numbers seem useless...but I know that he is absorbing so I just keep trying.  Here are pictures of two of the pages below...

2.  We watch PreSchool Prep videos   on a regular basis.  Logan loves the Meet the Colors video. Probably because the cover of the DVD has a red tractor.  He refers to that video as "Tractor." All of these videos have proven to be very helpful in learning letters.  Logan has already started to repeat the letters, identify some letters beyond the video and just yesterday he started to repeat the names of some colors.  Check out a sample below...they didn't have the Red Tractor but the Blue Ski Jumper will do...

Logan also loves to watch our other videos which he refers to as "Baby."  He gets to watch one or two videos per day (unless he is with Daddy in which case he watches more), and the "Baby" videos are Praise Baby and Baby Einstein.  

3.  When Logan goes to Grandma L's house, he gets to check out trucks and tractors all day long.  Grandma takes him outside to see them work.  I am certain this is where the Tractor obsession began.  I attribute him speaking words like "dirt" and "dig" to Grandma L!

4. I have noticed that Logan is very into pointing out letters.  When we drive by Jewel-Osco, he points out the "O" every time.  I don't want to be the parent who is constantly pushing him if he is not ready for things but since he shows interest, we have been very focused on letter recognition.  When we are driving we have conversations about the names and letters on buildings and signs.  I generally have no idea what he is saying but again, I just keep plugging away.  Every once in a while he will throw out the correct letter like "B" for Baskin Robbins.

5.  In order to assess and keep track of Logan's learning, I downloaded some assessment sheets from a blog I love.  http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotSchool.html  
This blogger has tons of printables and resources for toddlers.  She is a homeschool mom (no I don't plan to homeschool) who has simplified some learning techniques for others.  Her blog is a little unorganized...but there are some treasures to be found.  Be sure to check it out!

6.  For Christmas, Logan got some homemade peppermint play dough from my sister Shari (she is a kindergarten teacher).  He loves to squish and cut out shapes using but of course....Truck and car cookie cutters.  I am working on getting the recipe for the play dough from her and I will post it as soon as I do. The peppermint smells so good when we play...so much nicer than the nasty smell of real play dough!