Tot School Tuesday: Things That Go, Continued

Welcome back to Tot School Tuesday! If you’re just joining us, you can check out the previous few weeks here:

Tot School with #TeacherMom (Aug 18)

Tot School Tuesday: Things That Go(Aug 25)

The Beginning of Our Things that GoAdventures (Sep 1)

Beckett and I are having a BLAST working on our Things That Go activities together. So far, we haven’t stuck to much of a schedule. I just pull out an activity whenever we’re looking for something to do (which is often).

Here’s a look at some of our activities we worked on this week:

Sticker Station

I think this was my favorite activity all week! Sticker Station required a little assistance from the mommy. He needed help getting the stickers started when peeling them off of their sheets, but he slowly improved. I got the idea from No Time For Flashcards.

I used wrapping paper instead of butcher paper because it’s what I had on hand. While we peeled and stuck, we talked about our vocabulary & colors. I chose not to try and count with him because there was no pattern to where the stickers were on the paper.

Pom Pom Sort

Last week I mentioned that we had to make some modifications to our Pom Pom sort game plan and I decided to make some themed color cards to use. This week I got them printed and laminated and LOVE how they turned out! You can grab these free in my store until September 22.

During this activity I let Beckett play with the whole stack of cards, then we picked six, practiced the names, and laid them out to sort. I mentioned two weeks ago that I learned to limit options so I picked the 3 colors he knows and added 3 more. I also picked out the pom poms that match the colors instead of just dumping the whole bag.

Obviously, we all know what our own kiddos can handle. I’ve actually been pretty surprised at how much Beckett has learned already and how well he’s catching on! These little people are impressive!

Alphabet Coloring Sheets

These coloring sheets are in my Things That Go Materials Pack! (Free until Sept 22).

You could totally get creative with how you use these. We started with tracing the C with our finger, and then moving to markers. Of course we talked about the colors, letter & sound, and vocabulary word. We also worked on holding the marker correctly, but he wasn’t a fan.

Line Em Up Letter Tracing

For this activity, I intended to use small items (beads, beans, etc.) & have Beckett line them up on the letters. Instead, because he’s so fond of this dotter, we used it to dot on the lines.  It was less messy and still a great fine motor practice. Of course we talked about the letter & sound, and the vocabulary word.

Vehicle Line Up

This activity is super simple. Find a line, or use tape or chalk to make one on the floor/ground. Then let your Tot drive & line up his cars on the line! Beckett had fun putting his cars end to end. Then we practiced counting them as he added more.

Of course, I forgot to snap a shot when he was actually using a line. I caught him playing on his rug, half naked, complete with a puppy butt photo bomb. I was excited to see him lining up his cars and counting them on his own though! Thanks for paying attention, kiddo.

Wagon Ride

It was a billion degrees out this week, and I’m recovering from a C-Section, so I was zero percent interested in heading out for a long walk. Nana is staying with us, though, and she’s committed to getting in her steps (she’s a FitBit groupie) so she and Beckett headed out for several walks this week. On one, they pulled out the wagon for a chance to check off one of our “Adventures.” While they were out, they spotted cars & trucks, talked about the colors, etc.

It was a full week for us! How did Tot School go for you this week? I would love to see what you and your little have going on. Feel free to link up below to share your adventures! And make sure to check out Tot School's blog for more Tot School ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Fall Y'All Linky!

It's FALL!!! Ok, so not for 19 more days, but it's SEPTEMBER. That means boot shopping, leaf decor, and pumpkin flavored everything! Fall is MY FAVORITE SEASON. It makes me SO. HAPPY. Y'ALL.

In celebration of impending fall fabulousness, I'm here to announce my #FallYall Linky! This linky will be super simple and easy to join. Here are the rules:

1. Write a blog post for one or more days of the linky [September 21-25]. The theme is just FALL. The post can be ANYTHING fall related: highlight a product, show us your fall themed centers & plans, share a recipe, show off a DIY project, have a freebie or giveaway, model your favorite fall fashions, etc. But you must link to a blog POST [permalink]. Please do not link to a product in your store.
2. Grab the button & plop it in your posts.
3. Link back to my daily posts.
4. Visit linked blogs and share the blogger love.

