Lesson 8: Week 1

Operation Totschool is back. As you all know, we took a break from homeschooling because we took a holiday trip last month, and right after we got back I was busy with the preparations of husband on another technical trip in France. When our Daddy was away, I resumed Mavi's homeschooling activity.

My notes on Mavi's homeschooling for Lesson 8, Week 1.

Date: January 11 - January 18, 2010

Curriculum Source: Letter of the Week 

Planned Activities

Riding/Pushing the car

Last month, we bought Mavi his first toy car.  We seldom buy him toys, because we wanted to train him not to be too dependent on toys.  We only buy him once a month or every two months.    The car has a clock on the front, with a controllable steering wheel and a back support.  There's also a compartment at the car seat. At first, he loves the compartment, he would put anything into it.  Now, he just brushes off the idea of that little storage area and would just push the car around the house.

Maverick really really love his car.  Every morning he looks for it, he keeps on saying "car car car".  But the thing is, he doesn't ride on it yet, and doesn't know how to manipulate the steering wheel as well.  What he loved about his car is that he can play with clock , turning the clock's hands and he loves to turn the car upside down so he can play with the wheels.

I will try to expose him still on this car, till he will learn how to ride on it on his own.  We don't allow him actually to ride on his own since he doesn't know how to balance every time he would spread his legs attempting to ride on the car or when he gets off from it. So during play time, we would just sit him on the car and we will just it for him.

Stack and Build

This week's milestone is his learning how to use his lego bricks and some stackable toys.  We bought these toys a long long time ago, but he would just throw them around so I kept it first since he doesn't know how to use them yet.  Then one time, I just allowed him to dig on his old play basket.. and he saw his bricks again. I was surprise that he became interested with the bricks so I showed how to clip the bricks forming a small tower.  He was giddy about it and tried doing it by himself. At first he find it difficult to clip the bricks but he tried to add more force and vuela, an object formed!

When he learned to do that, he started to form more objects.    He would assemble the bricks together, sometimes he would clip them all or when he's lazy, he would just pile them up.

I'm beginning to think that in a few months, we will be adding a few more lego bricks because he would really spend ample time playing with them.  Good for him, and good for me because if he plays.. he doesn't want to be disturbed.  So if he's playing with his bricks, I can work in the background.  Good right?

Our landlady give these stackable toys to Mavi.  I exactly don't know what's the use of it but Mavi found a way how to stack them together.  I also discovered that Maverick can now identify shapes because he would sort these triangular objects from those lego bricks. He would select these shapes first out of this bricks from the toy container.. and he would pile them up.

ABC's and 123's:  Digital Alphabet Flash Cards

Since we don't have an english flash cards available here in Belgrade, I downloaded a few flash cards on the internet.  I was able to find one alphabet flash cards with bold small and capital letters followed by a picture starting with that letter.  Mavi loves it!! I think the plus factor here is that he loves it that it is flash from the laptop.  So every morning and in the afternoon, I would play this powerpoint presentation while I sit him on my lap.  I would read out the letters and he would follow.  Currently, he can speak the letters A, B, C, D, E.. but he just loves speaking the letter B most of the time. I don't know if he understands it yet.. the idea of letters but you see, everytime he sees a letter... he would say "B!"

Free Play 

Our free play moment is when I allow him to roam around the house, explore everything by himself and just be random with his activities.  So for me, this is the most tiring moment because I tend to follow him around.

One thing that he loves to do when he's on free play is to crawl underneath his playpen.  At first he just wanted to reach something underneath, but he discovered that it's a lot more fun when he's down there. 

So aside from opening the cabinets, playing with the house keys, doing some acrobats, playing with his food, rolling on the floor is something that he also enjoys doing.

Literature

These rhyming books are my favorite books because they contain fun rhymes with artistically drawn images.  I would read the Nursery Rhymes each morning, and the Bedtime Rhymes when he naps on midday and before he sleeps at night.

But Mavi loves the Bedtime Rhymes more, maybe because I read it to him more frequently than the other one and I would read it in a soft hypnotizing tone so he can sleep.  I guess that's how he wanted me to read it to him.  Then another thing is that, there's a picture of a  cat in most of the rhymes.  So every time he sees the cat, he would say "kaaa kaaat" pointing to the cat.   He loves animals, everytime he sees an animal in an object or in video.. it would became his favorite

Video of the Week:  Barney and the Land of Make Believe

Maverick and I would watch this during breakfast or in the afternoon after he naps or if I have to do something else.  The video shows some dolphins, magical places, a lot singing, birds, a carriage (he calls it "car") and a giant which he was terrified at first.  Now he would follow the sounds the characters would create and sometimes would laugh on Barney.

Children's Songs for this  Week :  If you're Happy and You Know It
I keep countless albums for this one, so I schedule MY favorite songs for our weekly homeschooling.  This week, I taught Mavi this song and how the action goes.  He loves the song, he would follow the clapping.. but find it hard to stomp his feet, so he ended up jumping and when I say "Hooray" he would say "Yayey".   


It's funny because I would sing it when I give him a bath, change his nappy and while washing the dishes.  Once he heard me singing, he recognizes the song instantly and he would clap his hands immediately while smiling hehehe.

Picture of the Week