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| Caden LOVES the fraction circles! |
The weather this past month has been crazy in Germany. We have gotten more rain this summer than the past few summers we have been here. Also the temperature is a lot colder. Some of my friends still have their floor heaters on! It's not that cold in our house and in fact I'd prefer to just have the windows open. Sadly we have all been hit with colds. It took me a week to get over one, then Collin got it, and now Caden is getting over it. When Caden's not feeling good he becomes quite cranky! My patience is being tested for sure! What I don't necessarily enjoy is all the rain and the cooler temperatures. Summer is the time to get outside and enjoy sunshine and the pool. Not be stuck inside. I guess I should be thankful for the rain and cooler temperatures considering many of my Texan family and friends are suffering with extreme heat and drought. I would just like to have a little more sunshine. Germany is so gloomy most of the year and the winters are pretty dark and gray.
Given my circumstance I have become more organized and creative. I'll have to share pictures of our better organized living room and upstairs office/play room in a future post. Since I'm not a big TV person and we have limited Caden's exposure to where he's not really into television either, I have gone back to the basics. Caden loves books but has been refusing them during the day because he's afraid I'm trying to get him to take a nap. We still read a book or two during the day but they are just usually short and he's quick to get down once the book is done. So what do I do all day with a non-napping 2 year old? We go to the park when it's not raining or ride bikes. We also visit friends and have them over. Today we were blessed with nice weather this morning and early afternoon, then the downpour came. First we played basketball upstairs for a while, then we went outside and Caden road his bike in our driveway and played with our neighbor's daughter, Mischa, then the rain came. Back inside Caden played with a magnetic fishing puzzle, he loves this puzzle, I made some fraction circles, and he loved playing with those, I also bought some bugs for his sensory box and we did a bug hunt/dig. When Collin got home he even played with the bugs with Caden and read him the book Bugs, bugs, bugs! Here are some pictures of our afternoon.
4 comments:
Okay...what is your secret to getting Caden to learn his letters? Lauren shows NO interest! We are doing crafts, singing songs, flashcards, and she watches Letter Factory (only once a day-that's basically her only TV time, unless its been a rough day and I need a break)...I'm pulling my hair out!
I started playing a game with him when he was about 16 months old. I used an ABC puzzle, took off all the pieces, then we took turns putting the letters back in. I would say the name of the letter and put one in. Then he'd put one in and I'd say the name of the letter and so on. By the time he was 18 months old he knew them. To test him I would ask him where the "H" was for example and then he'd put it where it goes. Eventually he was able to find all the letters and put them in. Once he mastered that I brought out the Melissa and Doug upper and lower case letter puzzle. I also started working on phonics and would say something like, "d says duh." Then go onto another letter. He is now starting to sound out words. We would work about 10-15 minutes a day. But at first make it fun. She'll learn it and know it before you realize she does. If she's like Caden, she'll pick up a favorite letter or two. Caden's favorite letter is O and his favorite number is zero - go figure! You can also do this with number puzzles. That's how I taught Caden numbers. We also count while I change his diaper. At first I counted, now we count together or he'll count by himself. Not everytime I change his diaper but a few times a day.
Thanks! I have an alphabet puzzle, but it's not great. Some letters are paired together to make one puzzle piece. Everytime she sees a letter, she says "B",so I know she's making the connection. I try working with her about 10 minutes a day, but most of the time she walks off before I can even start :( She's not one to sit still for very long :( Glad everything is going well in Germany. Caden is getting so big and it's hard to believe he's 2!
I used this alphabet puzzle at first - http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-and-Doug-Alphabet-Picture/dp/B004ZNNG18/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1312355001&sr=8-26. Once he mastered that and was a few months older I started using the upper and lower case one. I bought the alphabet art puzzle on ebay for a lot cheaper. I ended up paying full price for the other one. This one is less expensive and is pretty clear - http://www.amazon.com/Large-Wooden-Inside-26-piece-Puzzle/dp/B00004R7OJ/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&qid=1312355001&sr=8-29. At first I think I just took away about 5 pieces and we did that. I made it very exciting and once he was used to us putting 5 on I took around 10 off and gradually increased it until we were able to sit and finish the whole puzzle. I found that the mornings after breakfast he was more willing to stay focused but if he didn't want to do it one day, we didn't. Also I let him play with it on his own off and on and that got him more interested. You have to be careful because if Lauren is like Caden, she goes through periods of wanting to chew on the pieces. If he started chewing I took it away and said, "we don't chew on puzzles." She'll get there. You probably already do this, but you can also sing the alphabet song and point to the letters. Caden likes singing songs and I wanted him to make the connection.
Leap Frog is good but I didn't buy the letter factory one until his 2nd birthday. He likes it but doesn't usually sit and watch the whole thing. After about 5-10 minutes he's ready to do something else.
I will say the Hooked on Phonics DVD is really good. They sing a song about every letter. He likes that one better. There are 3 shows and they are each about 15 minutes long. The DVD I got came with the Hooked on Phonics for Preschoolers. But you could probably buy just the DVD. Try eBay also. The workbook and books that came with the set are okay, not the greatest. But I really like the DVD.
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