And that's it! So mark your calendar because I'd love to have you join! :)

Five for Friday! One Happy Week!

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a fabulous week filled with as much joy and goodness as I have! Here's some happy randomness from this week!

I've been a mom of two for 11 days now! Charlie Grace is sweet and snuggly. She's healthy, loooves to eat, sleeps like a champ (so far), makes the BEST facial expressions, and likes to be very very warm. Weirdo.

Beckett is FINALLY starting to come around. We had quite the adjustment period when Charlie first came home. I wasn't sure I would survive. But here I am! Still kickin.

It's [almost] fall and I'm STINKIN EXCITED! This week my mom and I ventured out to Hobby Lobby & I'm stocking up on DIY goodies & taking notes on ideas for fun projects. Stay tuned for some DIY goodness!

I've also been working on all of my fall makeovers & new products. Just the thought of cool weather and pumpkin everything is making me giddy. Is it time to start fall units yet?!?!

Remember that time that my baby brother and his awesome wifey FLEW into town for 24 hours just to overhaul the nursery?! Well, THIS WEEK,  they surprised me with reservations at a local wine bar and paid for my hubs and I to have a date night! WHAT?! I should have babies more often! I'm feeling so spoiled!!

This week, little man started back to "school." It's actually just Parents' Day Out, but for Beckett's sake, we call it "school." :) He got to move up to the two year old room for this year, and I can't even believe how entertained I am by every. single. aspect. The cute little crafts, the cute little chairs, the cute little friends. Everything is cute. and little. [Except my kid, who now seems so big. TIME! STOP GOING SO FAST!]

Last week, for Tot School Tuesday, I mentioned my newest addition to my September Tot School Pack. This week, little man and I finally got a chance to try out our new cards. I love them, and so did Beckett! You can grab my Things That Go Tot School pack and these Color Cards for FREE in my store until September 22. 

Small Goals: September

Last month, I decided to link up with Jennifer, from the Yellow Brick Road, for her new Small Goals monthly linky. I love love love this concept so much because, as we all know, it's so important to set goals! I always have a running to do list for projects I'm working on and grown-up things that need to be done, but I'm really liking the idea of setting specific concrete goals that are both work and non-work related. So here I am again, linking up for Setpember small goals!

First, a look back on how I did on my August Small Goals:

Have a Baby

Finish the nursery

Finish thank you cards

Blog more

Cross off one more bucket list item

Update September Products in My Store (half finished)

For September, I have one main goal, with lots of subgoals. My main goal is to take control of my daily & weekly schedule. I'm a WAHM (and an introvert) and my husband is self-employed, plus we have TWO (yikes, that number just doubled) kids, so it's very easy for us to lose our days in work + parenting and not take time for ourselves or each other. So I created THIS lovely:

This is a shot from the first (and only) week I did this calendar. I'm pretending like this week doesn't exist because, well, our life is a liiiittle abnormal with the whole newborn situation. But NEXT WEEK, when we work toward normalcy, here are my goals:

Have coffee with my hubs several times a week. We're hoping/planning to wake up in the morning before we work, and before the toddler wakes, and just enjoy a few minutes of coffee together.

Schedule at least one play date for Beckett. Being an introvert & home body, it's very easy for me to ignore the outside world. But I like to be intentional about Beckett getting out and about.

Get out, alone (without my hubs or kid), once a week. For non-work/chore related reasons. Just to de-stress, or clear my head, or enjoy life. :) The goal is to just go get coffee, go for a walk, go shopping (for fun stuff, not groceries), get a mani pedi, have a girls night, etc. Same goal for Brian. Because we need time to ourselves!

Meal Plan. Because then we don't eat eggs every night.

Keep Up with Daily Chores. Because #WAHMlife.

And I think that's about enough! Check back in October to see if any of it held up. ;) Follow me on Blog Lovin to keep up!

One on One: Labor Day Writing

Guys. I almost missed our Big Heartland Blogger montly One on One Linky! I had written it down for Saturday, even though today is obviously the 1st of the month. I'm totally claiming newborn brain (aka. I don't remember the last time I got decent sleep). But I mean...

So worth it, right? :) Don't mind her outfit. She was in the mood to break out the loungewear like mommy. :)

Anyway! So one on one is a monthly linky hosted by The First Grade Roundup. It's a fabulous chance to spotlight a product and put it on sale for JUST ONE DOLLAR!! Woot!

