A Happy Happy Christmas

We went into the Zoo!

Finally! After a year and a half, my husband took us to the Belgrade Zoo!  I’ve been wanting to go there since last year, but husband doesn’t want to because he doesn’t like the smell of the zoo.  Good thing that my friend Phoebe told us that the zoo is on it’s worst and smell pretty bad only in summer.  So with that I finally get to convince my husband to take us to the zoo and besides, he sees that his son is so much into animals... so for sure Mavi will love there.

Before hitting the zoo, we had our lunch first at McDonalds that day.  God blessed us with a wonderful weather that day! The cold was manageable and it wasn’t raining.  Entrance fee is 340RSD (about 170PHP) per adult and Mavi is free.

The Belgrade Zoo is located at the Kalemegdan Park and it covers around 7 hectares. They have an official website, but there’s not much information here and it is written in Serbian. 

Note too that the last time I went into the zoo was back when I was 6 years old.  Here’s what we found in the zoo so far..

Meetkats were a favorite of Mavi.  He was fascinated with them because they interact with him hehe.  See how they all assembled in front of him when he started touching the glass wall.. maybe hoping for Mavi to feed them LOL.

The pony on the lower right was his favorite!!! He wanted to touch them but they were smelly. Then there were also some elephants and giraffe. He was so happy to see the elephant, even gesturing how the elephant would sway it’s trunk.   I just wonder why he didn’t appreciate the giraffe... maybe he was too tired already. Pero in fairness I like the giraffe. Para syang isang binibi na ballerina, walking with so much grace, carry nya ang mahaba nyang leeg.!

Then we went to look for the white “albino” lions.  It was soooo beautiful but their size was intimidating. Para syang fairy god-lion.  We stayed there for a little while, resting on one of the benches.

Further walk into the zoo led us to the kangaroo and camels.  Okay, so this is my first time to see a camel.  Minanol mode.

 

Then just beside it are the birds: parrots, owls and more.  Mavi was scared of the parrots because they were making loud noises and freaked out when one of the parrots made a loud screeeching sound. Kahit nga ako nagulat.

We saw lots of deers and llamas too.. and some animals with horns as well, though I’m not quite sure if they are still classified as deers/ram because I have never seem them before.   It is said that most of the animals at the Belgrade Zoo are locals... so I bet they can just be found on the mountains of  Eastern Europe and Balkans.

Oh and I was pretty excited to see the monkeys but they weren’t in their cages! So instead, we played around on this statue, which of course Mavi recognizes as “monkey” because he kept on shouting “monkey! monkey!”.  Pero nung nilapit ko na sya, natakot sa mukha ng monkey hehee.

Before heading out to the exit, we passed by on the pools were we saw the hippo, sea lions and swans.  Mavi loved the hippo so much! Everytime the hippo would open their huge mouth, he would laugh and kept on shouting “hippo!”.  Then he would even imitate how the hippos opened their mouth hehe.  A strategy I used whenever I feed him.

Oh it was such a great day for our little family to visit the zoo and see the joy of your little one wonder and be amazed on the things that he sees. How I wish we also have this back home, where a zoo is accessible for everyone and that the fee is affordable.  That is one thing I love about this place because there are a lot of things that you can outdoors... perfect to raise a family. 

If I become a billionaire, I would overhaul Bacolod and would put lots and lots of parks and playgrounds.  If only I can buy the climate.. I would change our climate too... but since I am not God, we just have to live with the hot hot temperature lol.

While on break..

I keep him busy with a lot of our old activities, just reusing a bunch of our tot school materials.  Since DH and I are so busy these days, I haven’t got the time to plan my 2011 Tot School either.

So here’s what Mavi has been doing so far..

Painting.  I taught him how to paint an egg carton box using a paint brush.  I started by showing him how to do it, then I also told him that he can mix colors when he paints.  He insisted on doing it on his own but he ended up painting on the drawing paper, with up and down strokes.  He doesn’t want to paint the box even if I told him it’s a volcano hehe.  Maybe painting on a flat surface was easier for him so he can do his up and down strokes.

  

He also wanted to play with our “See and Spell”.  He still obsessed with his Alphabet Letters and is beginning to show interest on reading words.  It all started with his “First Word” book when we were practicing reading the word using the letter sounds and I would gesture that we read the word from left to right.  He loved it so much that even without my assistance he still wants to read the book.  The at times, we would practice reading using the “sight words” technique.  This one is really effective!  The words that he can read as of the moment are “cup”, “cat”, “dog” and “eat”.

Going back to the “See and Spell”, here he is matching the letters and would later on read the word by making the sounds of each letters.

