Project Nursery: Pompoms!

I saw this really cute DIY pompom with instructions on Pinterest, and thought it will be cute to add it to Soleil's 'nursery'.

Materials:
Crepe paper ( I used white and different shades of yellow)
Styro balls (Size depends on how big you like your pompoms to be)
Scissors
Glue
Ribbons and hooks

Procedure:
- Cut crepe paper circles, about 3 in. in diameter
- Fold circle into four pressing just the tip of the cone so it's still 'fluffy'
- Starting from the bottom, use glue to stick to styroball
- Stick cones around styoball until the other end BUT leave enough space for the hook and ribbon

For variety, i made a different one just by folding and rolling strips of crepe paper and sticking them to the styroball.

Project Nursery: Crib Beddings

Since it was really difficult to find the color palette I like for Soleil's beddings, i decided to just sew one for her. I learned how to sew way back when i was in high school but haven't done it for a long time so hubby (yep, he knows how to!) gave me a quick refresher. This was my first time to sew something like this but it wasn't that complicated.

Fitted Sheet
Comforter
Small Pillow Case
Bolster Case

Materials:
- Approximately 5 yards x 45 inches cotton cloth  (2 colors for accent)
      *Bought the cloth in Kamuning market for P60/yard
- Comforter fill
- Sewing machine
- Sewing supplies

Procedure:
1. Get the crib mattress dimensions. (Or just measure old crib beddings)
2. Cut cloth.
3. Sew away.
(helpful, huh? :D)

Finished product measurements:

Fitted sheet = 43 x 23 x 5 in
Comforter = 43 x 23 in. plus 1 in. piping
Bolster cases = 17 x 6 in. plus 2 in. end accents
Small pillow case = 12 x 8 in. plus 1 in. piping
    ** Just add 1-2 in. to these measurements as allowance before sewing.

Learning is FUN 3: Preschool Math - Equal/Not Equal

Gabriel is already very good with his rote counting so my sister-in-law,  Ate Mia, suggested i started him with something a little bit more complicated, Less Than/ Greater Than. I thought of starting him with something easier first, Equal/Not Equal.
I first made a matching type activity where he matches the number on the right to the correct figures on the left. I though that was way too easy for him. Since he enjoys putting check and X marks, i just came up with another activity where he can put those marks while learning to recognize the numbers in random order as well as identifying whether the figures are equal to the numbers.

He was more into coloring my 'drawings' :D but, again, he immediately got the concept. ♥♥♥

Learning is FUN 2: Phonics, the Pinoy way

After Gabriel's review of alphabet sounds and big&small letters, my sister-inlaw, who is becoming my mentor on these lessons, suggested I started him with the traditional a,e,i,o,u sounds. This was straight forward repeat-after-me technique. I just wrote the letters on a paper and stuck them to the wall for our visual aids. Everynight and every morning, i ask him to recite what's on the wall then add a few more depending on his mood and his attention span. By the time we were on the 6th letter, he already got the rhythm. Since he knew the letter sounds, he was able to recite the syllables without me reciting them first. He had difficulty recalling the letters S and G at first and looks at me for help but eventually he got them too. He still forgets the letter Y and says it like 'why', 'whey', 'wheey', 'woy', 'wuy' - makes me laugh everytime! but i just say 'ya' and he finishes the whole set.

Here's a video of him when we were just starting:)

After a few drills, i thought i'd test him by separating the syllables. I wrote each syllable on a paper, sort of like a flashcard, and tried asking him to tell me the sound. Some he gets, but most - he just takes a card from my hand and point it to the same syllable on his visual aids on the wall - then that's the time he recites it. I tried writing different syllables on his blackboard but he is still having difficulty without them being in the 'batch'. What we found easier was, to write the whole batch and erase one syllable at a time while he recites the remaining syllables.

I thought i'd make it more fun and infuse a little bit of outdoor physical activity so we tried - HOPSCOTCH! The idea was to write the syllables on the different boxes, then he has to recite them before stepping on that box. I was really excited, i thought he'd enjoy it and get it right away. He didn't :( He just went away and jumped on every box, even stepping on lines. haha. We tried it several times, he even looked for his own 'stone'. He was playing the game but was not reciting the syllables. But i wasn't bothered, at least he was having fun and exercising at the same time. :) He then went back to playing his favorite hullahoops. Oh well, maybe he'll get it next time. :)



♥♥♥

Learning is FUN 1: Review of big and small letters

Before I got pregnant with the second baby, Gabriel and I used to have lessons on usual preschool stuff - alphabets, phonics, counting. He was such a fast learner that he already knew his phonics before he was 3yo.

During the first trimester, i was really having difficulty with the pregnancy - all-day vomiting and nausea - that i wasn't able to focus on our lessons anymore. I thought it was ok then since he's already going to school and that those lessons will be reinforced.

One night, a few weeks ago, just before sleeping, I just started asking him the sounds of his alphabet. I was so surprised that he wasn't able to answer. He was just mumbling different sounds, he was guessing! I learned later on from the Parent Teacher Conference that their lessons are still on recognizing the letters of the alphabet. I was really disappointed. I had high expectations since this was a Progressive School and their approach was supposedly individualized - meaning - they should personalize lessons depending on the child's knowledge and ability. Apparently, it still all depends on the teacher.

Hence, i resumed our daily lessons.

We first started with phonics. It was really very challenging at first, well - it still is!Gab has very short attention span, he gets easily distracted that i easily got frustrated too. As always, i was expecting too much. I had to remind myself that it's normal, that he's normal - he is just 3yo afterall!

After learning to manage my expectations - we started again. This time, since i was using big and small letters for his A,E,I,O,U , i had to check if he still recognizes big and small letters. I found a technique online (forgot to save the URL) to make it more fun and interesting.

I just made 'pots' and 'carrots' from paper cutouts and labeled each pot with big letters and the carrot with small letters. The idea is for him to 'plant' the small letter carrots into the big letter pots. I give him a carrot and ask him to identify the letter, afterwhich, i ask him for the sound of the letter - then he goes to plant the carrot in the correct pot. He just plants a few carrots at a time, even if i really wanted to, i stop myself from forcing him to do all 26 letters! :D Learning should be fun, afterall! So it took us the weekend to complete this task. But it's ok, atleast i learned he still knows his big and small letters. :)