The 12 Days of Easter

As many of you know, last week we posted our Easter unit, complete with bunnies, baskets, and eggs. :)  As we planned our Easter unit we both agreed that we didn’t want our kiddos to focus solely on the fun and fluffy. 

We want them to know what Easter is about, and why we celebrate it.  That is why we decided to dedicate 12 days to Easter lessons.

Click to grab all 12 lessons & activities!

This means that for the next 12 days 2 Teaching Mommies won’t be following our regularly scheduled format.  Each day we will be posting ideas on how to teach your children the meaning of Easter, using Resurrection Eggs to guide us in our lessons.  If you aren’t familiar with these, they are essentially Easter Eggs and in each of them is a piece that represents some facet of the Easter story. 
Since we want you parents to be able to teach these lessons with your kiddos too, we’ll begin posting them tomorrow on the site.  We also want to teach these day by day with our tots, so we won’t start teaching them until April 12th, which is 12 days before Easter.  Because of this, we won’t be posting pictures of our lessons when they go up.  Our kiddos will be doing them the same day yours will be!

Madonna and I both feel its important to really represent to our kiddos the truth of what happened in the Easter story.  We won’t be graphic or gory, but we will be talking about the details.  This means that we will talk about the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross, about His death, and His resurrection.  You’ll need to use your discretion, but know that we are striving to speak the truth in love to our little ones hearts. 
We hope you enjoy this Easter season! 

The Month Ahead

Here is what you can look forward to in the month ahead.  Be sure and check your library for books on these topics and your eyes open for tools you might use to supplement these units. 

People Who Keep Us Healthy
For this unit we will be looking at the people who help to keep us healthy.  We will be focusing on Doctors, Nurses, and Dentists and the things they do for us. 

Polar Regions
For this unit we will talk about these regions, the weather in them, and the animals that live there. 

Space
The final frontier…ok I couldn’t resist.  I confess I am a huge NERD, so I am stoked about this unit.  We will be talking about the planets and the stars, and the characteristics of space. 

Me and My Feelings
This unit will discuss your child and their feelings.  It will help them recognize and talk about different emotions they feel and see in other people. 

Valentines Day
We will begin February with a unit that centers on the fun and love filled holiday of Valentines Day.  Since we will be working on feelings the week before, this unit will focus more on the fun and traditions we have this time of year. 

 

Several of these units may be made available early with additional materials for download.  Keep an eye on our home page if you want to check them out.

The Month Ahead-December

Here are the lessons we are preparing for this month.  We hope that this heads up will help you collect materials as you get ready for the month ahead! 

Christmas: Three Weeks of Activities
We will be devoting TWO weeks of lessons to Christmas.  There are many extras you can find out and about to use with these units, but most should work around your family traditions.  

Week 1’s lessons will focus on a Christmas tree theme and Week 2 will focus on the Nativity.  For Week 3 we’ll be searching the web for some fun Christmas Ideas and Crafts.  

For extras look for:

• Jingle Bells
• Cotton Balls (snow-balls)
• Holiday Erasers

If you haven’t already, head over to Amazon and download The Incredible Singing Christmas Tree from Veggie Tales.  ITS FREE!!

Some Books for Christmas Themes:

Some Movies:

New Year’s: One Weeks Activity

We will be focusing on the New Year in the last week of December. 
Here are some ideas for extras to look for:

• New Year’s Hats and Party supplies
• End of the Year Magazines and Newspapers

Winter:  Two Weeks of Activities

We decided it would be better for our mommies if we posted Christmas early and left winter for the first couple of weeks in January.  We will be learning about the season of winter in a two week unit that will talk about the activities, dress, weather, and animals we see during winter.

Some Books for Winter:

 

We look forward to the busy and WONDERFUL month ahead!  Hopefully, you are looking forward to it now, too!

The Month Ahead!

We’re heading into a time of the year where the lessons will be so fun to teach!  This post will let you know what to expect through November and the first week of December! 

Pilgrims and Indians

We’re teaching about Turkeys through the first week of November, and the following week we’ll be learning about the Pilgrims and Indians.  If you really want a great toy for this time of year, Fisher Price makes this Thanksgiving Playset.  We have it courtesy of the grandparents, and it we will be making use of it!  

                            

 
Thanksgiving Crafts

We need your help!!

The week before Thanksgiving we will be taking a little bit of a break from formal lesson plans.  We are hoping to host some of YOUR great ideas for Thanksgiving themed crafts!  Let us know in comments or through an e-mail if you have a previous post you’d like us to feature.  If your chosen to be on the site we’ll feature your post on 2 Teaching Mommies, and you will get a nifty little banner letting everyone know!!!   

Football

The week of Thanksgiving we will be posting all about Football!  Keep a look out for extras that will go along with this theme! 

Winter

I know…it doesn’t seem like it should be winter, does it???   It is that time of year though, and we’ll be talking about the season after Thanksgiving.  What should you look for?  Check out books about the season.  Look in the bargain bins for snowflake or snowmen stickers.  Anything having to do with winter will be great for this unit. 

Here are some items that will go along with the units nicely!

The Month Ahead!

IT’S FALL!  Can you tell that Madonna and I like fall?  I think every post for the last week has mentioned the fact that we like this season!  Anyway, we are getting ready to head into a great time of the year for lessons.  Below you will find a list of what to expect!