 

Oh and I have to mention that he is really getting good with his scissor skills!! We haven’t tried using the metal scissors yet, but it will be included in the 2011 curriculum.  He would ask for his scissor whenever we play PlayDoh.

And speaking of PlayDoh,this toy does keep him busy for quite sometime.  He can spend 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Then I discovered that we can play color match with the PlayDoh’s lids and the cans.  Thanks to Mavi because when he finished playing with his doughs, he covered the cans with their respective lids! Amazing!

 

Well, there goes my update.  I have gazillions of idea for our next year’s tot school, but until I organized them and write them down... it will all be just “plans”.  As I always say, my tot school is child-led.  I just plan ahead so I can prepare my materials beforehand.

Ciao for now!

Letter Craft: Z is for Zoo!

A simple yet fun activity for the little one.

Draw or write a big letter Z in a white construction paper.  Using our Crayola Animal Stamp Marker, I made Mavi fill the letter with animal stamps.  He love doing the stamping!  He had so much fun, using all 6 stamps.  There were times that he uses both of his hands doing the stamping heehe.

Once done, I cut out the letter Z and instructed him to paste it on the violet construction paper.

After the activity, he proudly showed his work to his Dad. I am so happy that my son is appreciating paper/crafts.  He enjoys doing it, because he can write, draw, cut and paste!

Toddler Beginnings Week 26

My notes on Mavi's tot school moments this week
Date: November 15 – November 19, 2010

Mavi is 26 months old.

Finally, we made it to Week 26!  I can’t imagine that I’ve been homeschooling Mavi for a year! Yes! I started this totschool thingy last year... and fell in love with it.  My deepest gratitude to all those homeschooling Mommies whom I came across the internet for inspiration, ideas and resources.  Mavi has learned A LOT from our homeschool.

So here’s what we did during our last week of Tot school 2010 :-)

Tot School Break

I forgot to inform the readers that we are currently on a break.  Tot school will resume next year, though I still have no idea on when to start our 2012 Tot School since we will be having a family vacation early next year. 

Last week, we finished our Week 26 tot school and I still have to find time to write all about it so I can share it with you.  Although we are on a break, I still keep on giving Mavi some activities... mostly from our past activities and depending on what he wanted to do.  But mostly, we are out, attending parties, meeting friends, playdates and exploring Belgrade before the winter hits the city.

So while we are on break, feel free to browse our precious activities for some ideas for your kids.  I will try to post our Week 26 as soon as possible and if I have enough time, share some photos of our outdoor activities for the past few weeks.

Till here for now :-) 

Toddler Beginnings Week 25

My notes on Mavi's tot school moments this week
Date: October 25 – November 5, 2010

Mavi is 26 months old.

It took  us two weeks to complete our Week 25 of tot school for the following reasons:

1. We were on a short trip on a weekend.
2. Husband took a week off from work and he mostly spent his time bonding with Mavi.
3. Both of us were very busy because something came up which is really really important.

I didn’t observe our regular curriculum, and this week I was just spontaneous with the activities that was given to the little one. 

Toddler Beginnings Week 24

My notes on Mavi's tot school moments this week
Date: October 18 – October 22, 2010

Mavi is 25 months old.

I’ve been having difficulty with Mavi this week.  He seems so uninterested with anything and doesn’t want to do anything except watching his Dora and Leapfrog videos.  Much to my surprise he even doesn’t want to paint. This week was such a challenge.  It might be because he’s bored being stuck at home or the activities I’m offering was uninteresting.

Anyhoo, we still managed to have tot school in some way. 

Fear?

Mavi’s been so clingy and fearful these days.  I have no idea why, or what triggered him to be so paranoid! He doesn’t want to sleep in the room even during his afternoon naps.  He’s scared of the paintings inside the house, the paintings has been there since he was 10 months old!  Then, he’s so sensitive with sounds, like the sound of my cooking, the horns outdoor etc. And the worst part, he’s soooo scared of our lamp! 

What to do?

Is this just a phase??

As far as I can remember, he started these behavior when he was hearing some noise and sounds during the time when our nextdoor neighbor was having a renovation. 

I can truly understand if he becomes so fearful when there’s a change of environment... but wala naman!  We still live on the same place, the same house, the same street.  So it really bothers me why he becomes so clingy.  Sometimes I wonder if he has a ghost in the house!

Haay.

Letter Craft: Y is for Yellow

From:  No Time for Flashcards

This is just a very simple letter craft and much to my surprise, Mavi worked this craft all by himself (with my supervision).

