Something for everyone

It was a fun-filled week six here at the School of Mommy, and I continue to be amazed by this whole Preschool Lite thing. I'm amazed that after six weeks, we're still going strong. I'm amazed that I manage to find time to plan and prepare for our preschool days. I'm amazed at how much the kids enjoy it. I'm amazed at how much they're learning and growing, right before my very eyes. And I'm amazed that I have the privilege to do this with them.

I'm also amazed at moments like this, when I have time to sit back and watch my kids doing something they love together, coloring without realizing they're learning at the same time, peacefully sharing crayons and carrying on toddler conversations about what they're working on.

Abby: What are you coloring, Caleb?

Caleb: Trucks!

Abby: That's not a truck...that's a letter J, Caleb.

Caleb: Gween (green) J, Abby.

Abby: Yeah, Caleb, that's a green J. I'm drawing a red J.

I think I might have a future teacher on my hands here.
And while I still can't figure out what it is about this teddy bear game that they love so much, I'm just going to take advantage of it and do my best to figure out ways to make our teddy bear game time a learning opportunity as well. This week I worked with Caleb on making matches and naming colors, which he did great at. He can't name a lot of colors yet, but he consistently found the right bear when I asked for a specific color. His vocal skills have grown by leaps and bounds over the past few weeks, and we're finding it easier and easier to communicate and even carry on simple conversations with him. These usually center around his favorite topics, which include sharks, trucks, trains, snacks, and lately, his cast.

Continuing on with our letter writing exercises, we introduced the letter j this week and reviewed the other letters we've worked on so far. Abby loves to practice writing her letters in the car on her Magna Doodle, and her diligence is definitely paying off. Her sight words are still a big hit, and I can see her getting gradually more interested in what things say and more excited when she recognizes a word that she knows. I put a few of her sight words up on our bulletin board, including some that she reads quite confidently and a few that she's been struggling with. By the end of the week, she could point to and tell me what each word said when asked. She's finally over her fear of the letter b, and loves to write her name, especially on the pictures that she draws and colors for Daddy to keep in his office.

But the highlight of our week was a field trip that I've been planning for some time. We see this trolley driving all over town, and Caleb goes nuts every time he spots it, pointing and yelling "choo-choo!" at the top of his lungs until it's out of sight. So this week we incorporated a bunch of stories about trains into our reading time, and on Friday I called up a friend and surprised the kids with a 45-minute ride on public transit. Abby spent the first five minutes of our ride yelling "This is so fun, Mommy!" in what was definitely not her inside voice, and Caleb just couldn't stop staring out the window and chanting, "Big big big big choo-choo! Big choo-choo train, Mommy!" Both kids were devastated when our ride came to an end, and I'm sure the other passengers were entertained by the pregnant lady pulling a whimpering 3-year-old and a 1-year-old in a cast off the trolley. It took a solid three minutes after the thing pulled away for me to convince the kids our field trip was really over. I only managed to coax them away from the bus stop by promising we'd do it again some time.