California State Parks Checklist

After this last year plus of quarantine, I’m itching to get out more. But, not too far out for now. So, as I plan for next year, I was thinking we could start a couple longterm goals. 1. Get to all the national parks in the U.S. and its territories.2. Get to all the California…

Tot School: Fall Theme

It’s been over two years since I did this theme.  I got pregnant that year and a lot of my tot school posts went to the wayside. So, I figured at least I could post the pictures I have. Fall Bath — I had my husband cut out leaves.  I remember trying myself, and if…

Butterfly Study

My wonderful sister-in-law set us up with a sweet deal for a caterpillar so we could watch the transformation to a butterfly (note: this was almost a  year ago!! We’re coming up on time to get a new one and do this all over again!). We got our caterpillar in its little cup.  And almost…

Camping

There was a camping trip planned with our church, and I was five months pregnant and sick…every day!!!  So, I decided to not go camping with my daughter and husband.  And, although it was almost as much work planning and packing, it was definitely nice to have a little break while they were gone.  The…

California History Field Trip: Native Americans and Exploring

My  sister-in-law is homeschooling her 4th and 2nd grader.  She is not a fan of California history (crazy!), so I offered to try and put together some field trips for the kids.  We live in the general LA/San Gabriel Valley area, so you won’t be finding us taking any Sacramento trips. I love my niece…

Tot School: Family Unit

This was a simple unit that I spread out over the month, but probably would have taken a week or so if I’d done an activity each day. Goals: Start to know she has a past Know her middle names and where they came from Know that aunts are girls and uncles are boys Know…

Tot School: Cave Theme

I’m not sure exactly when my daughter became interested in “caves”, but it happened.  All she wants to do after her bath, was for her dad (or me) to join her in the towel cave.  In the morning, it’s the sheet cave. “Come on, dad.  Come on, mom.  Get in the sheet cave!” I’m trying…

Tot School: Intro to Shapes

Some find the idea of planning activities for two year olds crazy.   But as a former teacher, I can rarely go a day without planning in my head.  It used to be U.S. History that I saw everywhere (Pool noodles on sale? Those would make great bayonets for a Civil War battle! Controversial Dixie…

Tot School

“Tot school” is a term someone coined for doing activities with a toddler. I’d never heard it before having a toddler, but it’s real.  My favorite site — and inspiration for a lot of what I do — is 1+1+1=1.  They have a fantastic amount of information about this kind of thing. Many parents will…