Beginning Toddler School

Baby Jay has started Toddler School. She is 19 months old now. This is just our time to play together. With a part-time job, 4 kids, homeschooling, and all the other activities we do, it can be difficult to find one-on-one time with each of the kids. This is a great way for Baby Jay and I to have our time.  Are you thinking about beginning Toddler School with your little one? Here is what our first week looked like.

How We Began Toddler School

What to Do With Old Crayons???

I work part-time at our local library. I'm blessed enough to be our Children's Librarian. We have Story Time every week for preschoolers and young elementary home school kids like Jay. Once a year, we replace the used crayons with brand new ones. We wondered what to do with all the old ones. We decided to make new ones! Want to do this for yourself? Read on!

This is how I made new crayons out of old crayons.

How to Host an Easy Tea Time Party for All Ages

After reading Tea Party Rules by Ame Dyckman, Jay, my first grader, wanted to have her own Tea Party. I thought it would be great to include all of my kids plus another family. The kids range in age from 18 months to 15 years old. There are 4 girls and 3 boys so I needed it to feel a little less girly. I called it a Tea Time Party to help with that. With 4 kids, a part time job, homeschooling, and starting a new church, I also needed it to be easy.

Hosting an Easy Tea Time Party for All Ages

 

Jay made an invitation for the family that we wanted to invite. I drew a tea pot on construction paper. She cut it out and glued it onto another piece of construction paper that was folded like a card. She wrote the invitation message inside and the names on the outside. Very easy. She really enjoyed making it.

We started with food because what's the point of a party without food, right? I bought a dozen donuts and cut them into four pieces. I also bought Little Debbie Marshmallow Treats and a package of Butter Cookies. My friend, the other Mom, made Pigs in a Blanket (they were very yummy!). 

Now for the tea. I ran a pot of hot water in the coffee pot. We had regular tea bags and Apples and Cinnamon Tea Bags. We steeped the flavor of tea bag we wanted in a cup, added sugar, creamer, pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon, then some cold water from the refrigerator. We also had orange juice or grape juice if anyone preferred them over tea. 

I bought clear Chinet plates, Chinet napkins, and Dixie Plastic Cutlery. This was an easy and fairly inexpensive way to be "fancy" and kid-friendly at the same time.

For our Tea Time Party activities we played board games and the kids took turns playing the Wii. We all had a great time! 

For more Tea Party ideas check out my Pinterest Board It's Tea Time!

Peppermint Foot Soak

Do your feet ever get tired, achy, and hot? Lately, that's what I've been dealing with. I decided to do some research on a good foot soak recipe. I found a great recipe for a

 Peppermint Foot Soak.

It just so happens that I have Peppermint growing in my garden! I also have a Dr. Scholl's Foot Spa, like the one pictured below.

Peppermint Foot Soak Recipe

4 teaspoons dried peppermint leaves

2 cups Epsom salt

Add 1 teaspoon of mixture to warm water.

I picked about two handfuls of peppermint leaves, washed, and wiped off the excess water. I then dried them in the oven on the lowest setting for about 30 minutes. When cooled, I removed the leaves from the stem and powdered them with a wheat grinder. You could probably do this by hand or with a blender or food processor. You can also use Peppermint Tea Bags. Each bag is 2 teaspoons of dried peppermint leaves. 

Making Art With Nature

Jay had the best idea the other day! She decided to make a craft with items she found outside. With a stick, leaves, pebbles (and a little help from an adult with a glue gun) she made a butterfly. I think it could look like a dragonfly, too. Didn't she do a great job?

15 Afternoon Snack Ideas

Even though we homeschool, my kids still really appreciate an afternoon snack. These would be great for after school snacks, too!

Frosting and a Smile - S'more Snack Mix

 Recipe here

Jay's First Grade Curriculum

I have decided to pattern Jay's First Grade year after the Charlotte Mason Method of teaching. I'm still learning about Charlotte Mason, so I am by no means an expert. I thought I would share with you what my plans are for Jay this year.

For Social Studies, I found this Around the USA Study on Pinterest. I loved the idea, but wanted to do it a little differently. I will make a worksheet for each state that she can color. We will study one state a week in alphabetical order.

I found a book at our Library, The Big Book of America by Roger Hicks, that gives a brief overview of each state. It's in color so Jay will know what each item looks like for her worksheet/coloring page. I also checked out a book that listed recipes from each state that we can try. We will read a book about someone who is from our state-of-the-week as well. For Alabama, we will read Helen's Big World by Doreen Rappaport about Helen Keller.

For extra Language Arts, Tara at Embark on the Journey is working on 31 Days of Read-Alouds. I LOVE this! We will do one book a week. I will check it out from the library, print out the activity sheets that I'm interested in, and do a couple of activities that go along with the book. For example, our first week we are reading Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. She will do some of the activity sheets, we will make Blueberry Muffins, and make Blueberry Art with a potato.

For Science, we are beginning with the Outdoor Nature Challenge.

Each day, Jay will do a lesson in Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, a few math pages from the Houghton Grade 1 Math Workbook, and Scripture Copy Work for handwriting. We will read in her Picture Bible and work on scripture memorization as well.

We will also be working on the Little Helpers at Home book so that she can receive her award pins each month. This month she is working on the Dishwashing pin and the Baking pin.

This was our first week back to school and Jay LOVED it!