Pretend Play Italian Menu: Lady and the Tramp (free)

I got such positive feed back on the

Hawaiian play menu

I created last week that I thought it would be fun to continue on with the theme and do something Italian!

When I think of Italian and Disney movies, I picture Lady And The Tramp.

Please enjoy this free printable play menu for your pretend play activities.

Get your own free copy of Lady's Italian Bistro 

here

.

If you like what you see here, be kind and follow along on 

Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat Activity

I picked up the Cat in the Hat book by Dr. Seuss from Kohl's. They have that thing going on where you can purchase the book or the stuffed character for only $5!!! I think it's a pretty good deal. Do you?

Since Dr. Seuss' birthday is coming up on March 2nd and I wanted to do a fun activity with my preschooler. Coincidentally we are starting on simple word combinations!! What perfect timing it was that we are focusing on "at" words!!! Here is worksheet I wiped up! I found a similar version on pinterest, but when I clicked on the pin it wasn't there.....:( I hate when that happens!

For a free Cat in the Hat Printable and don't forget to show some love by following my blog!!! Sharing is caring!!

Letter Recognition and Dollar Store Finds!

I don't know if you know this but... I am in love with the Dollar Tree and it's wonderful educational resources!!! I always feel like I am getting a steal! This week I was dying to show you a game I came across while I went foraging through a pin. At the very bottom I can across Frog Face-off!!! We are just happening to work on association between the upper and lowercase, so this was perfect!!!!

In addition to this wonderfully educational game, I found some workbooks!!!

Here is one we worked on today! Number recognition and matching!

In the bottom corner of her page she wanted to draw me a heart! We are working on shapes too!

I love the teacher corner at the Dollar Tree!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!! 

I hope you all have a great weekend and maybe I will post some pictures while on vacation!! We leave tomorrow for sunny Florida and Disney!!

My Little Learner and Elmo Dry Erase Book

Yes, my little learner, who is 3 1/2, informs me this every night! I can't hid the little pride I have about this. I am glad she finds joy in learning! After realizing that this is the age to start alphabet recognition, I ventured out to my bargain bookstore and picked up a pre-k workbook for Roo.

When we started, she honestly didn't know a single letter. Sure, she could recite the alphabet but that was memorization  We started the workbook in October and now she is nearly finished! Her recognition of the letters has progressed so much! She knows almost all the alphabet, with the exception of a few here and there she mixes up. My favorite part is when she can point out letters when we are out and about. "Mommy look, its an M!!"

Little Roo is a very active girl. Her teacher caregiver tells me how she doesn't know how to sit still. Even sitting in place she has to wiggle side to side. To me, this is perfectly normal but I already see how my little learner doesn't like a very instructed lecture. Our "homework" time consists of 20 minutes here and there. Her attention can only be focused for a little period of time, which is appropriate for her age! She doesn't have an attention disorder, she is just an active 3/4 year old girl. Although, she looks pretty concentrated in this picture!

For Christmas, she got lots of tools to help with her letters!! I was also able to buy out the Dollar Tree's line of education resources!! Have you checked them out? They've got some great stuff!!! Like these Sesame Street dry erase book!! Only a buck and she uses it over and over. Can you tell how excited I was when I found these? I think the old lady next to me in the store her my cheer under my breath "SCORE!!". She probably thought I was so ridiculous... lol.

 This is my half @$$ attempt at a learning center....

I figure I have some time to create my dream homeschool room like this...

photo credit? Let me know.

Until then, my yellow bins will have to do. On the bright side, I scored them at Dollar Tree as well! I love cheap organization! I would have tried to give photo credit where it's due, but every time I searched this like in Pinterest and error or blank page popped up? I really hate when that happens.... so if you know, please inform me so I can edit that in.

And...... This is how our study session playtime usually ends....

Little Monster wants to learn too!

Big decisions: homeschooling?

Sedona, AZ

It's been busy, that's for sure!! I guess that's what happens when both parents go back to school full time!!! I've had a two week break from classes and I start my next class in a week.

So what's new?.....

• The family took a vacation to Arizona in November! 
• Ry turned ONE last month!!
• The juicing diet has been successful so far.
• I've decided to make all efforts to arrange homeschooling for my little learners!

Montezuma's Castle, AZ

I don't have any school age children just yet, but I have noticed my child's pre-k learning abilities. I have both girls in an in-home daycare, that I have thought really long and hard about. I trust this daycare and the children are all so nice. 

There is just one thing that bothers me, her care givers comparison of my girls to the other kids. I understand that there might be some brilliant 4 year old, that can read chapter books already, but that is not my kid. I mean, are 4 year olds suppose to read? This really isn't that serious of a concern and trust me I have spent hours looking into the right care facility. The point is, it bothered me and then I realized, this is exactly what is going to happen in a public school system. The word system makes me cringe.

Fall fests are the best!

So I looked into my options and after a few unsettling documentaries (Waiting for Superman), I realized this was my calling and right as the mother of my children. I want to home school  I wanted to be a school teacher at one point but realized it was more about classroom and behavior management than the education. That's not how I want my children to experience learning.

I've been working really hard with my 3 1/2 year old on her ABC's, with a little pressure from other people's opinions. I need to learn not to let the pressure of others affect my decisions on how I want to educate. Despite that downfall, Roo has really caught on and enjoyed the education! The 20 minute sessions here are there have made all the difference and have kept our passion for it alive. I think it also helps that she watches her Daddy and I do homework each week and wants to feel involved. This is the best benefit of being in school while raising kids, maybe one of the only!

I've got the road map in my head and hopefully, within the next couple years this could be a real possibility! Until then... hard work, finish my husband and I's free college education (provided by my very generous employer) and make our free time with the kids filled with a passion for learning and education! 

Since the girls are not in a structured academic daycare, I will have to work on the preschool curriculum on my own for now! How fun!!

Here are some pictures of the past couple months....

Loving the fall

We started Roo in a gymnastics class that is perfect for her!!

Tinkerbell didn't like Captain's hook