Welcome to the first unit of Mommy School!
You can read all about the purpose of this program, along with my goals here.I started Mommy School this past week at home with AG. The key for me was to write what we were doing each day in my planner. That saved time and eliminated the “she’s about to wake up from her nap and I have no idea what I’m going to do with her today” moment. We did our lessons everyday after her nap. Happy and well rested (most days) was the key to an interested mini. It worked out for us. They ended up lasting 30-45 minutes, much longer than I anticipated.
Farm Animals
*This theme will last two weeks*
Tractor / Pig / Horse / Cow / Sheep / Hay / Rooster / Duck / Barn / Duck / Barn
MAKE SURE TO HEAD OVER TO EMILY’S BLOG FOR LANGUAGE ENRICHMENT IDEAS AND ACTIVITIES
Counting/ Colors/ Alphabet:
How many animals are on the farm? With your child point to each animal and count. Have your child touch the animals as you’re counting them. Same goes for colors and alphabet. Where is the yellow duck? Duck starts with D, here is the D. Point together if your child needs help.
Remember modeling is crucial.
I bought already painted wood animals from Hobby Lobby. I hot glued them to craft sticks. They were less than $5, took 5 minutes to make and kept the mini busy for more than 5 minutes. Success!
Sensory Play:
If you’re new to sensory bins and sensory play, read this fabulous article to see why it’s so important.
Sensory Bin: Fill a bin with hay (or raffia) and little farm figurings. Cow, horse, chickens, etc. When your child pulls out the animals, identify the animal and the sound the animal makes. I added a miniature tub with lima and red beans, the pigs hung out in there. I found a big container of plastic animals at Target for $10 over the holidays.
Animal Puzzles: great for developing fine motor skills. I already had this Melissa and Doug puzzle at home, which I used for this unit.
A to Z Teacher stuff has a fabulous free printable for this unit.
Pre-K Pages has tons of printables which include a mini word wall.
2 Teaching Mommies also has a printable pack all about the farm.
Here is how most of our lessons looked:
Books- 2 per day, (both were read at least twice.) I always read the book through first and read it again for further comprehension. On the second read, I ask questions and talk about what is on some of the pages. Where is the____, point to it. What does a ____ say? Simple questions that went with the book. If there were multiple animals on the page, we would count the animals, name them, etc.
Song- 2 per day. I have a nursery rhyme CD that we also listen to. AG always says more when I sing, so each song was probably sung at least 3 times.
Craft/ Activity: I’ve used the craft sticks with the animals the most out of all the activities. Some will last longer than others.
Sensory Bin Play: This is what lasted the longest with our lessons. This sensory bin was a BIG hit with the mini. She fussed every time I put it up and asked for more.
I kept the bin and puzzles out of her play areas. I only brought them out when it was time for our Mommy School time. I wanted them to be special, something she looked forward to and didn’t have at her fingertips all day.
Since this unit lasts two weeks, we still have another week of Farm at our house. Make sure to follow me on IG (Leah.Herring) to see these lessons in action throughout the week.
Leah, this is amazing! Thank you for including so much information, I started teaching A about animals last week as well, but didn't go as far as craft activities or songs. That is a great idea. This makes this teacher in me so happy!
I love this! I was just searching Pinterest this weekend for ideas. I like seeing someone doing stuff with a baby closer to Noah's age to give me some practical ideas!
This is great!! How old is your daughter? I'm not sure my son is old enough for the "themes" but I have been doing sensory bins and a few art projects, too! I love your ideas here!
This is so great Leah! Owen's days are always so much more fulfilling when we have a plan of action and to do lists that include activities for Owen. I'm definitely following along to see all your great ideas! Thank you!
So much fun!! LOVE all the activities, crafts, snacks and books seriously, such great information and also simple enough for the little's to truly enjoy. I think putting the things away until it's time for "mommy school" is also key. Hoping to make the sensory bin this week/weekend to add to our stash! Thanks for sharing all you knowledge and ideas Leah!
You are such a good mommy!! I cannot wait to really start "teaching" Brooke more! It's so fun. I taught 7th grade and higher (English) but I know it's gonna be great to explore with my daughter. What a fabulous idea and I love the book coordination! I will definitely re-visit this later on! Great job girl!
You are such a good mommy!! I cannot wait to really start "teaching" Brooke more! It's so fun. I taught 7th grade and higher (English) but I know it's gonna be great to explore with my daughter. What a fabulous idea and I love the book coordination! I will definitely re-visit this later on! Great job girl!
Leah, this is SO great!!! I can't wait to follow along and try these things with Arden! 🙂
Leah, this is so impressive. And you're also providing a great resource to other parents. I wish I'd done something like this with my kids when they were little!
How fun! I'm going to love following along with your lessons. 🙂
Have you considered adding sign language vocabulary to your units?