Sunday, March 7, 2010

Baby DIVA's Savvy Tot school

I have started something fabulous for Baby DIVA which I have formally named "Savvy Tot School." She is so digging it! And since the first week was a total success, now I will share it with you. Yes, if I attempt something and it fails, most likely I wont share it here with you! LOL I must go on thinking that the world assumes Pink Haired Momma is brilliant and can do no wrong, and then I wake up.

Okay! Here is what has happened. I became so sick and tired of finding fun and exciting events, crafts, games, entertaining tunes, etc. to do with Baby DIVA, only to then discover we did not have all the pieces and parts to complete the crafts, or the day we wanted to venture out the event was closed. It really began to frustrate me. So I put together a plan. I scoured the Internet, the local resources, my craft books and found some awesome age appropriate ideas. I then sat down with a calendar and mapped out the rest of the year in "theme" weeks for my Baby DIVA. I coordinated the appropriate events, crafts and happenings to the matching "theme" week. (Just to let you know I only matched up all this info for about a months worth of time, the rest of the year I will work on as we go, always being at least 2 weeks ahead.) This structure will allow me to plan our activities and play dates with some organization. I can also glance at our upcoming theme week and list of activities and then cross reference our craft supplies, in order to ensure we have everything we need. Yes I am a bit OCD and need this structure, call me crazy it is ok!

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Exhausted from her Savvy Tot School lessons


The first week is now complete. Our theme was "animals". And we had a blast. We started on Monday by getting 5 stuffed animals of baby DIVA's. We had Froggy, Bear, Miss Bunny, Ally Alligator, and Pig Pig. We sat around talking about what these stuffed toys were, what colors they were, where they lived, what they ate, what sounds they made, basically anything I could think of that was related to these animals, we talked about. She seemed so intrigued. She stayed focused on this little lesson for almost a full 30 minutes. I was amazed. Following our little lesson we got out our super cool Window Crayons, thanks to our fabulous friend Nicole for opening our eyes to these fabulous crayons, and had a drawing contest on the patio door. Baby DIVA's scribble beast took the award! And then we watched Babe. For lunch we dined on animal shaped sandwiches and animal crackers, and drank milk from a moo cow. The afternoon was a little more casual as we enjoyed playing outside.


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Our learning tools


Each day this week was structured in such a manner that various animal lessons were incorporated throughout our day. We made paper bags into animal puppets and had a little puppet show, although Baby DIVA was more interested in eating this activity. While grocery shopping we hit the Easter aisle and learned about chickens, bunnies and eggs through all the Easter novelties that are out. Almost every day we spent a good while making animal noises and reading animal themed books, we picked out at the library last week.


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Libraries are full of fabulous information


All in all I think it was fabulous. Baby DIVA experienced some new information all while having a blast, and I felt in control and not flustered or frustrated in any way. Now of course some of the ideas and activities I had were not utilized, and that is fine. I am not planning each day down to what we will do and precisely when. I simply have a notebook full of themed ideas for that week and can choose from it, knowing we have everything in house to fit our needs. I am excited about this endeavor. I hope it works out well and that Baby DIVA continues to learn and grow and have tons of fun in her Savvy Tot school with momma! Next week our theme is "Colors"! I will let you know how it goes!

19 comments:

  1. Wow girlie! That is absolutely awesome! What a fantastic idea! And that is very dedicated of you! Are you planning on homeschooling when she gets older?

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  2. This is awesome! I hope it continues to go well.

    This is kind of what I'm doing with my son for learning his letters, but no where near as organized. I think you inspired me to work a little more with this. Thanks!

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  3. Vicki! Not a chance! I want her to go to public school and have friends from the neighborhood and gain the social experience of going to school. We will most likely have supplemental learning at home, as our educational system is a tad lacking, but here is hoping for a change! I am loking forward to her going to school someday! FREEDOM!!!

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  4. Evonne. It took me a while to get organized,and i am still working on it daily. But once i had a month planned out i relaxed and it is going really smooth! I am so excited about colors week! Lots of FUN activites!

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  5. Have you ever thought of running an in home daycare!? Seriously, you'd be an awesome daycare provider/teacher.

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  6. Rikki i will be keeping my BFF's new baby here in the next few weeks until she is out for summer. Then over the summer another friend of mine is having me watch her two school age kids. Thats about as far as i would like to take it. 1-2 kids plus mine, I might go crazy if there are any more. Thank you for the compliment! I think it comes natural because i am just a big kid!

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  7. Oh, how FUN!! The fact that she was so tired at the end must mean it was a huge success!! Can't wait to hear about "colors!"

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  8. Wow, I'm sure you both had so much fun.I used to do almost the same thing with my son:)

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  9. So glad you are with us at TMC!!!

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  10. Yonca! Its so much nicer having things organized. I wish i was one of those supermoms that could pull awesome crafts out of her butt with a toothpick, but i am not. I plan organize and then have fun! :)

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  11. Theta Mom I wouldnt miss it for the world! Just sorry it took me a couple of days to get over there!!

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  12. Thats great...you will be very pleased when baby Diva goes to school and is already ahead of the game :-)

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  13. what a great idea!!! i wish i was that organized!!

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  14. Terrific ideas...wish i'd of thought of those with the twins..the craft supply issue happens with us too.

    I might incorporate the "menu" plan

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  15. I just found your blog and love love it! What an amazing Momma you are! As a kindergarten teacher, I have to say I wish more parents were like you! I love how you made your day with your daughter so wonderful and so educational!

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  16. Hi! You won the skull "pinshooter" on my blog during Retro Month! Please use the "contact me" link at the top of my blog to send me your shipping info. Congrats!

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  17. That's such a cute idea! (Productiveparentin.com has some GREAT ideas for every age too.) I think we may need some savvy schoolin' round here!

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  18. What a great idea! I LOVE it--and I love how you have it planned. Thanks for sharing--and how adorable is Baby Diva all curled up?! Love her!

    xo

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  19. Thanks my lovely friends! Baby DIVA is currently so lovin "colors" week! I cant wait to sharre the pics!

    And claire thanks for the awesome link, you are a doll!

    Bonnie the cutest menu item i have seen recently is taking the dino shaped chicken nuggets(grocery freezer) and then making "trees" out of broccoli pieces for the dino's to run through! Adorable!

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