Tot School: Week 1

-Ella is 20 months old-

A few weeks ago I came across the idea of Tot School. I've been really excited to participate, but this past week was really the first week I could even begin to really do anything because Troy was born the week before. I'll admit that this first week was fairly "weak" and I plan to do much more in future weeks, but this first week of tot school at our house was also the first week that I was home alone with a 20-month old and a newborn! I'm sad that I don't have more photos to share as well. I love taking photos (as you already know if you are a frequent reader of my blog), but I wasn't really able to take many photos of the things we were working on this week.

1. Following Directions
• I'll admit that working on following directions was a very convenient thing for us to work on this week. Since it was my first week home alone with a 20-month old and a newborn, I had a lot of adjusting to do. I wasn't able to always get up to help Ella with whatever she wanted immediately. So, we worked on following directions. Throughout the week, I'd direct her to do different things, such as build a tower with her blocks, bring me a book to read together, bring me Troy's pacifier or blanket, take something to the trash (which she loves to do, oddly enough), or roll a ball to me. Some tasks she completed involved learning directional words, such as "under", "next to", "on", or "by". I think her favorite things to do during the week were following my directions with tasks involving Troy - she was SO proud to get to help out with her baby brother.
2. Counting
• We also worked on counting a lot this week. We counted any and everything. We counted animals and houses in books we read. We counted Ella's toes, my toes, and daddy's toes. We counted toys like her rings and blocks. We counted her monkeys (her monkey collection continues to grow - she loves monkeys!). Ella can now easily count to four now, usually skips "five", and sometimes makes it to "six". I think the word "five" might be difficult for her to say because I can't really get her to repeat it (and she'll generally repeat most words I ask her to say). 

1. Family/Life skills
• Working on family/life skills came very naturally this week. We worked on holding Troy, as well as treating him gently, and learning not act "crazy" when she was near Troy. We also worked on patience - especially since I couldn't always get what Ella wanted immediately.

I look forward to continuing our Tot School journey each week, and plan to make this week's Tot School at least a bit more organized than our first week. :)