Today, I'm super excited to show off my Labor Day writing Unit. The set is usually $3.00 in my store, but for today and TOMORROW it'll be marked down to only $1! WOO!! 

This pack has all of the goodies you'll need for your Labor Day writing center, plus some materials you'll be able to use in other Labor Day lessons as well!

The I Can Statement posters are great for posting at your centers, displaying at the front of your classroom during lessons or units, or adding to your student work display boards. They're a great way to remind your students of exactly what their goals are for this lesson or activity.

In Anderson's Opinion, firefighters have the most important job. :)

Choose the vocabulary cards that best suit your class, or make your own with the blank cards! These are great for displaying in pocket charts, on word walls, or in writing centers. Use them in games & reference them during reading lessons to really reinforce the new vocabulary.

Henley apparently thinks flashcards are the bees knees. :)

Along with the vocabulary cards, I've also provided a list of adjectives to help students add more pizazz to their writing. :) Laminate it and display it in a writing center or add a copy to each student's writing folder!

Graphic organizers are great for pre-writing, of course. I would also recommend using them for your Labor Day and Community Helper reading passages. 

This pack includes 24 writing prompts. The prompts vary in difficulty and genre. Each card is labeled with the appropriate writing standard.

Adeline plans to head the lake for the weekend! Lucky girl.

After writing, students can work independently, in pairs, or with a teacher to edit their work! These are provided in both full color and black line. Full color posters are great for displaying at writing centers or laminating to use repeatedly during your writing mini-lessons or conferences!

You can check out this writing center in my store by clicking here!

I'd love to hear what you think! Do you use writing centers in your classroom? What's your favorite writing center tool? Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, & BlogLovin' to stay in touch!

Tot School Tuesday: The Beginning of Our Things That Go Adventures!

Welcome Back to Tot School Tuesday! The goal of this weekly blog is to share with you my experiences in Tot School. If you missed the beginning of the adventure, you can check out my last two weeks' posts here:

Tot School with #TeacherMom (Aug 18)

Tot School Tuesday: Things That Go (Aug 25)

To summarize: I'm diving in to the world of Tot School! I have a lot of ideas and a general plan but know that there will be a lot of learning and modifying as I go, so bear with me as we adventure through this together!

Last week, Beckett & I started working through some of our "Things That Go" plans & materials (available for FREE until Sept 22!). I AM LOVING IT SO MUCH! His curiousity and attention span are MELTING MY HEART. He's excited every time I pull out an activity! Hopefully, we can both keep up the energy. :)

Here are a few highlights on what I'm doing and lessons that I've learned.

Pom Pom Sort

The first day we attempted the pom pom sort, it was a hot mess. First, I just dumped all of the poms out and tried to explain the activity. HA! Beckett was not ready for that. I wanted him to put red in one column and yellow in another. I quickly realized that I needed to pull out JUST the red and yellow items.

Here's how we did at first (with a lot of guidance!):

This wasn't working for us, so I decided he needed more structure. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed two of my Ikea kid's bowls (which don't have red). 

From there, he did significantly better. He already knew these two colors (inconsistently) so with each pom/item he chose I said something along the lines of, "ooh! what color is that?!" and then after he answered, "yes! now where is the BLUE bowl; can you put it in the BLUE bowl?"

With these modifications, he totally rocked this activity and I was able to switch up the colors later in the week with no issue. One side note: I got these plastic tongs at the Dollar Tree. They were PERFECT for grabbing items easily and had the perfect amount of tension, size, & a great little cuppy end that easily held onto items. BUT THEY BROKE. He broke two sets before I switched to my Pampered Chef tongs. These are much more difficult to use, but he got the hang of it and isn't going to break them!

Because I don't have enough color bowls to continue to do this activity, I decided we needed cutie themed mats to use. These will also be available in my store for free until September 22. For these, you can drop the pieces straight onto the cards/mat, put clear cups on top of or next to the cards/mat, or insert the cards into a big muffin tin! The set includes 11 colors. Grab them here!

Color Parking Lot

The color parking lot was a lot of fun. To use this activity, I introduced one car at a time, talked about the name (bus, car, truck) and color, then we pretended to drive it around making fun sounds. Of course, I use a lot of praise for his answers and imaginative play. 

