The Boys and the Frogs

The girls loved learning about The Boys and the Frogs.  We talked about how you can tell if someone is sad or scared before we read the fable.

I read them the story while they sat on lily pad pillows.  Then we discussed the comprehension questions.

The girls played Leap to Safety.  They each got a game board and a plastic flip frog.  They had to flip their frogs onto each colored lily pad and collect the matching colors until they had them all.

We went outside and caught a frog and a few toads.  They felt their skin and looked at the differences in their feet.  We talked about different textures and the girls hunted for things that were either smooth or rough.  

 The girls decorated the provided numbers with eyes and the corresponding number of gem stickers.  Then we sang the Five Green Speckled Frogs and they took turns making them jumping off their log.  For some reason they thought this was extremely funny.

 

 I put the colored sticks from an earlier lesson in a tub of water.  We pretended these were frogs that needed rescued.  Elli picked up any that she wanted.  Addie used the spinner to rescue the correct colored frog.  

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The Crow and the Pitcher

What does it mean to be smart?  That was the question of the day that we started off with.  From there we moved on to listening to the fable of The Crow and the Pitcher. 

Usually the Mother Goose Time cd's are all music, but this month it has all the fables from the provided book narrated.  There are also instrumental songs at the end.  The girls have enjoyed listening to someone other than their mom read the stories. 

 The girls loved the water level experiment and it fit in so great with the topic of the day.  I filled a measuring cup with water and then the girls worked together to add the marble manipulatives to displace the water.  It was suggested to use a ruler and measure the change in water, but Addie loves helping me cook so I thought using the measuring cup would be a good way for her to practice reading it.  After that they each got their own small cup filled with water that we measured and marked.  They filled them up until the water overflowed and then we counted how many marbles it took. 

 

The girls always love the crafts the best.  They have taken over our fridge and the larger items, like mushroom houses and egg crate gardens, have been saved and are used repeatedly in their dramatic play.  I have to sneak them out of their rooms and replace the items on the fridge when they are not home because they never want to get rid of the stuff they make.  Today they made crow shakers that are filled with dry peas.  I'm assuming these will be added to their collection of projects that can't be thrown out. 

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Creating a Learning Environment

I recently received the September box for Mother Goose Time.  Since it's the start of a new school year they sent all new display items that will be used for the whole year.  We haven't finished up with August yet, so I haven't put the new display up.  They've made some changes to their already awesome curriculum, making it even better.

One of the things that they kept the same were the investigation stations that are at the beginning of every teacher guide.  This past year I always completed the provided idea on the corresponding day, but this year I think I am going to try putting all 5 investigation stations together at the beginning of every week, that way the girls have all week to explore and learn independently.  The girl both love the art and sensory stations, so I'm assuming they will utilize those the most.  

There are 10 different types of investigation stations:  block area, outdoors, library, dramatic play, manipulative, art, math,writing, technology, and sensory.  I love that Mother Goose Time incorporates the outdoors into the lessons.  My girls both love to be outside, and we frequently take different parts of the lessons outside.  Living in Maine we have weeks where it is too bitterly cold to go outside unless necessary, so we try to get out as much as we can when we're able.  

Seeing as I use Mother Goose Time with my girls in our house, and not in a preschool setting, I like to keep everything out of sight when not in use.  I currently use a trifold board for the circle time display, and I love that this coming years circle time has been built entirely around this very idea.  I bring it out for the lessons and when we're done it can be folded up and stored away. This way we don't have school stuff all over our walls, and it also keeps it out of reach of little fingers.  We have cart that I keep in our kitchen where all the items that will be used for the month are kept.  There is a drawer for the teacher tool bag items like the guide book, cd's, planning journal, etc.  A drawer with craft items and also a drawer with coloring books and paper that the girls can use whenever they want.  A drawer for all the daily bags and manipulatives and then I also have an individual drawer for each girl.  All month I put different items from the lessons, like the make it take it books and my little journals into these drawers for them to use freely.

This was a provided picture of one way to set up the coming years circle time display

Makes staying organized so much easier.

Mother Goose Time creates so many great activities for preschoolers.  Crafts are definitely the favorite for both girls.  A lot of the projects they make wind up on the fridge.  Some of the items they make, like egg crate gardens and mouse headbands, can be used in their daily play.  These are the items they seem to love the most, and they use them often when they play.  They also love the manipulatives that come in each months box.  They've already been playing with the buses in the September box.

I've had a chance to skim through the new box for the year, and I'm excited to watch the girls learn over the coming months.

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The Dog and his Reflection

Today's Mother Goose Time topic was The Dog and his Reflection.  I actually saved this topic and used it the day we brought our new puppy home.  Obviously the kids only wanted to play with the puppy, not "do school."

Luckily the puppy napped quite a bit so we were able to get some of it done.

 We talked about when and for what we should be thankful for.  Addie was thankful to have a new puppy.  We listed to the fable on the provided CD while following along in the book.

We talked about what makes a dog happy and sad and also read a book on how dogs  communicate with body language.  The girls made their own dog masks.

Then they took turns hiding their dog bone and finding the other persons.  They loved this and played it many times before moving on.

We talked about sharing and the girls passed a dog bone back and forth while listening to music.  Whoever had it when the song stopped pretended to eat it.  The best part was sharing the bone with our older dog when we were all done.

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The Hare and the Tortoise

The Mother Goose Time theme for today was "The Hare and the Tortoise."

We listened to the story on the CD while following along in the book.  Then the girls practiced talking fast and slow.

The girls built a racetrack and used a stuffed rabbit and turtle to reenact the story multiple times. 

Addie and I played the provided racing games multiple times.  She's still asking to play this game days later.

The girls worked on their my little journals.

Addie completed her more math and reading workbooks.

Elli worked on her tray play activity from the Little Goose book.  When Addie saw the turtle Elli was using she wanted to make her own.

We read The Little Engine That Could and talked some more about not giving up and trying your best.

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The Grasshopper and the Ants

Day 3 of this months Mother Goose Time theme brought us the fable of The Grasshopper and the Ants.  We talked about the different jobs the girls have around the house and sang "The Working Ants" to the tune of "The Muffin Man."

Do you know the working ants,

The working ants,

The working ants.

Do you know the working ants,

They work from day to night.

I taped a circle on the floor and the girls tried to see how many blocks they could carry around the path.  Then we listened to the story on the CD while following along in the book.

We talked about how a straight line is the shortest route between an ants nest and food.  The girls played with cars on the taped circle and then they practiced walking their fingers up and down the provided letter A reversible letter flag and then they made ink prints on the letter a printout.

Next we went outside and caught grasshoppers and talked about what they might eat.  The girls used the provided corn and counting cards to feed their paper ants and grasshoppers the corresponding number of corn.  Elli just used the numbers 1-4 as a simplification and Addie worked on adding 2 and 3 numbers together to feed her insects.  Mother Goose Time works great with multiple ages because the activities can be made more simple or more challenging depending on each child's ability.

When we were outside we watched grasshoppers, which we have tons of in our yard,  jump and move.  After we came back in the girls practiced moving their legs in different ways and then they hopped on 1 and 2 feet along the taped path.  They also practiced jumping over it and seeing how long and high they could jump.

jumping like grasshoppers

We read Frederick and then Addie completed her more math and reading workbooks while Elli completed her tray play activity from the Little Goose book.

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