So let me introduce myself. I'm Nilda, and I'm currently a third grade reading teacher in Jacksonville. I'm married to J, a computer engineer, and am a momma to S., an adorable 21 (almost 22!) month old. I thrive on structure, hence the whole teacher thing, so I knew that this summer I wanted to have fun with S but still have a structure that I could count on.
One of my favorite bloggers, Kaitlyn came back about a year ago, with her new blog and site, called Simply Learning. Here she detailed her plan to provide a tot school for her daughters. It intrigued me so I spent the last few months planning it all out.
The gist (ugh, I hate that word) of tot school is to provide thematic and developmentally appropriate activities for your toddler. We signed up S to go to PK2 in the fall. But I wanted to get a head start on some things, continue building on what S already knows and explore topics that he seems drawn towards.
Keeping those three ideas in mind, I chose the following themes for our tot school summer:
Week 3: Body Parts
Week 4: Farm
Week 5: Ocean
Week 6: Transportation
I'm only doing 6 themes, because I have a shorter summer this year, plus J and I are going to be taking our first non-baby trip together in July. (WOOT!) Weeks 1-4 have a link to my individual Pinterest boards for each theme. On the boards you'll find which activities I will be doing.
To plan out my weeks, I used this awesome free printable from Life with My Littles. It has space to plan out two activities daily as well as a snack. I'm a bit of a major planner nerd and I had these inserts from the1407planners, so I am able to keep track of each theme in my personal planner.
Using Pinterest and Simply Learning's list, I discovered all kinds of materials to use for Tot School. I kept my eyes out for supplies everywhere I went (Dollar Tree has some GREAT stuff and I've been able to find quite a few things, including Do A Dot markers at Home Goods!) I also brought home supplies from my classroom (all bought with my own money years ago!) I bought this Sterilite three drawer to keep my materials organized.
Each night, I plan on pulling the materials I will need and put them in these three bins. The teal bin will be S's sensory bin, the yellow bin will house any thematic books and materials, and the blue bin will be a catch all.
I'm planning on doing a weekly recap to share what we did and also just for memory's sake. I'm hoping it will keep S entertained and help our summer be fun! Don't worry, there's going to be plenty of unstructured play, pool time, play dates and Gymboree in there too! Keep an eye for my next post where I'll share our schedule.
I hope you follow me along this fun journey!
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