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Behind the Scenes ~ Tot School Tools

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For the first in this series I am going to address the collection, storage, and usage of the many Tot School items we have and use at our house. Questions about these Tot-School related issues are definitely the ones I receive the most via email and comments!

Where and how did you get all of your Tot School items?

  • ASK! Seriously I just asked. I let both sets of grandparents, and anyone else who buys gifts for our tot that we would love school related items! I suggest Melissa and Doug items since they are easy to find. Thankfully in our great family, they even ask me for ideas a lot , we are very blessed and have received many of our purchased toys as gifts. We own almost all of the things featured here in our Tools for Tots store, thanks to the generosity of family and friends!!!
  • MAKE! Use the Tools for Tots webpage for inspiration and begin making tools for your tot! If you do this, be sure to share anything new you come up with so I can add it to the site!
  • LOOK! Look around your own house for what can be re-created into a Tot School tool, or what can be gathered together to make a cool tool. You can find many of those ideas on blogs, especially Montessori style blogs. Here is one example of a tool we use quite often (scroll to the bottom to see our straws, sticks, bottle activity).
  • SHOP! Keep your eyes open for bargains while out shopping, I have found awesome Tot-Tools in the dollar section at Target, at the Dollar Store, and just shopping in general.

How do you store all of the toys/tools once you start accumulating them, they seem to overtake my house and I often feel frazzled that I can’t find what I am looking for when I really need something quickly to engage my tot?

  • This is a problem I had for a LONG time, until I solved it recently. I had our toys/tools in various places and even though we had a lot, I found myself feeling at a loss on any given day(especially the days when K was being impatient). I began realizing my problem and decided to go with a master list, hoping this would give me something to spur my brain in those brain-dead moments. The list was great but it still wasn’t all I needed. Finally, I decided to store ALL of our tools (the ones I could) the same way and in the same place. I got gallon Ziploc bags and even some larger ones and I took every Tot toy/tool I had and placed each one in a baggie and sealed it. I then took all of the baggies and put them in one central place, for us it is in the wagon which is stored in our schoolroom. Yes it looks messy, but it makes sense to me :).Getting rid of the bulky boxes and such really helped me because I could get to and clean up a tool much easier. Plus, it solved the mixing of bought and home-made tools. I still have to store some of the bigger items in their boxes up on a shelf, like our ABC floor mat or bigger puzzles, but most of our tools are now stored using this baggie method.

How do you decide which tools to bring out each day?

  • This honestly depends on my mood…
  • TRAYS-Most days I set out 4-5 trays and dump a different tool into each tray and let K choose that way.
  • FREE CHOICE-Some days I tell K to go in and select his own tool out of the wagon, although we don’t do this very often.
  • MY CHOICE-Some days I just pick one tool at a time (mostly the days when I haven’t had time to really set up with thought) and hope it engages K!

How do you plan/prepare for Tot School each week?

  • Honestly I don’t much. I did at first but I realized that my planning brain did not jive well with my short-attention-span, opinionated tot. So, I dropped the planning mindset and went more with the *what works for today* outlook.
  • I do have spreadsheets that I record data on so I can help guide K’s exposure to early learning skills. I never call it *teaching* him, I personally do not believe in teaching a tot, just playing to expose early learning skills in a fun, engaging way.
  • When recording skills that have been exposed and mastered, I fill in the dates each time he shows knowledge of the skill (in case it was a fluke the first time). By the 3rd time, I consider the skill mastered. For example, let’s say on Monday 4/12/08 he recognized and identified a triangle with no help, I would fill in that date under the #1 section. Then a few days later, if he recognized it again, I would add that date to #2, and so on. I am not always on top of these sheets as I should be, but they do help in keeping me focused from time to time and are also nice to show Daddy when he has mastered a certain skill!
  • Here is my Tot School Goals Spreadsheet… (it includes the goals that are listed on the Tot School main page)
  • Here is my Letter ID sheet…
  • I make my forms like this in Microsoft Excel.

What is a normal day for you like? My tot seems to have no attention span!!!

