We have started to work on some 'school' with Tatum. I found a FANTASTIC resource, MRSPLEMONSKINDERGARTEN, this woman is terrific. She is a kindergarten teacher, turned SAHM, and has taken her knowledge base and come up with some really awesome ideas and projects.
She has broken her curriculum down into some pretty simple groupings: Baby Bins, Tot School, and preschool. The baby bins were created with the 1-2 year old in mind. Tot school is for the 2 and 3 year old and preschool is for 3 and up. I have found that themes and ideas reoccur in every age group, so the kidlets exposed to the idea multiple times in ways their little minds can understand.
We are going to stick pretty close to her schedule, but since we started two weeks late, we are taking out two of the color themes: gray and pink. I also have decided to go with her exact curriculum, with the few exceptions for activities that may need to be adjusted slightly for Tatum's ability level. She offers a great price, only $50, for her entire set of "Baby Bins" materials: printables, templates, how to's, lists of material needed, list of books, etc.
Here is a list of basic materials I needed to really get this project off its feet and running:
- Baby Bins curriculum from mrsplemonskindergarten
- Clear bin/tote for sensory bin use
- 5 binders: Shapes, Colors, Animals, Seasonal, as well as one for Weekly use
- dividers
- 20 packages of page protectors
- laminator and 100 laminating pouches
I also went ahead and bought the following materials, just so that we could be in sync with the material. These items, while not necessary, I thought would be useful enough to buy:
- megablocks
- magnatiles
- mr.potato head
- a few varying sets of "Little People" toys
- a "little Blue Truck"
- toy cars in various colors
- toy bugs in various forms and colors
- various plastic animals
This list is just items that I saw that were used across multiple themes. Each specific theme will have a few more items that I will need to purchase as we get closer to that particular theme ie- plastic pumpkins, spider rings, and other seasonal items that come up.
Of course, there are crafts galore, so raid your craft supplies and make sure you have plenty of the following:- construction paper
- contact paper
- paint
- paint brushes
- sponges
- glitter
- pompoms
- pipe cleaners
- craft foam
- popsicle sticks
We will post all about our first weeks with Baby Bins soon!
