Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education

If you vacation, or live, in the Outer Banks, be sure to check out the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education in Corolla.  It's a great family friendly outing.  It is located in Currituck Heritage Park, which is a must see spot anyways, so you can just make a full afternoon of it!

Inside the building kids are fascinated by an 8,000 gallon fish tank.  There is also a giant diorama, a decoy display, and short documentary.  Additionally, the Wildlife Center hosts enjoyable classes for all ages.  The schedule is online and registration is easy.  Catherine and her cousins enjoyed an afternoon of learning how to fish.  Before casting into the water they practiced on land with magnetic fish, which you can see above.  My husband, brother-in-law, and I enjoyed a class of archery basics.  We all had a great time.

While there, you will want to visit the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.  The above picture of Catherine with the lighthouse in the background makes me smile.  That facial expression!  (I think this picture is from 2012.)  Below, Catherine is learning the fundamentals of baseball on the large lawn near the Wildlife Center. (This one is from 2014.)

By the way, this is not a sponsored post.  Whenever we visit the OBX the whole family enjoys spending some time at this location, and I wanted to share it with you.

What/How To Teach a Toddler?

I wrote this post three months ago, and--for some strange reason--never got around to posting it.  

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My sweet little girl is getting so big!  I honestly can't believe how fast she is growing up.  This of course presents me with new challenges; with one of the greatest being how to begin her education.

Yes, she is only 15 months old, but I believe it is important to cultivate an early love of learning.

There are so many books, articles, internet forums, etc. dedicated to helping you to help your child learn.  However, it is incredibly hard to weed through them and find any black and white guidelines.  And, as everything regarding child raising, what to teach/how to teach/when to teach your child is highly controversial.

So what's a Mommy to do?

For now I try to fit "learning time" in throughout the day.  We do flashcards with colors, numbers, first words, and shapes.  We sing songs.  We say prayers.  We play the Naming Game (I hold Catherine and we dance around the apartment and name everything--seriously, everything--from the couch to the Progresso can of French Onion Soup).  We read books.  I try to narrate everything I do--"Mommy is washing a cup with a sponge and soap and hot water..."

But I can't help wondering sometimes, is this enough?  Should I be doing more?  If so, what?

We don't color or draw yet--she still would rather eat the crayons.  I don't do programs such as Your Baby Can Read--I'm certainly not against it, but it is a little expensive and has mixed reviews.  I don't have many Montessori approved toys--although I do need to do more research into this method of teaching/learning.  I don't do baby signing--I got some books and dvds from the library and tried it for a little while but for whatever reason it was short lived.

Like every Mommy out there, I just want the best for my little girl!