Not Public School...Tot School

I've never taught a grade lower than 3rd grade until now.  Meet my 18 month old daughter and newest student, "Sweet Pea'.

Before I took Sweet Pea to her 18 month old check up, I had to fill out a questionnaire on her development.  Sweet Pea LOVES to read and she can answer all sorts of questions about "where is the ____? or which one is the _______?"  But asking if she uses objects to push and pull things to where she can get them... not so much. Pour puffs from a bottle turning it upside down? Not without me showing how to first.  There were quite a few of these instances.  Filling out this questionnaire made me feel like I wasn't giving Sweet Pea enough opportunities to try and learn different things, However, I had NO IDEA on what to do or even where to begin with an 18 month old.

So I googled.

And the Lord blessed me with Carisa from www.1plus1plus1equals1.net.  Tot Trays.... Sensory Bins....Invitations to Play.... and FREE Resources to help me grow my little one from regular school like stuff to teaching her Biblical principles, values and stories!  I totally feel like I have hit the jackpot with Carisa's website! She is just simply amazing!  So I stalked...and read... and pinned...and clicked on links... and made my computer go into Tot School overload.  I have read so much in the past 2-3 weeks, but I feel like I have only scratched the surface!

I am so excited to do some of these things with Sweet Pea--- it takes all my strength to not go wake her up so we can play :)  I can't wait to see her face tomorrow morning as she walks into her playroom and sees all the different things set up.

Here is a sneak peak (I'll blog more about these activities later this week)

sensory bin with cheerios and valentines stuff from Dollar Tree

Sensory bin on top of our DIY less than $5 light box

What will Sweet Pea do first?!

I can not wait to see if she will take those pink sparkly puffs and put them through the tube to fall into the trash! Simple pleasures.

A book from the Valentine Tot Pack 

I got my teacher fix in and even laminated this book with contact paper.

All these will stay up throughout the week, if not longer.  Each Sunday night I will switch things up some, for instance, changing her little woven trays or putting toys away she really isn't into and switching it with some I have stored away.  This way, when the toy comes back out, she will be surprised and excited to see it again.

Look for upcoming adventures in Tot School... it's my newest 'Trade!'