With lots of modeling and prompting, I eventually guided him to find the matching color boxes and drive the cars to the appropriate place. This was a bit of work, because he also really enjoyed just drivin the cars around. I am 100% ok with that and have set a goal of NOT being overly task oriented. I want him to enjoy this experience, but learn at the same time!

Alphabet Road Book 

This is probably one of my favorite activities this month. I just think that it's such an adorable idea. I found it on Playdough to Plato. You can grab yours here. 

Tracing is not one of Beckett's strong suits. This activity is proving to be pretty difficult for him, but he is very entertained at the idea of driving his cars on the book, so I'm very hopeful that it will be a good activity to help with his tracing concepts! We'll just pull this one out more than others!

Remember when you're doing activities like these to be intentional about incorporating your lesson goals. When we choose a page, we talk about the letters he sees and then he chooses which one he wants to drive on. I model for him often. We also talk about the vehicle he is chosing to use and the color of the vehicle or page. If he's not interested in answering my questions, that's ok too. I try and use the vocabulary often, "wow! I love this red car!! I think I'm going to drive the red car on the C. Want to watch? Would YOU like to drive the red car on the C!?"

Books!

We read books A LOT throughout our day. I have set out all of his transportation books on a shelf in our front room so they are easily accessible and a first choice when he's ready to read. Sometimes, we read the book verbatim and sometimes we just talk about the pictures.

I love this book because it has simple single pictures on each page, and the colors are very easiy to identify. When we read this book, I have chosen to ignore the actual names of the trucks and call them all "truck." We talk about the color and I asked questions, "Do you see the yellow truck? What color is this truck?" We also identify the letters we see on each page. 

Letter Sorting

This activity was not on the materials list, but Beckett wanted to play with his letters, so this is what I did! We pulled out the letter cards, reviewed them, and then pulled out a bunch of appropriate letter beads. I walked Beckett through identifying the letters, and matching them to the appropriate card. We also spent time talking about the pictures & beginning sounds. 

What are you currently doing with your tot? Whether you're doing this Things That Go unit or are using a completely different plan,  I would love to collaborate and share ideas with each other and other mommies! Please feel free to link up with me! If you'd like to add in a shout out, I'd love for you to link your post back here. However, this isn't required! ;) Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Blog Lovin to get updates on new posts on Tot School and more!

An InLinkz Link-up

Five Fun Facts!

Who's up for a few fun facts about yours truly?!

I just had a baby! 

Is this old news yet? Because she's a pretty big deal. Charlie Grace was born a week ago today at 8 pounds, 12.5 ounces. She brings this crew to a party of four!

I'm an ELL teacher, turned stay at home mom. 

I don't enjoy most homemaker responsiblities. I can meal plan like woah, but cooking sucks. I hate cleaning but do it out obligation. I miss the lesson planning and cutie prep that goes along with teaching so I LOVE creating products for Teachers Pay Teachers and for Tot School (my newest adventure) with my own kiddo. And I LOVE LOVE being home with my two favorite littles!

I'm an introvert

For real. Like to the extreme. I'm zero percent shy and looove talking, but being around people gives me anxiety and is incredibly exhausting. Generally only other people who share this juxtaposed personality understand where I'm coming from. It takes actual emotional preparation for me to be around people. Don't spring a last minute girls night out on me. That's not my idea of fun.

My husband is my best friend & favorite person.

He's the best husband ever. Sorry to all the other hubs out there. We've been together for 6.5 years. Our first date was skydiving! We had the most perfect wedding on a farm in East Tennessee (4 years ago). We've got Beckett (21 months) and Charlie Grace (1 week) and live a pretty charmed life. 

I have a passion for girls realizing their worth

I have a history of self esteem issues, especially regarding dating relationships and body image, but God has really blessed me with opportunities to learn and grow in those areas. My heart aches for girls who have yet to realize they are fearfully & wonderfully made and women of worth. (Ps. 139:14 & Prov. 3:15). Don't get me started. I'll preach. Then cry.

And that's me! Thank's Blog Hoppin for hosting! Have fun learning about some fabulous teachers this week, and check back throughout the week for fun new posts!