Pumpkins: 

• Look for some pumpkin items to use for this week.  We will always have printables, but manipulatives will always come in handy!  Think small things for little hands, like pumpkin erasers. 
• Start planning a trip to the pumpkin patch with you tot! 
• Reserve books about Pumpkins or purchase a couple, as you can use them again and again each year. 

Halloween: 

• Stock up on some construction paper to make some fun Halloween crafts this week.
• We won’t be doing anything spooky, so if you’re on the look out for counters, or for extras, steer clear of witches, ghosts and goblins. 
• Again, check your library and go ahead and reserve books about Halloween now! 
• We will be watching “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” for family night!  Order it on Net Flix or be on the look out for it!

Bats:

• These lessons will focus on the animals!
• One lesson will involve GLOW IN THE DARK JELLO!!!!  Be on the look out for bat shaped cookie cutters to make your Jell-O bats!

Turkeys:

• As we head into November, we will start Turkey month off right by learning about the bird!
• You might want to get some craft feathers if you see them out cheap.
• Look for Turkey shaped cookie cutters, or other Turkey items.
• It is NEVER too early to reserve books for this subject.  The time between Halloween and Thanksgiving will FLY BY, so plan now! 

Tools and Extras:

Here are some tools from Amazon that might help with the lessons in the month ahead!

Books:

Tools:

Videos:

Hopefully this list will help you plan, and make your life a little easier!

  

Questions?  Post questions or comments on our Facebook Page.  You may have the same question as someone else.  If you don’t have a Facebook account, feel free to email us.

The Month Ahead!

Here are the units you can expect in the month ahead on 2 Teaching Mommies!
Keep your eyes out for good deals and items you can use to supplement the teaching of these units for your tot! 

Community Helpers-The Mailman, The Garbage Man, and The Grocer

• For part of this unit your tot will participate in pretend play.  Be thinking of inexpensive costumes for your tot, or keep your eyes open for them out and about! 
• Keep a copy of your weekly grocery ad for one of the activities
• Save some of your junk mail for an activity
• Look for books about community and the grocery (Don’t Forget the Oatmeal, a Sesame Street book, is one of my favorites!)
• Our movie night will feature Wall-E, so you might want to see if you can grab it out and about! 

The Forest

• Books about animals or forest habitats
• Order some forest movies (like Over the Hedge, Bambi, or Brother Bear) from Net Flix, or look for them at Yard Sales, consignment sales, or bargain bins 
• Any counting manipulatives that might be forest related.  Think leaves, acorns, and plastic animals.  While none of our lessons will require these, they would be good supplies for supplemental activities.

Fall (2 weeks of plans)

• Fall leave stickers would be a good buy for some of our lessons!  I found these for $1 at Target.  In case you haven’t noticed, I love Target!

• Look for fall counters.  I found these fantastic plastic pumpkins at the Dollar Tree!  They also had plastic acorns! 

• Consider buying some fake colored leaves.  You can use them for crafts during this unit. 
• Go ahead and look on-line at your library’s catalog.  Reserve your fall books now!  Remember, think fall, not Halloween!  Look for leaf books and apple books if you can find them!  These are the two items we will be focusing on for our units.   
• See if you can find a farm in your area that will offer apple picking later this month.  It would make a great tots around town field trip!

People who keep me safe/Safety Week:

• Books on Firemen and Policemen will come in handy for this unit! 
• If you are out at fall festivals or state fairs look for safety coloring books for kids.  A lot of police and fire departments hand these out for tots, and the coloring pages will reinforce what you’ll be covering. 
• If you spot any items you could use for dress up this week, grab them if they are cheap.  Think plastic fire hats and police badges.  With a little imagination, those are costumes in themselves!
• Contact your local fire department and see if they would allow you to stop by and visit the fire station.  This would make a great field trip, and they might have some goodies they give to kiddos!  If you are uncomfortable going it alone, talk about it at some of your play dates this month.  Some of your friends might love a field trip, even if they aren’t doing tot school! 

We hope that this heads up on what to expect this next month will make it easier for you to keep up with us here at 2 Teaching Mommies!  Have a happy September!

Questions?  Post questions or comments on our Facebook Page.  You may have the same question as someone else.  If you don’t have a Facebook account, feel free to email us.

The Month Ahead!

Each month we’ll give you a heads up on the units we’ll be covering.  You can use this list to look for tools and library books that you know will work with the units we have here at 2 Teaching Mommies. 

Here are the units we’ll be covering in August.

The Body:

• Look for books about the body
• Check for inexpensive puzzles and toys while you shop
• Gather some family videos for family night
• We found these puzzles at Target for $1!  They worked great with the body unit!  
  

My Home and My Family:

• Take pics of your kiddos routine throughout the day.  It will help when you make your daily schedule calendar!
• Look for books about homes.  This can be anything, from where animals live to where people live.  Books about family would work well with this unit also. 

Oceans:

• Keep and eye out for Ocean books at the library
• Family night will be a movie night this week, so be thinking of or looking for ocean movies you can watch with your tot
• Family night will also feature a muffin tin meal, so look for an inexpensive tin you can use if you don’t have one
• We found some great puzzles with sea creatures on them at Target for $1!  Keep a lookout for them!
  

The Desert:

• Desert theme books may be in short supply, so if you find any at the library, let us all know!

Hope this helps you guys out a little!