BFIAR: Jesse Bear

Oh Tot School... We did our first BFIAR Book over the past couple months. Yes, I said months. Life has been absolutely insane... and I am finally getting around to posting these pictures. We started with the book, "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?" It was a very cute book and Blake enjoyed reading it. Kade... not so much. His attention span is short to say the least... 

I did try to bring Kade into our activities when I could. We focused most on motor skills for him and just letting him play with whatever I gave him. He really seemed to enjoy this. He loved putting these bears in and out of the bag... 

 And stacking them on his high chair tray. He would set them all up. Look at that smile! He is definitely my smiley guy! 

I brought out the pipe cleaner and strainer... he liked this okay. He would do a couple and be done. But look at that concentration! :)

I also used straws and pipe cleaners of him to put into drilled holes of an old formula container. He would rather chew the straws... but again, he at least gave it a try and did it for a short amount of time! 

In our story, Jesse Bear plays in his sandbox and puts sand on his hand... Here Blake is acting it out at the park. Both boys have come to love the sandbox which is fun to watch. Blake hadn't always enjoyed the sand or dirt but has come around to LOVE it. He gets SO messy and usually carries half the sandbox home in his shoes...

 We worked on patterns with Jesse Bear... This was a little more tricky for him to see. He was wanting to do whatever was the last in line which is typical for his development (in hindsight of course). It is crazy how certain things about him are being made more clear as I get to know him better and discovering how his amazing brain works. 

Blake learned to spell and read 9 new vocabulary words. Here is matching the picture to the correct word. His memory is like no other. It is his biggest strength. It is something that I used to see as a blessing but struggled to see when we were going through this whole process. I've come back to realize it is a strength to recognize and celebrate! It does make him quite different from a 3 year-old, but he is truly brilliant. 

Teddy Graham fun! What a fun snack that both boys enjoyed. Kade practiced using a spoon with his teddy grahams and Blake counted them out to match the number I would put on the table. Kade loves spoons and forks and is beginning to already use a fork when eating. 

After reading our book one morning! Love these two boys with all my heart!

I introduced Kade to new vocabulary in the book through these cards. He would rather smush and crinkle them... they found the laminater after this hahaha! 

Blake and Kade colored some Jesse Bear faces and I hid them in the living room for them to find. Kade wanted nothing to do with the finding them, but Blake found them all! 

Kade and his bears and a different formula container with holes on the top! :) We worked on recognizing colors! He definitely does not have hyperlexia like his brother! He wasn't so quick to catch on for sure... but that is perfectly alright! 

Blake does very well tracing lines. His fine motor skills are excellent. His handwriting gets better and better every day! 

 Blake is spelling the words next the pictures. He just had to trace them which helped him learn to spell them by memory.

In the book, Jesse Bear puts a rose in his toes in the morning. I cut a celery stock off and Blake helped stamp some roses onto a picture. I had seen this on pinterest and had always wanted to try it! It was neat!

I gave Kade a paint brush and he painted a few seconds and then tried eating the paint... typical for my little Kade man! 

We made a picture for Nana after with our dried roses!

I saw this new thing that Blake really enjoyed on pinterest too. Read it, build it, spell it. We would take a new vocabulary word, read it, spell it out with his letters, and then write it! He really enjoyed this. Anything with his letters and writing! 

We worked on sorting our red and yellow bears into cups. He did this correctly for about 5-6 bears and then his attention span was done. He either got it or just lucky guessing on where to put them! :) 

 More writing! 

Jesse Bear takes a bath in his book. So we counted ducks into his bathtub. 

Here Kade is supposed to be coloring Jesse Bear's shirt red... he wanted to tear the paper instead... have you put together yet how Kade did with these activities?! :) 

We did an experiment with gummy bears. One cup had regular water and one cup we added salt to it. Here Blake is tasting the salt... silly kid! :) 

He is mixing the salt into the water. He liked helping with this part. And then the gummy bears went into the cups for a day or two...

He wasn't too impressed with the results... and neither was I to be honest! haha! The one in regular water expanded and stayed more orange. The one in the salt water remained fairly small with less color. I thought it was supposed to get hard... but apparently my science experiments don't work! 

Well, that is that! Our focus is now going to be less on academics because that is something that Blake excels at. He doesn't need a further push in that area. We are now working on social play, imagination, building, and communication. It is amazing how this has taken so much more effort and intention. Trying to get him to understand basic concepts and initiating thoughts has been trying for both of us. But I pray it will be beneficial in the end. So good bye to "Tot School" for a while... on to a new focus!