OK so, I am way behind in blogging this week but I know some of you check in to see what is on our trays. I have also added some trays from our Mommy and Me Preschool Class this week because there were some really good trays this week. We did more but you'll have to check back on Sunday for our weekly recap post.
 
Little Man turned three last Sunday. We celebrated with a visit from Nana. The family went to the zoo on Saturday. We had cake and opened presents on Sunday which was his birthday. On Thursday we celebrated in our Mommy and Me Preschool class and we will have his party this Sunday. Little Man has thouroghly enjoyed being the receiver of all this attention.  On Saturday night I filled his room with balloons while he was sleeping and we hung streamers in his doorway. He was so surprised when he woke up. He LOVED it!  Here are some photos of what we've been up to this week.
 
     My Little Man is turning 3 on Sunday. This makes for some changes around here.  The first is the addition of Calendar time to our daily routine. The Princess has been doing calendar time at school for the last year and a half; now Little Man has shown an interest in days of the week, dates and time in general (I think thanks to the advent calendar followed by the count down to his birthday). I decided to start incorporating calendar time in at the beginning of our tot school sessions this week. This is definitely a work in progress and I hastily put together a "calendar time center" for us to use. I took a tri-fold display board I had used for another project and covered it with felt. I then made all the labels and pieces you see in the photo and laminated them (and attached velcro). I also included a weather chart from Confessions of a Homeschooler and a temperature chart I found through google images. (we've yet to use this.)
    On another note, I also used a printable from 1+1+1=1 to make the story retelling pieces for Jan Brett's, The Hat . I have really fallen in love with our homemade felt board. I read a tip about printing on milk filters (used in dairies) so my hubby bought me a box of 100 for Christmas. I just trim them down to paper size and they go right through our printer and I have instant color graphics the kids can manipulate. 
     In addition to our tot school this week I've been busy making party favors for Little Man's birthday party which we are having next weekend. I am making "snowball in a can kits" and homemade "snowman wikki stix kits". I'll have another post on that when they are completely finished.
     Finally, we are in transition mode as I am trying to phase out the term "tot school" and start using "Preschool". (another change around here). We are already in a preschool co-op and a Mommy and Me Preschool class at our local adult school. Since the Princess is now with us two days a week and Little Man is turning three I figured we would change the name. His skills have also improved and we are ready to really focus on letter sounds, counting and learning to write our letters so it all just seems to suggest  a preschool overtone.  I will continue to utilize trays rather than boxes/ bins because that is what works for us.
     Before you take a look at the slide show with all our activities this week I just want to get this off my chest. My blogging pet peeve is when generous kind hearted people make their printables available to everyone but do not put their web site on them.  It makes me crazy when I have to go back and try to find it again to include a link. Soo time consuming and some things I save for months. SOOOOO this week there are a couple that do not have links and I have included downloads to those in the resources section. If they happen to be yours drop me a note and I will add a link for them.
     Be sure to check out 1+1+1=1, preschool corner and the TGIF Linky Party to see what others are doing this week. I've added a Follow me on twitter button if you'd like to follow our journey.

 
Well it was hard to complete winter/ snow activities when it was 80 degrees outside. We tried to take advantage of the warm winter weather and spent a lot of the week out side playing. Little Man is having a really rough time getting back into the swing of the tot school routine. I find he is easily distracted and wants to stop to 'play' often like when we first started doing tot school several months ago. Three weeks of no real routine has put us back at the beginning. We also have the Princess home with us now for two of our three tot school days so that has changed things a bit as well because my attention sometimes is divided between two activities/ kids.  Little Man turns three this Sunday and I was planning to take a more preschool like route with him but I will have to build up his stamina and attention span again first. I think once we focus more on preschool activites vs. so much sensory play it will be easier to mesh the two kids activities together.
The Little Princess has started reading so we are working on the "You can Read" printables from 1+1+1=1 and we are reading the Bob books as well as some beginning readers from Scholastic books.  I am amazed at how fast she is picking up words. Little Man has mastered shapes, and colors, he has a strong sense of counting now (1-12) and can recognized almost all the upper case letters. I am going to start working on him with the lower case (he knows many) and on letter sounds. Here is what we did last week.
 
We are easing backs into our routine this week. We have a new adjustment to make because I reduced the Princess to a three day school week and so she is home with us now on Monday and Friday so I have to have activities for her and the Little Man. So here is what we are working on this week. I can't wait to see what is in your workboxes or on your trays. Check out the new Linky at H is for Homeschooling (all about trays) and Be sure to link up at Workbox Wednesday!