Play School for One-Year-Old (13M) Jack
Week Six
Letter Ff
Letter-of-the-week box~ Letter Ff
Jack enjoyed exploring his letter-of-the-week box, especially the footballs and the frog puppet. I made the puppet croak and talk to him, much to his delight.
This week, we listened to French children's songs and forest sounds on YouTube. His favorite, by far, was the video below, which simply consists of a frog singing French songs in a Chipmunk-pitched voice.
On Thursday, we played this relaxing forest sounds video and listened to the gentle sounds of forest animals, rivers, and brooks. It really mellowed the atmosphere in our home.
Other language activities~
We read Forest Babies (Animal Babies) together a few times this week. Jack enjoyed "petting" and giving kisses to all the animal babies. We talked about each animal and the sounds they make, and when he was open to it, I read him the actual text.- lots of talking, listening, and signing (still working on "more" and "banana")
- ABC song and counting
- talking about pain (he was dealing with some terrible teething pain, so we talked a lot about pain, where it was coming from, and medicine to help relieve it)
Jack is still mastering the skill of walking. He certainly walks more than ever but still relies on crawling to get him places fast. He's also still climbing up and down stairs and has become quite adept at it. Rocking in his little red rocking chair is one of his favorite activities.
Exploring the world~
We went hiking along the Tuolumne River in Modesto, and though I mostly carried Jack in the wrap, he enjoyed looking up at the trees and pointing whenever a bird flew overhead. He held branches, acorns, oak leaves, and other nature treasures.
His favorite part was crawling and walking in the dirt and leaves. He mucked through it all, picking up tiny sticks and throwing acorns, until his pants and socks were full of crunched-up leaves. When we got home, he took the longest nap he's ever taken.
Now that the weather is cooling down, it's hard to get outdoors as often, but the payoff is worth it!
Take-Aways~
We went hiking along the Tuolumne River in Modesto, and though I mostly carried Jack in the wrap, he enjoyed looking up at the trees and pointing whenever a bird flew overhead. He held branches, acorns, oak leaves, and other nature treasures.
His favorite part was crawling and walking in the dirt and leaves. He mucked through it all, picking up tiny sticks and throwing acorns, until his pants and socks were full of crunched-up leaves. When we got home, he took the longest nap he's ever taken.
Now that the weather is cooling down, it's hard to get outdoors as often, but the payoff is worth it!
Take-Aways~
- We need more outdoor/nature time, even if the weather is terrible
- I really enjoyed playing nature sounds instead of only traditional music
- I would like to incorporate Jack into more of homeschooling activities, especially poetry teatime and P.E. class (as just an observer, of course.)
by Cliff Wright several times during the week, and Jack just adored it. It has a sing-songy quality to it for faster reading but can also be slowed down to browse and explore pictures and comparisons.
by E.B. White to Jack while nursing. When he was a newborn, I used to read while nursing but fell out of the habit and, unfortunately, started just watching TV while nursing him. I was missing out on some golden opportunities for undivided attention! While I read to him now during a nursing session, he murmurs and points his finger at the book and my lips as I read. I've even noticed more babbling since I started reading during nursing sessions. Sometimes he finds Charlotte's Web while he's crawling around and opens and flips through the pages, which absolutely warms my heart.
