Tot School # 1

I have been reading Carissa's Tot School posts over at 1+1+1=1 for some time now and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them. Along with many of the other mums that have joined her in Tot School.

So now that I officially have a tot, hehehe she says tounge in cheek as he isn't walking and is only just barely 12 months old, but he scrapes in and what the heck you're never too young for a bit of "Tot School".

Now before I hear anyone cringing and commenting on 'schooling' my tot, you can rest assured that this is really just a play on words and is a fun way for me to share some of what C1 gets up to in his week. At this stage none (well next to none anyway) of our Tot School is planned, his Tot School is all 'life school' in general. He is such a busy little beaver and learns so much each and every day.

It is also a great way to see what other tots are getting up to by clicking the link at the end of each of my Tot School posts it will take you over to Carissa's blog, where Tot School is hosted. Here you will find links to blogs aplenty with their very own versions of Tot School.

My Tot School posts will only ever be able to show a small fraction of what C1 achieves in a week. If I photographed everything I'd always be seeing him through my camera lense and not really enjoying being with him and my batteries would always be running flat and I'd be spending every night on this computer just editing the images to share with you all!!! So whilst I try take lots of pictures they will only ever be a snippet of what he has been doing over that past week.

So in saying all of that, here is my very first Tot School post.

~ C1 is currently 12 months ~

C1 has recently found that being outside is much more fun than being inside. All the wide open spaces are so appealing and if he crawls really quickly than maybe mum won't be able to catch him. This was a morning at the park, he had a glorious time just investigating.

His current focus is anything that he can put inside another thing so when he found one of sisters play rings and a pencil on the floor he was captivated for well over 15 minutes. I am totally amazed at his attention span. It seems that when he is hard at 'work' nothing can take his attention away.

He turned the pencil every which way to get the ring on the end and was a proud as punch each and every time he achieved what he set out to.

Our home school network had an art gallery workshop and in the workshop room they have an area filled with bean bags. C1 was happy there for nearly an hour, whilst the big kids created. He hid, played, rolled, jumped on and fell off bean bag after bean bag.

He also found that he can actually get inside the drawers in the kitchen this week. No longer is he content with just opening them and pulling everything out, he now sits in them and rummages like he truly is looking for that special cup, plate or whatever it is he's looking for!

He's loved balls from a very young age (as most babies do) but he now is really starting to gain some control. Picking it up, throwing and rolling and inspecting the earth I might add.....now where was the Pacific Ocean again mum!!!

And what a great way to celebrate our first Tot School by celebrating his 1st Birthday. We had a big bash this time around, lots of family and friends. Clowns, Ponies and of course the cake and gifts.

So that's our very first Tot School, hope you enjoyed sharing C1's week with him.

Don't forget to have a look at all of the other Tot School posts over at Carissa's blog.

Happy 1st Birthday Little CBub

Our little baby turned 1 this week, what a bittersweet moment for us. He is just growing up ever so fast.

If you want to see everything he got up to for his birthday you'll need to vist our family blog.

Quick Update

Ok I know I haven't been here much of late, no real excuses, just busy with life. So anyway here are a few pics with just a bit of what we've been up to this past week or so.

We had an absolutley fabulous up close and personal experience with some reptiles. Brian from Crocodiles and Dragons brought his little brood along for us to enjoy.

With only 20 children there everyone got up very close and in most cases they all got to hold the reptiles as well. This was fantastic! One of the best wildlife experiences we've had yet.

This has to be one of the best upsides to homeschooling - small groups mean more hands on and way more fun! No looking from the back over the heads of 40 or so other children here, my kids were right in the middle of it.

With Bearded Dragons

And Shingle Back Lizards

To Blue Tongues (B7 looks really into it here)


But when he actually touches the lizard, he's not so sure.

And a lively Turtle,

To a huge Crocodile. We all knew he had a crocodile in that box but no one ever expected it to be so big. He wasn't overly happy that day so was only out for a short play....I'd say that was probably a good thing hehehe

And then there was this experience. I am still totally blown away that both B7 and K4 were up for this, they did great and both seemed to really enjoy the experience.

Mum on the other hand,

Well, let's just say that isn't quite a smile of joy. CBub, however was really quite intrigued, especially when the snake decided to slither and move right around the back of his neck.

Definitely a fantastic opportunity and one I am sure the kids will remember for a log time to come.

I hadn't planned on doing any extension activities after the presentation, but the kids were eager. So we have been putting together a simple lapbook (since mum had nothing organised) I grabbed everything I needed from Home School Share - thanks guys.


We also had our second Art Gallery Workshop and were lucky enough to have the artist with us again. This time we tried our hand at Paper Cutting Techniques, some of which were quite tricky. Everyone added a piece or two to the huge wall mural the Art Gallery was creating.

The kids also made these nifty little notepad holders at bunnings, they enjoyed that. Sanding, gluing, painting, hammering and this is what we ended up with.

Getting Into Montessori

Well very slowy anyway. I've been doing loads of reading on Montessori lately. Even though I have been aware of Montessori and the philosphies, I haven't looked much further than that. I'd like to implement some of the concepts into our home.

Even the simple ones like Tray Based and Floor Mat Activities to help keep an ordered work/play space. We tried many Easter themed Tray Activities this year and they worked very well.

This morning, I had the kids help me empty our Children's Picture Book Shelf. It is far too small now anyway for all of the books we have, they are always piled high on top of it and on various tables around the house as the shelf has just become to small. (I am waiting for some floor to ceiling book shelves ;-) ) So for now the Picture Books are hiding in various spots we could find available around the house.

I wanted a shelf area for Cbub, now that he is well and truly on the move he can at least choose items from the lowest and possibly the second shelf for himself. Plus it won't be long before he is up and walking and by having this routine in place now he'll be so used to it by then that the shelf will (should) be second nature to him.

These are items taken straight from his toy box, but there is more than enough on their to entertain him for a day or so. I will change the items around every other day depending on if we have spent much time at home or not. (with 2 bigger kids, we are out and about a bit with their activities)

It allows for a quick and easy tidy up as well, each time he goes down for a nap. As opposed to having the majority of a very large toy box tipped and strewn out around the house.

As soon as he woke from his morning nap we showed him the shelf and he is content to go there now when looking for something new to do. He particularly loves the basket of wooden cube blocks, they are very fun to pull out have them crash onto the tiles.

Our favourite book at the moment is Froggy Green and K4 particularly likes it as she can read it to Cbub.

Now the next big one is to set up a similar concept for the big kids in a spare linen cupboard I have here. That one will take me a while, but I will come back and show you when I'm done.

Playground Fun

We played at the park this afternoon with a nice size group (about 8 families in all). We've been so busy this term with organised activities that we've really missed our park play. The kids climbed, ran races, had bike and scooter races and even organised (or at least tried) their own soccer match.

Happy Mothers Day 09

Gee whizz I really am the luckiest mum in the world.

Aren't they just a gorgeous bunch!

It was lovely day today, beautiful weather, a yummy breakfast with Grandma and the family then we headed off down the coast to Kingscliff to see Nanny for the rest of the day.

The kids made the most of the glorious weather and spent some time on the beach. My guess is that was the last beach trip for the season. However we did little C a play as well, so that was his first real beach experience. The sun was a little glary for him and it doesn't help that he won't leave his hat on, but he really had fun.