Our first week in Perugia

We arrived Perugia on Tuesday. Classes had already started on Monday so we had to get right on it. We went to bed at 7.30. I woke up at 4.30am to shower, prepare breakfast, snack and lunch for the boys and prepare our clothes and bags for the day. I woke them up at 7.30 and got them ready and fed for the day. Metu’s caregiver arrived at 8am and Solu and I left to catch the bus at 8am. This was our basic morning routine everyday.

We got to school and I went to register Solu. He took one week of summer camp last year and he has the same teacher he had then. She is really sweet and patient. There are about 9-10 children in his class and it is called the primavera (class). The children are 2-3yrs old. The school does not accept children younger than 2. He did well in the morning but started looking for me and crying after their music session. His teacher brought him over to the training center and he stayed for a while but kept trying to talk to me which was disruptive so I took him back and stayed with him till he settled in again. This was basically how everyday went. It was a little tiring for me and I really hope next week goes better. The teachers thought he did very well as children are usually gradually phased in and not expected to spend the whole day from the beginning.

He enjoyed working with playdough, sewing and gluing. He also enjoyed helping the assistant clean up and return the cart to the kitchen after lunch. He did this on several days and talked about it when we got home.

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14 activities at 14 months

After working so hard on the materials for Months 12 and 13, I noticed that for close to one week, nothing on the shelf was touched. It was time for material rotation. I have included quick Instagram videos of the materials in use this month. Let me know if it Read more…

Activities at 13 months

I have so much to write about that it sometimes overwhelms me and I just don’t write. Does that happen to you? Well I decided to start simple and make myself a list and hopefully it keeps my thoughts on track. Activities at 13 months Activities at 14 months Dealing Read more…

12 activities at 12 months

I mentioned in a previous post that I use my son’s age to help myself limit the activities on his shelf. We don’t have this 12 activities out on his shelf at once. I rotate them based on interest. EYE HAND COORDINATION/FINE MOTOR/SENSORIAL I hope this gives you some ideas Read more…

Brain Dev 2: “Education is everything we do with the child”

Observing and learning! Children learn from everything in their environment*Picture seen on Facebook

Observing and learning! Children learn from everything in their environment
*Picture seen on Facebook

In the first post in this series, I talked about brain development and specifically the development of neurons. I mentioned that even though the neurons that make up the brain are present at birth, they still need to be connected to be useful. This connection happens through use and this is where you come in as a parent or care giver especially in the first year. I ended that post by saying that parents can support their child’s development in the first year not only feeding and caring but also by education. This post will discuss that educational component.

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