I also want to help her get a little more independent in her learning so that when Tony comes, she won't (hopefully) be completely upset when I have to nurse, rock, and tend to a newborn. So, today we decided to really jumpstart our homeschooling. We already have tons of books, puzzles, flashcards, and toys that are educational that she loves. But, I wanted to add some variety to our collection.
That and we've been so sick that we've missed all of our play dates, Christmas parties, Mommy and Me classes, and even evening church services this week that we've gotten a little stir crazy. I called up my husband and proposed my idea (I always call him before I plan on purchasing anything, even if it's just letting him know we're picking up some fruit from the orchard because we believe in full disclosure in our finances) and he liked it.
So, our first order of business in kick starting our homeschool stuff was to get an area for Auds to sit. I know exactly what I want for a desk, but I can't find it. Well, I retract that; I found one exactly like what I want at an antique mall, but it's made so small that she wouldn't really be able to use it for that long. Rather than spend $45 on something that she'd outgrow quickly, we went to the Wal-Mart to pick out a table. Auds picked out a pink circle princess table with flowers. Surprise, surprise. She loves it! And it wasn't even $20, so not too shabby there.
Here she is with her little table. The chairs will hold up to 80 pounds. Considering little miss string bean like her daddy just made 23.5, I think it will be quite some time before she gets to 80. And, the table came preassembled, so I didn't have to do anything. Easy for me and instant gratification for her - win, win. Granted, I'd love for her to have a nice wooden set, but that's just not in the budget right now since the one I saw that's gorgeous is $300 dollars. $20>$300 in this situation.
After we got her a table, we went to the home school store. This store is amazing. I love going in there. And she does, too. Even the people in there love her. It's just love all around and I am so thankful that homeschooling is so accepted in this area. Even the Christian academies have homeschooling options, the local gyms/dance centers/ice skating rinks offer classes for physical education, and there's a big homeschooling organization. It's great.
So we get in there, and Auds starts showing off, pointing to things and naming them, calling out letters and numbers and colors, pretty much being a ham. And the girl helping us loved her! She even asked what Auds was interested in and helped us pick out learning toys that would be perfect. The first toy we got has a stand and four blocks. The blocks have an part of a picture of an animal on each side. When you arrange them in the stand in the correct order, the corresponding animal sound is made. Well, Auds kind of broke it already - don't ask me how, but she knocked one of the sensors inside one of the blocks loose and you can hear it rattling around. But, she still loves it. She knows all of her animal noises, so she makes those herself and doesn't seem phased that the stand doesn't make them. And, it's really helping her processing and fine motor skills to put together the puzzle in the small opening on the stand.
Here she is checking it out.
The next item we got is a definite favorite of everyone in the house. It's an activity called "Hot Dots." Basically, it's a bunch of flash cards and you select the correct answer by touching a wand to the corresponding answer's dot.
It comes in everything from letters to numbers, shapes, phonics, colors, patterns, and even all the way up until upper elementary school tasks.
This is the wand that it comes with. There's a dog for the younger kids, and a more boring one for older kids. It's pretty cool. It tells whether the answer is right or wrong, lights up, praises, etc. Audrey LOVES it. We actually didn't get it set up until my husband got home since it required batteries that are too high for me to reach. So she placed it by the front door and kept saying "Daddy come home and make puppy work" all day long. Sure enough, it was the first thing my husband saw when he got home. And the little angel has figured it out already. After the initial joy of figuring out it finally worked and just carrying the wand around, she started selecting answers on the cards - and she picked the right answers! And she loved it! If the batteries die in the wand and you run out, the cards can be used as regular flash cards as well. And they sell extra dots that you just place over the old ones if they get worn down. Definitely a good buy.
Audrey also picked out a pack of stickers - no shock there - and a puzzle with all of the various ways to connect things: zippers, buttons, snaps, laces, buckles. It's a big bear and the pieces make up his outfit. We love puzzles in this house, and this one is no different. I just forgot to take a picture of it. Oops. But it's a Melissa and Doug, so it's not hard to find.
It was certainly a good day in our house! Even though little miss is still covered in hives and I have a nasty cough that makes my heartburn worse. She loves learning and loves her new activities, so I call that a good day.
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