The early days

So I learned that my daughter catches onto things pretty quick when she started talking in full sentences at 18 months old.  She quickly showed us that she was really good at matching things.  She started doing some Melissa and Doug puzzles at that point.  By 2 yrs old she was doing 12 piece puzzles on her own.  About 2 months later I could mix four 12 piece puzzles together and she could separate them out on her own.  2 1/2 yrs old she was doing 48-100 pieces by herself...and it just kept going.

I honestly couldn't keep up.  I was a first time mom with no idea what to do with my child.  She is strong willed and never stops talking or singing.  Naturally we started identifying shapes, letters and colors and she had them down by 2 1/2 yrs old.

That is when I happened upon pinterest.  One of my friends sent me an invite.  Prior to signing up for pinterest I had bookmarks and folders of bookmarks in my browser.   There were sometimes 100 booksmarks in just one folder.  I could never find anything.  I was scouring the internet every night after my daughter went to bed for reading material on what to do with her, how to keep her busy, and how to help her learn.  Pinterest was a dream come true.  Now I had a visual folder of my book marks and could easily find anything.  I need to start sorting out a few of my boards at this point, but it has been a blessing for working with my daughter.

You can find out what I am reasearching to do with Madalynn everyday by checking out my board Learning Play date with Mom.  This is exactly how I view learning in our home.  It is one on one time with my child.  We are playing when I sit together.  I am not the kind of mom to just sit down and play with my children.  I work 40-60 hours a week outside and inside the home with my job.  When I sit down with my children the time must be spent doing constructive learning activities that make me feel like I am helping my children.  You can check me out on pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/amaliesarmfuls/ or by clicking on the side of my blog.  My pinterest journey started two years ago and it has led me to where I am today.  So grateful that we purchase an ipad for my work last Christmas.  Since then I can now spend time doing my research during my work hours (which I will explain during another post) and not having to wait until the kids go to bed.

Can't wait to share more.  Hope you enjoy.