Materials:  yellow, blue colored papers, marker, glue, scissor and a white paper.

1. In the white paper, I wrote a big letter Y and cut it out.

2.  I cut out different shapes from the yellow paper for Mavi to glue on the letter.

3.  Instruct your little ones to apply glue on the yellow shapes and stick it on the letter.  Mavi enjoyed this activity!  He did all the gluing by himself. I don’t interrupt because he is always concentrating.

 

4.  And after some time, he showed me the letter Y all covered with yellow shapes! I was so surprise! I didn’t even have to tell him which side of the yellow paper he has to glue on the letter.  I’m so happy that he’s already grasping the idea of our crafts and how it works :-)

5.  I glued the letter Y on the blue colored paper and posted it on our wall for him to see his work.

Toddler Beginnings Week 23

My notes on Mavi's tot school moments this week
Date: October 11 – October 15, 2010

Mavi is 25 months old.

Another delayed post.  I almost forgot about posting the rest of our tot school activities because DH and I have been very busy these past few days.  Thank goodness that I kept pictures and take down notes during our tot school, it helped me a lot to write down a recap of what we did during our Week 23 homeschool.

It’s also been raining for days now, and it’s pretty hard to take a decent photo indoor.  So the photos that you are about to see are either dark or those which I have used a flash.

But the good thing about this week as well was that, I introduced a lot of new activities for my little boy: some are a hit and some are not. 

Autumn is Love.. Memories of 2009

Dearest Mavi,

You were just about 25 months when we experience our first autumn in Belgrade.  It was sooo beautiful! I was always itching to bring you out so you and I could enjoy the lovely trees and cold weather. 

I collected some photos here taken last year, when you were just very small and cutie... experiencing the autumn leaves for the first time. 

This photos was taken the first time we take you out on a cold weather.  We were very keen because your Dad and I were scared that you might catch a flu once exposed to extreme cold, but much to our surprise you enjoyed the weather and didn’t even get sick even during winter. You were so scared at first, see how you wanted to cry?  You were clinging to Mama but we kept on encouraging you to walk and enjoy.

 

Later on, you started to gain confidence and started to roam around on your own. While I was busy capturing every single step that you take, Daddy was right with you the whole time.  You were just starting to walk on your own here, and with pounds of clothing you find it difficult to balance yourself, thus you kept on falling from time to time.

This was taken 2009 of November at Terazije.  Winter was fast approaching and we have to savor the last days of autumn.  This is one of favorite spot in Belgrade because you can run around in this place chasing the pigeons which you are truly fascinated with.  Plus of course, McDonalds was just right around the corner where Daddy and I would have our hot coffee.  At this time, I was already starting my homeschooling sessions with you and I was teaching you all about the colorful leaves as well.  You definitely love every moment with us outdoors because you get to explore everything!! You were such a joyful learner and a happy happy little cutie.

And lastly, these pictures were taken at a park near the Parliament building of Belgrade.  We just attended mass here and decided to stop by at the park so you play once again.  It was getting so cold already that we didn’t stay that long.  But as always, you had a wonderful time here, enjoying the playground, riding the swing and picking up the leaves.

How I wish you could remember all of these Mavi and grow up with happy memories of our life here in Belgrade.  Every single moment we had with you was happiness. I just realize that someday, you will not remember these moments anymore so let me be your eyes and ears... I wanted to capture all of these and freeze the time for you. 

We love you dear baby, more that you’ll ever know.

 

Love,

Mama

Letter Craft: X is for Xylophone!

From:  No Time for Flashcards

 

Another delayed post.

We made this craft during the time wherein we were imprisoned in the house due to days of rain and freezing cold climate.  There’s nothing much to do with the letter X  because there’s not much words or objects starting with the letter X.

Anyway since Xylophone is a favorite word of Mavi whenever I asked him for a thing that starts with letter X so I gave him this craft instead of an X-Ray.

Materials needed:

• black cardstock paper
• scissor
• glue
• crayons and colored pens
• colored papers or construction papers

 

Here’s how we did it":

1. Write a letter X on the orange paper and allow your kid to practice writing on it.
2. Allow him to play with the glue or paste and instruct him to apply an ample amount on the letter X.  Stick the letter on the background paper that you have.
3. While he was scribbling on the letter, I cut out a strip of green, blue, orange and red sticker sheet to the serve as the xylophone in the letter X.
4. At the same time, cut out some small squares from the black sheet to serve as bolts or locks.
5. I made him stick the strips on the letter as shown below.  Then I told him to put more glue on the stickers so we can glue the bolts.

