School @ the Mill

I found the idea on Pinterest and it was a lot of fun to put together!  I made car and wheel templates and traced them onto rectangular pieces of white cardstock.  After using colored pencils to fill the cars in, I laminated them with contact paper for durability.  I ordered some wooden wheels over Amazon and painted those with my acrylic paints during nap time.  Eek!  I love painting things!

I love using this curriculum (that my awesome mom gave me last Christmas!!) with Abby!  It not only occupies her attention for long periods of time, but it’s something she can play with on her own when I need to accomplish something.  In other words, it is a major win.

This flannel board is something I made back in college and have used over and over again.  If you want to make your own, just buy a thin piece of wood at your local lumber store and enough flannel to cover it (overlapping slightly).  Grab a buddy to help you stretch the fabric tight (you want it as tight as possible so it doesn’t bubble up) and staple gun it down.  If you have a more permanent residence (aka house), feel free to staple gun it straight onto a wall somewhere.  If we ever switch from our apartment lifestyle, you can be sure I will be attaching mine to a wall as it makes it more sturdy.

One of my preschool goals with Abby over the next year is to go through the alphabet twice, focusing on one letter each week.  Since she is currently just a year and half old, the first time through won’t be too intense (although she does already know most of her letters and even their sounds).