Henry is almost 21 months old.
Our theme for this week's tot school was winter. Our shape(s) were hexagon and pentagon. We really didn't focus too much on the shapes though. We are really coming to the end of the shapes but I'm waiting until the new year to start with letters.
The activity wall was officially back this week! I made one of the Pinterest {follow me yet?} inspired felt Christmas trees! I thought Henry would like it -- so of course he totally ignored it. On the magnet board were numbered strips to make a hexagon or pentagon. He ignored these too.
The tot trays were a big hit and a big miss at the same time. The first tray was the major hit and where Hen spent most of his time at tot school. I placed a bunch of sponge, wood, or felt shapes in a container. Then had a laminated sheet with each shape's names in boxes. Hen could then match the shape with the word. It was the first time Hen had nothing but a word as a cue. He did really great! He couldn't read the words, but caught on very quickly where things had to go. Henry loved this!
The second tray was a wooden tray with all the pieces to make a snowman. Then there was a laminated sheet with a snowman example. Henry totally ignored this. He never once even tried to pull the pieces out.
The third tray was a geometric shape puzzle. It was pretty advanced since every piece had to be just right. Henry tried this puzzle a few times, but always wanted to match the colors up. Even if I helped, he just couldn't do it.
The book bin...um, we didn't make it to the library. I do want to say just because we don't have library books, we still read to Henry several times a day, and have a pretty big book collection. So, I don't feel terrible during these stretches where we just can't seem to get to the library.
Other things we did this week:
Lots of coloring, chalk, and dot painting. Henry was feeling really creative this week, or something, because he constantly wanted to color.
Snowflake matching from 1+1+1=1. This was the most complicated matching that Henry's been asked to do. He had a hard time with the all black shapes, but enjoyed it.
Introduced Montessori smelling jars. These were just old glass jars I had around that still smelled like the bath stuff that was once in them. In a traditional smelling jar activity, there would be matching scents, but here, Henry just had fun smelling all the different scents. I think I'm going to have to incorporate this more often. And, he did surprisingly well being careful with the glass.
Played with flashcards.
Worked with a shape puzzle.