When we were done, my son was so happy with our craft because he loves musical instruments such as the xylophone.  For a while he pretended to play with it, making us of our pens as the stick and gesturing that he’s playing on a xylophone. 

I hang this on our wall and he loves to see it everyday while saying “xylophone!”

 

Letter Craft: W is for Watermelon!

From: No Time for Flashcards 

Up until now, my son finds it difficult to pronounce the letter W.   He pronounce the letter as “dayayu”.  So I was very happy that we finally get to this letter so I can post the letter craft later on our wall so we can practice how to say its name over and over again. 

Here’s how we did our W letter craft.

   

1.  Materials needed: red, green and black colored paper, scissor and glue.

2.  Write the capital letter W on the green paper.  I handed my son colored pens and crayons for him to practice writing and scribbling on the letter.

3.  I cut the letter and made him apply glue all over it.  While he does this, cut a smaller version of the letter on the red colored paper and make sure that the smaller letter would fit right in the bigger one.

  

4.  Glue the red letter on the green letter. Cut out smaller pieces of squares on the black paper.  This smaller pieces will serve as the seeds.

5.  Once done, allow your little one to apply glue on the red paper and glue the seeds on it.

Toddler Beginnings Week 22

My notes on Mavi's tot school moments this week

Date: October 4 – October 8, 2010

Mavi is 25 months old.

This has been a productive week.  I was surprise at Mavi being so cooperative and in the mood to do most of our activities.  I also added new activities for him so he won’t get bored with the usual things that we do.

Alphabet Worksheets

 

Mavi enjoys these worksheets which I got from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  The printables comes with both the upper and lowercase.  The author of the blog also added instructions and ideas on what to do with the worksheets.  Currently, we use it as a playdough mat.  I print the upper and lowercase of letters W to Z on a plain paper and covered it with a tape.  It would have been nice if I have a laminator :P  Hopefully in the future!

Anyway, this was a hit... so I am thinking of making Mavi a number playdough mat as well.

DIY See and Spell

I was skimming Activity Mom’s blog and came across this wonderful idea of pre-spelling activity. 

It’s basically a homemade version of Melissa and Doug’s See and Spell.  The best part of having to recreate this toy is that you can customize it for your little ones, plus... you can make as many cards as you can!

The first thing I did was to list down 3 letter words (other suggest that it should be a cvc words) and googled some pictures of it from the net.  I printed it on a piece of colored paper and traced the word on each card using our Melissa and Doug’s Magnetic Letters.

 

At first try he wasn’t interested on matching the letters on the spelling mats because he was more interested on the picture.  Then one time, I saw him reading his first word book and is attempting to read.  So I gave him this activity again and taught to read the word written on the mats by making the sound of each letter.

He loved it instantly! To teach him to read the word from left to right, I make him identify each letter from left to right as well.  Then he would have to look for that letter and match it on the spelling mat. 

 

Just a short note, my son has a sense of humor.  He loves to test me most of the time and as you can see he placed the letter C in cry in the letter R.  He knows that it’s incorrect but he just wanted me to say “no” so he can correct it.  He loves being corrected and doing the right thing afterwards.  He developed that behavior when we started playing his Alphabet Bingo game.  I guess, he finds it pretty boring to be correct all the time!

So I suggest you try this activity... but as always, you don’t need to push your kids. Expose them slowly.  If they don’t like it, then keep it for the meantime and try again later.

Color Your Homeschool with Pasta!

Rainbow pasta is a favorite of mine as of the moment.  I love love looking at them, and of course use them for homeschool.

It’s so easy to make! Gather various shapes of pasta like bowtie, penne, Rotelle, macaroni, shells etc.  In a measure the right of pasta you wanted to use then put it in the zipper bag.  Add around 1 tablespoon of alcohol and drop 5-10 drops of food color into the bag.  Close the zipper bag, mix or shake the bag until all the pasta are covered with color.  You can leave the pasta inside the bag for around 5 to 10 minutes.  To dry, cover a try or a cookie sheet with kitchen towel.  Carefully pour out the colored pasta, spread it out in single layer for faster drying.

Here’s how my son and I use our pasta:

1.  Stringing and beadings.  This is only good for penne pasta.

  

2.  Used as counters for our counting activities.  In here I used an egg carton box as the tray.  The purpose here is to represent the amount of pasta based on the numbers written at the bottom of each box.

3.  Playdough Tower

4.  Color sorting activity.  Here I used again an egg carton box, paint it, let it dry and vuela!  If you used different shapes of pasta, you can also do a shape sorting activity as well!

Why not try it, right?? It’s a lot more cheaper that buying colored wooden blocks or pattern kits :-)