  • GO HERE!!!! Read my minute-by-minute Tot School time and you will see that our house is probably much more similar to your house than you thought! Some days K loves everything I bring out, some days he hates it all. We have been officially Tot Schooling since he was about 22 months old and he is now almost 32 months old. His attention span and attitude still varies from day to day and I have learned to not let it stress me as much as it used to!
  • If you are feeling stressed about *teaching* your tot, go here and read my goals and beliefs about educating a young child. Hopefully you will see that educating a tot should just be about exposing early learning skills in a fun play-centered way (at least that’s what I believe 😉 ).

If you have any more questions for me under this topic, leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them there so all can see the answers!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged with: Behind the Scenes, Krash, Tot School

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Carisa Hinson
My Fern is so beautiful. Still my favorite cat eve My Fern is so beautiful. Still my favorite cat ever. And that’s saying a lot!

I’m not very active on this account anymore mostly because my older kids don’t like to be photographed. I am passionate about fostering kittens and my foster kitten account @crazy_foster_kitten_lady is where I spend most of my Instagram time now.

I’ll share here every now and then, but I’m on the kitten account daily!
Have you ever seen Ivy Kids Kits? There are SO man Have you ever seen Ivy Kids Kits? There are SO many monthly kits for kids on the market now, but this one remains my favorite! We have partnered with @ivykidskits for many years and although my kids are now too old for them, I still spread the word!

This video shows a peek inside of a recent kit they sent us, Kermit the Hermit. You can buy individual kits or buy a monthly subscription!

#homeschool #homeschoolers #homeschoolingrocks #homeschoolingmama #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife  #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolfun #homeschoolkids #homeschooliscool  #homeschooldays #homeschoolblogger 
#homeschoolteacher #homeschoollookslikethis #homeeducation #homeeducator #howwehomeschool #homeed #homeschoollifestyle #thisishomeschool
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It was an awesome day of gymnastics! We are in Tex It was an awesome day of gymnastics! We are in Texas for a big meet. We have been here many times but this is the first time he won! 1st All Around, and 1st on floor, pommel, and high bar! He was a part of the NC Elite Team, they won 1st place team also. He hit all time high scores for all around and floor! We head to state championships in a few weeks for his next meet!

#krashthegymnast #region8mensgymnastics #ncmensgymnastics
Homeschool writing class with Fern. Always a fabul Homeschool writing class with Fern. Always a fabulous teacher. Not distracting at all. 

#homeschool #homeschoolers #homeschoolingrocks #homeschoolingmama #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife  #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolfun #homeschoolkids #homeschooliscool  #homeschooldays #homeschoolblogger 
#homeschoolteacher #homeschoollookslikethis #homeeducation #homeeducator #howwehomeschool #homeed #homeschoollifestyle #thisishomeschool
#homeschoolcommunity #homeschoolcurriculum #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooled #homeschoolcollective #homeschoolideas #homeschoolinspiration #homeschooladventures #iew
Yes, we still walk our cat in a stroller. Mabel ev Yes, we still walk our cat in a stroller. Mabel even posed for the picture. Our other cats go in the stroller sometimes too, Mabel is the frequent stroller-er.

#calicocats #fluffycalico #catsinstrollers
Swipe to see the books I read this year! Lots of m Swipe to see the books I read this year! Lots of middle grade books last summer (many reviews are on my blog, I linked them in the “2022 Books” highlight above). Did you read any of these? See my ratings on my goodreads profile! I will link in my stories, I am Carisa Hinson on goodreads.

#middlegradebooks #middleschoolbooks #mglit #middlegradebooksuggestions #readinginthemiddlegrades #2022goodreadschallenge #2022yearinbooks
It was a Christmas filled with many emotions. Joy, It was a Christmas filled with many emotions. Joy, happiness, excitement, surprise, sadness, longing, and a bit of emptiness. 

We celebrated with my parents on the 24th, and that was a very joyous celebration. We enjoyed church, gifts, food, and mostly one another. 

On the 25th we celebrated with my husband’s family and sadly we are missing our beloved Nana who went to be with Jesus a few weeks ago. We all did our best to honor her love for fun last night. We played games, we laughed, we ate well, but it was all mixed with a longing sadness, wishing we had her with us. 

The next to last photo is it Kyler and my father in law, who lost his very best friend. We just love him so much and pray for his continued healing as he grieves this horrible loss and emptiness. 

