Practical life...right?!

Daddy had the afternoon off yesterday and part of it was spent teaching Mischief how to make scones. She had a whale of a time but did pick a lot of the 'rannies' out and eat them.

Later she was playing at her kitchen and listing everything they had put in the mix. So cute!

Alphabet Box

I can't remember where I saw it now but before I started thinking about home schooling or even heard about Tot School I came across the Montessori Alphabet Box. It took me a while but I finally found some boxes I was happy with. Not a set of draws as I'd've hoped but mini Really Useful Boxes. At the moment they are all stored in a larger one but I'm on the look out for a large tray or some such I can lay them all out in a single layer in. 

We've been adding to the boxes since these photos were taken. I had used glitter glue on the top for the letters as I wanted Mischief to be able to feel them and trace the shape but this peeled off easily so we now have glitter foam stickers. Not as attractive maybe but work well.

The whole family are now having fun looking out for mini bits to add to the boxes. Mischief asks to play with her letters most days and spends ages going through the boxes and naming the items. She is even good at putting them back before starting the next one. As she gets the hang of the letters there are so many activities we can do with this box.

Tot Tray #2

After the success of our first tray we tried another yesterday while Daddy was packing up the spare room. 

This had wooden tongs, a paint tray, some hollow eggs and some spiky creatures. She spent a couple of mins trying to put the creatures in the eggs but the tray didn't entertain her for more than five mins. A bit gutted as the first tray was such a hit but what do I expect from not planning properly and just trying to occupy her whilst we're doing something else.

We returned to the beads and this again kept her entertained for an hour. Especially putting all the beads in her sock!

Our First Tot Tray

For the last couple of weeks I've been collecting items to use in Tot Trays and for other activities. A part of creating Mischief's school room we had to also rearrange the kitchen to fit in Daddy's desk so we could have another bookcase upstairs, convoluted I know. Anyway, we started this during nap time Friday but she woke before we finished and as I had some bits ready to go I set her up with a tray whilst daddy finished off. We sat on the kitchen floor and she had a great time.

She spent an hour and half (we had to stop play to do dinner otherwise she'd have carried in) playing an exploring it. We had multicoloured bead, measuring scoops and a lidded pot, later I added an old metal dog bowl - random but it worked.

She started by spending a long time scooping beads from the tray to the pot and tipping them out. Then she moved on to scooping them from the tray to the bowl so they made a cool plink plink plink noise which she liked. Pouring beads from the try to the bowl and back again also took some time before filling the measuring cups and shaking them up and down. This was great and produced much giggling as they obviously went everywhere. 

More great noises were made by shaking them up and down in the pot and then pouring out of the spout in the lid. All the beads went into the pot before being scooped out. Finally, after they were all poured on the floor and many disappeared under the fridge she sat in the tray to collect them up again. 

It was a great afternoon and she loved it!

Creating a School Room

Well school room sounds a bit grand but we are creating a space in what was the spare room. I forgot to take before pics but I did take some during. So far we have taken the bed out and brought a futon in for Mischief and I to sit on. She has a small table and chair for working at and a bookcase for tot trays and materials. This pic is looking towards the door with a bookcase on the right and in front.

In this pic you can see the door to a large cupboard over the stairs. This was our linen cupboard but now is crammed with things I had been hoping to sell on eBay. It's been so long I think the charity shop will get a donation. There's another bookcase which will keep our paperwork and such and a small armchair under the window. And yes, we have our washing in here too.

Here you can see what I laughingly call my desk. Not that I can even see the wood for all the stuff on it. I haven't yet had the heart to get rid of the spare bed so the matress is behind my desk.

Finally is the corner where we'll sit together. Another mattress against this wall, this time from Mischiefs Daddy's old cabin bed which we hope to give her when she's older. 

It doesn't look much yet but I'm so excited. I hope Mischief loves it when it's finished.

Tot School

Since I first saw the concept of Tot School on Counting Cocnuts and then 1+1+1=1 I've been intrigued and excited. My mind is buzzing with ideas and plans. I definately want to do this 'properly' and at the moment don't have a suitable space to layout materials and create a pleasant learning environment. So we have decided to do away with the spare bed (sorry friends and grandparents) and turn the spare room into a play room and school room. I already have a work space in here for crafting and as we don't have people to stay that often it seemed logical. But boy do we have a lot of stuff. 

So there we are plans are underway. I've started putting together materials and keeping an eye out in £1 shops and charity shops for things we can use. I just need to bring my ideas together and get going now.