The month of December we were going to take a short break from learning time, however- both kids are still begging to do it each day!  So I decided to use this month as a trial for including Max in our structured learning time.  Up to this point he has just been too destructive and too much of a distraction for Lexie.

Two Year Old Development

However, about 10-12 days ago, Max woke up a different child!  (Mister is 27 months old) He is suddenly (a bit more) obedient, more independent, talking in complete sentences, eating so neatly, dressing himself, and his melt downs have become non-existent. (YAY!)  During the time that Lexie is working on her school work, Max has been coloring, identifying letters, and sorting by color (his favorite) with us at the counter.  He loves being included, and this fits well with our ultimate goal of everyone learning together.

This is my FAVORITE stage!  He has started showing interest in a bit more structured learning (Lexie always showed interest so we have done it since she was tiny).  Of course everything is through play and we/they play all day because that is the most important way for them to learn.

One thing I will mention is that, as much as I wanted to, I have tried not to push him to do learning time with us; he just wasn’t ready.  And although it was hard for a few months during his really terrible two’s, OMG he has come out of that developmental leap ready to participate a bit!

Between Mister participating in learning time, and Ila stretching her wake time and feeding schedule, we have an ever evolving daily routine.  So for a quick run down, our new routine looks something like this:

• 7am- daddy gets them up, eat breakfast, while mommy feeds Ila
• 7:55/8am – Ila goes down for nap, mommy cleans kitchen from breakfast, does a few chores, everyone ready for the day, kids outside if weather permits
• 8:45am- Sonlight readings for the day, Bible verse of the week, and discussion of any books we read.  Sometimes we watch a video about what we have read (for instance this week we watched a few youtube videos on octopi, coral reefs, and sunken ships on the ipad.  this is a treat, not a regular thing)
• 9:30/9:45- learning time- this includes Lexie’s All About reading, practicing sight word ring, shapes ring, HWOT work, any copy work, and math practice.  We don’t do all these things every day.  Some days we just doodle, color, and talk!
• 10:30- Max and Lexie to independent play/mommy feeds Ila
• 11:30- Ila down, big two eat lunch, outside if weather permits
• 12:15 Max down for nap
• 12:30 Lexie down for nap
• 1:30/2 Ila up to eat
• 2:30/3pm Ila down for nap
• 3:00-3:300 L and M up from nap, outside again if weather permits, if not we play and read
• somewhere in here I prep dinner if I haven’t already
• 4:30/5- Ila up and eats
• 5:30/6- eat dinner; Ila back down for last nap of day (we are working on stretching to a 4 hour schedule, when we get there she will drop this nap and do a bit earlier bedtime.  Until then she usually needs to be held during this cat nap.  We don’t have the swing up or I would use it instead)
• 6:40- L and M to bed
• 7pm- Ila’s last feeding of the day, in bed by 7:40

And that is it for now.  Hopefully in the next 4-6 weeks Ila will have her 3.5hr feedings stretched to every 4 hours.  AAAAAH the 4 hour feeding schedule- YAY.  That is when things really get easier.  But for now, this is working out well for everyone.  I have a little bit of time right now while all the kids are down for nap that I can rest, blog, or sew.  =)

But, back to learning time- sometimes after we do our Sonlight readings for the day, we just sit at the table and talk while we all doodle and color.  During this time Lexie spells words, practices writing and drawing, Max identifies letters, shapes, and numbers that I write on his paper.  We also count, Max may go get a puzzle to work on, etc.  So we are learning but it is much less formal and just as important as the formal stuff we do.  This is a precious time, and I am so fired up about teaching them!

I am so excited about this time together!  It is so much fun watching Max grow and develop from a baby into a big boy toddler; and Lexie is just becoming a sweet, precious little lady, while Ila is becoming more alert every day.  We have so much fun.

**One more thing I want to add- I never thought Max’s terrible two’s would end.  It was truly hard, stressful, and I was learning to breathe my way through the day.  But IT DOES END.  And on the other side there is a happy, independent, clumsy, and sweet phase- that’s where we are.  Lexie never had terrible two’s (or at least they weren’t very hard if she did) so it was all new to me.  If you’re a new mama in the throws of tantrums and all that is the two’s, just continue to be consistent and steadfast because it does end; and when it does, all the time, effort, and discipline you have put in during the hard time pays off!

And it is so much fun!  So let the tot-time blog posts begin.