The final photo is of Nana’s grandkids each holding their collage of photos of them and their Nana. This gift brought some tears, but we can tell will be treasured by each of them. She was one of a kind, and so special to all six of them.
Paxton won the gift award this year. Swipe to see Paxton won the gift award this year. Swipe to see what he bought his little sis! She was SO surprised! He loves giving gifts and having a job the enables him to do surprises like this is a gift to him. Sweet moments. ❤️
Not posed. Our foster kitten Jolly posed herself i Not posed. Our foster kitten Jolly posed herself in the perfect spot! See more of her and her sister Holly here: @crazy_foster_kitten_lady Merry Christmas Eve! 

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Tree decorating night! Goodness I love my kids. Tree decorating night! Goodness I love my kids.
I know many of you don’t know many of the people I know many of you don’t know many of the people in this photo, but I know many of you pray. The beautiful woman on the far left of the couch is my bonus-momma, my husband’s mom. She has stopped all treatment for her cancer and is going home to be with Jesus soon. We prayed for her to feel well enough to be with us at Thanksgiving, and though she felt pretty crappy, she was there. 

If you know her, you know what I mean when I say this is one of the kindest, most joyful, selfless people I have ever known. The world won’t be the same without her. We are devastated and hurting. We pray for her peace, her comfort, her pain, and for God to relieve her of the suffering. 

Last night was a huge mixture of pure joy and devastating sadness. We celebrated and hugged, and laughed, and we cried. It’s just so hard. Thanks for praying for our family. ❤️
We decided to decorate with a polar bear this year We decided to decorate with a polar bear this year. ❤️ 

#🐶baxter❤️ #pitmix #pitmixes #sleepydogs #marshmellie🐶 #greatpyrenees  #greatpyreneesofinstagram  #greatpyr  #greatpyreneeslovers #greatpyreneesfamily #doggo #rescuedog #adoptdontshop #doglife #pyreneesofinstagram #dogsofinsta #doglover #instadog #gentlegiant
Webby and the lizard. Swipe for the video version Webby and the lizard. Swipe for  the video version. 🐱 🦎
I love my Christmas birds. We love having the deco I love my Christmas birds. We love having the decorations complete before Thanksgiving so we can relax and enjoy our home with our favorite decor of the year! I got started today, not close to done, but enjoying my adorable birds. A lot. Do you decorate early?
Mabel has turned out to be the most entertaining c Mabel has turned out to be the most entertaining cat we have ever had. She is sweet and sassy, mischievous and marvelous. Equal parts of each. She annoys all of our other animals just like a little sister should and keeps the humans on our toes too. She LOVES Lili, and is still BFF with Pebbles (Lili’s cat). So glad we decided to add this rambunctious ball of fluff to our crew!
Fun night celebrating my momma’s birthday and tr Fun night celebrating my momma’s birthday and trick or treating in her neighborhood with Lili and her friends! The gum ball machine costume made it back for another year!
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She has cancer and chemo is making her sick, it’s been a long hard road as any of you who have dealt with there horrible C word know. We don’t know what the future holds, so we cling to today! I loved sitting by her and laughing together. I am so blessed to have her as my mother in law! ❤️

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Every year they drive up to the mountains for the Every year they drive up to the mountains for the day and just spend time together. It’s their thing and I love it. Today they hiked, that’s Lili laying on the rock! She’s not much of a hiker but she loves the mountains, the leaves and her Daddy!
Goodness they are cute. Love them so much! 🧡🧡🧡
Totally thought I would hate it. It’s not that b Totally thought I would hate it. It’s not that bad. Reading it for chemistry this year, and I have to admit I am learning a LOT, and it is interesting! 

We are using @guesthollow Chemistry in the Kitchen, this is one of the many books we are reading and will read.

#homeschoolchemistry #napoleonsbuttons #guesthollowchemistry #homeschool #homeschoolers #homeschoolingrocks #homeschoollife  #homeschoolfamily #homeschooliscool  #homeschooldays #homeschoolblogger 
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#homeschoolcommunity #homeschoolcurriculum #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooled #homeschoolcollective #homeschoolideas #homeschoolinspiration #homeschooladventures #homeschoolhighschool
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