Teacher Dad

My husband stays pretty busy, not only doing various ministries as a missionary in England, but also doing loads around the house! Yes, I am one of those very blessed women whose husband does a lot of housework and some of the cooking. He pretty much leaves the homeschooling up to me because I have a teaching degree, so he feels I'm the one to oversee it. Every now and then, he kicks in to "principal" mode if he notices that I'm having to get on the kids to focus on their work. Sometimes he does P.E. with them, too. Generally, though, it's my job to teach.

Recently I had a ladies' day out with a few friends. We took a train down to London to attend the Country Living Christmas Craft Fair. The dads stayed home with the kids (yes, the dads have had several guys' days out too--hiking trips). Since this event was on a Thursday, Greg got to substitute teach for me! How fun! I wrote out detailed instructions to put in each workbox for him to follow. It was great because I received a few text messages from Greg during the day. On the first he told me what each of the kids was doing. He told how he had come up with a rhyme for Isaac to remember 6x4. "6x4 fell on the floor, picked it up and it was 24!" Later I received another text about how much Greg was enjoying teaching the kids, and he said, "I love being a Dad!" I'm glad he had that opportunity, and it was lovely for me to have a day off!

I had a great time in London and bought several Christmas ornaments and a few other items. I also bought a magnetic fishing set for the kids. They enjoy playing with it, but I'm trying to think of some creative activities and educational games I could use it for. Any ideas???

Tot School and Gabriela's Birthday

Here are some things Gabriela did last week:

This is called the Mosaic Sticking Game. I got it at a charity shop here in England. Of course, I did have to monitor her carefully as the pieces are really too small for a 2-year-old tot! She enjoyed playing with it, though.


Putting pompoms into a container. I saw this idea on several tot blogs, so I decided to try it. I didn't have enough patience to wait until I had an empty container with an easy-to-cut lid, so I struggled through cutting holes in a different container and then had to tape the edges really well to cover any sharp points. However, she LOVED it! Amazing... something so simple...

Gabriela just had her 2nd birthday early this week, so I wanted to show some of her presents we bought for her tot school!

The first one is called Hide 'n' Squeak Eggs (Tomy). It's for 12 months and up, but even my older 2 like to play with it. You open the eggs to reveal chicks, which squeak when you press their heads. You can match the eyes of the chicks with their shells, and you can sort the eggs by the shapes on the bottom of the egg box.




Next is the Button Board from ELC (Early Learning Center). These buttons are much larger than the ones shown way above on the mosaic sticking game. Children can make their own designs or match colors to pictures you place inside the tray. The buttons are like pegs, so you can put them into the holes.



Gabriela also got the Melissa and Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks. This is a very nice wood set! I should mention that each of the puzzles shown here also have a puzzle on the back, so there are several to do!



Gabriela's favorite gift was "Pop it in the Post" from ELC. You can match the letters with the envelopes and also with the stamps--by animal and by color. Then you can "pop them in the post!" There are 2 dice you can use to play a game. One has animals, and other has numbers ("price" of the stamps). She LOVES this toy!




We also bought Gabriela "My First Easel" from Crayola. This toy is a nice idea, but it's a horrible, worthless toy. Read reviews on it! I do NOT recommend this toy...DO NOT BUY IT! You will regret it. It ruins after just a few uses, and it's difficult to use, even though it's supposed to be for kids 18 months and up. I just hope we can get a refund, even though Greg already disposed of the box it came in (and it won't come back!). I am definitely going to start reading reviews on toys...this one isn't the first to disappoint!