First Day of School

Today was our first day of home preschool for the munchkin!  It was so much fun, too.

For now, I'm kinda just going with the flow and "testing the waters" with munchkin.
The method for now is to just pull out my book What Your Preschooler Needs to Know, and the accompanying activity book and just thumb through some parts and let Naomi pick what she wants to learn.

She chose "I'm a Little Teapot," and George Washington. And then decided she wanted to make an American Flag like Betsy Ross.

So that's exactly what we did.
I taught her how to sing and dance to "I'm a Little Teapot."  Lots of fun!

Then we cuddled and read the story about George Washington and The Cherry Tree. The next story was about Betsy Ross, with a picture of her sewing the first American Flag, and Naomi wanted to make one, too.  So we grabbed some construction paper and went to town.

In the process we learned...
counting (1-13) for the stars and stripes
patterns-- alternating red and white stripes for the flag
shapes-- stars, rectangles, square, circle (you can prolly tell our circle of stars broke down in the pic below... we're working on it)
colors-- she had to pick out what colors the flag were from our big pile of construction paper
how to use scissors and glue (this is a work in progress!)

And them we learned the first part of the "Pledge of Allegiance"
"I pledge my allegiance to the flag of the United States of America..."
I figured the whole thing is pretty long and we'll keep working on it. :-) She isn't even 3 yet, so I think we're ok.

And we did all this in less than 1 hour!  Munchkin had so much fun; I did, too!  I call this a big success for DAY 1. And a lifetime of learning up ahead...

Playroom, part 2

Thanks to my aunt and her incredible eye for design and sending me some "inspiration sketches,"  I love the way the playroom is organized now!  (Though to be honest, I'm thinking I want to remove those closet doors to open it up more, which could mean another re-arranging is in order.)

 Here's Munchkin and Papoose's Playroom!
(photos taken with Brad's phone on "panoramic mode.")

taken from the doorway

taken from standing by the closet

I love that not everything is facing toward the center of the room anymore!  When everything was pushed up against the walls, it felt like all the energy of the room just pointed to the center and then started a tornado of mess in the middle of the room.

This new arrangement breaks the room up into smaller, more manageable areas.  And my goodness does it make a difference in simply how munchkin plays in this room!  Sure, toys still get dumped on the floor-- that's a given with a toddler that LOVES to dump-and-fill.  But now it's not all mixed in the middle so I have to sort and pick-up with her every night.  It feels organized, and Munchkin knows where the toys go, it's not a guessing game anymore.  And the energy in the room "flows" from space to space, instead of just pointing inward and having nowhere to flow to and thus creating the mess tornado in the center.

And it meets my goals!

• socially gendered toys are integrated together;' there's not a "boy space" or "girl space." it's all children's learning and playing space.
• it looks and feels organized, and it's clear where things go.
• it's safe for Papoose-- her toys aren't by heat vents or mixed with small choking hazards
• feels like a creative space where my kids want to play, build, create, and learn

The Playroom

Ok, so i was going to make a post to give you a full tour of the house, but I'm too OCD to manage getting EVERY room in the house looking nice enough to take pictures of the whole thing at once and make just one blog.  so, here's the first room you get to see... i may make this a series for each room when i get to it!

The Playroom.
I think this room may be the most important room in the house.
You may be thinking, "Seriously?  The kids' playroom... most important?"
Yes.  It's where my children spend most of their time. It's where they play.  And by play, I really mean LEARN (since play is really a child learning and enjoying it-- which is how learning should be.  I'll step off that soapbox now before I get too far off subject).

And now maybe you're thinking, "just post the pictures already!" If you haven't just scrolled to them already... you can cheat, and I won't judge.  But I'd love if you left some feedback! :-)


Goals (not in any specific order)

• organize so there are logical places for each type of play (role playing/dress up, games/puzzles, creating crafts, making music, etc) 
• foster healthy social identity by consciously integrating socially gendered types of toys (ie: not segregating the baby doll and toy kitchen from the blocks/legos and cars) (i could make a super long explanation for this, but i'll spare you the soapbox rant)
• safe areas for baby ruthe to play (ie: not by a heating vent, avoid small toys she can put in her mouth)
• maintain an atmosphere that encourages creativity.

I re-arrange this room ALL the time.  Like multiple time per week day.  This room never feels right.  Maybe I'm trying to do too much in one room, or the room is too small to do everything i want in it.  Or he kids have too much stuff. Or I need to learn how to arrange things not up against walls. I'm terribly boring like that. We do have space in other areas of the house that I could take something (their bedroom, basement, etc)... just not sure how those spaces will function yet. So I keep banging my head on this room.

*there's a long heat vent along the floor/wall
beneath the window
*small book shelf has puzzles and games,
larger toys on top

Current Set-Up ( #37, but who's keeping track anymore?) 

Pros

• everything is in here... (is this really a "pro"?)
• doesn't significantly change the room, so someday when we have more kids, it can easily be converted back into a bedroom
• there are clear places for each activity (goal 1)
• socially gendered toys are interspersed (goal 2)

*everything pushed up against the wall = boring
*heat vent on floor by play kitchen
 *baby toys on bottom shelf of toy bucket organizer
*smaller toys on top levels
*i have letters for "Ruthe" to put up on wall, just haven't yet

Cons

• it always looks cluttered or messy. 
• her desk is facing a wall in the corner-- creativity doesn't flow from looking at a blank wall (goal 4)
• stuffed animals are in the closet, which is closed off (really, what's the point of a closed off closet in a playroom? oh yeah, future bedroom space... bah)
• boring (goal 4)
• baby ruthe's toys are spread around the room -> more chances she'll find small naomi toys, or a heating vent (goal 3)
• i really don't like the window treatments, but that's a "luxury repair" that won't happen for awhile, or until i sew some myself :-)

*the closet over there is full of stuffed animals
*should I just take the closet doors off?
*to paint or not to paint the walls?

So, friends and decorators... any advice on how to organize this space?  Meanwhile, I'll  continue to re-arrange the room.  :-)