Family Tree

 We started the Me and My Family theme for Mother Goose Time a few days early.  September is the beginning of the new school year and Mother Goose Time has made some minor tweaks to their program that make it even better, as if that was even possible.  For day 1 we started by learning about family trees.

The teacher guide has been slightly changed, making it even easier to use.  Now the recommended story and the daily stations are added right to the lesson page. 

During circle time the girls completed their name tags.  I write with highlighter on the tags and Elli traces it.  Addie has been trying to learn cursive, so I wrote her name in cursive for her to trace.  

For the circle time finger play the girls would pick a number apple card and then act out Who Shook The Tree.

One of the included supplies in this months box was this cute set of rubber stamp people and an ink pad.  The girls love using stamps so I know these will be used a lot in our house.

We talked about the different family members who make up our family.  The girls drew pictures of a house and then used the stamps to add people to their scenes.  After the pictures were done the girls explained where the people were located, using words like next to, under, etc.  One of the new features for this year with Mother Goose Time is a portfolio for each child.  This was stared as a piece of work to save and to assess how well positional vocabulary was used.

Invitations to create are also new this year, and it's only the first day, but I already love them.  The girls get a photo to study and then various art supplies.  There are some prompts, like tearing up paper, or using hands to make leaves, etc.  What the girls create with the supplies is entirely up to them.  This focuses on the process, not the project. The girls really had fun making their own pictures.  Initially I thought Addie might have a hard time since she always tries to recreate exactly what the sample crafts look like, but she said she loved being able to make what she wanted without any guidelines to follow.  She even suggested they go outside and gather real leaves to add to the pictures.  I like that they got to use their imaginations and get as creative as they want.

One of the letters for the month is A.  I traced the letter A outside in the sand and the girls walked the outline.  They also worked on kicking a ball, that we pretended was a large apple, around the letter A.  I'm so excited to see what the rest of the month brings.  The girls had such a great time with the days lesson.

Family Picnic

 This summer we've been having picnics every Monday as a special way to start the week.  So far we've eaten lunch a few times at the playground and beach.  We've also eaten at  a waterfall, a canyon where we went swimming, and of course in our yard a bunch of times.  I knew the girls would be disappointed to break this summer tradition when we woke up to scattered showers.  Luckily Mother Goose Time's celebration pack this month was family picnic.  The girls didn't even mind having to eat inside because they always have so much fun with these special packs that come in every monthly box.

I put the included food picture cards in a picnic basket and the girl would take turns picking one while we sang "Pack a Picnic Basket."  Elli thought this was such a great game that after going through all the cards twice she was still asking to keep playing.

Another game that was played repeatedly was the ants at the picnic.  The girls took turns spinning the provided spinner and then marching to the right numbered ant card hanging on the wall.  They had lots of fun marching around the house looking for the cards while we sang The Ants go Marching.  

We played a memory game.  I put picnic items out and then would remove one while the girls weren't looking.  They had to remember what was missing.  Elli thought is would be even more fun to hide the missing item somewhere in the house and have everyone look for it, so this game was also played for quite a while.

The girls used the provided materials to make their own picnic blanket pictures with ants.  They dipped the sponge in paint and once dry they added black sticker dots and turned them into ants.

We finished up the days theme by playing one of their favorite games that we have, The Picnic Game.  They didn't even mind that we missed our Monday picnic because they were having so much fun playing games.  Luckily it cleared up in the afternoon and we were able to go swimming in the pond.

God is the Healer

Every month we receive the Experience God add on pack from Mother Goose Time.  The teacher pack includes the lesson plan book, story telling cards, and memory verse mini poster.  

The child packs include all the craft materials that are needed for the month, as well as take home activity and coloring sheets.

So far we've completed the first 3 lessons for the month, with 1 more to go.  The girls have been learning about some of the miracles that Jesus performed:  healing the blind, the sick, and the paralyzed.  They really enjoyed making their own first aid kits during week 1.  They love playing veterinarian, so it's great to add these dramatic play props that they made themselves.

After learning how Jesus helped a paralyzed man walk again, the girls made with own walking people.  This was Elli's first time using brass fasteners, but once I showed her how to work them she had no problem rigging up her little man.  Next week we'll finish up the month by learning about healing broken hearts.

Molecules

We finished up our week learning about chemistry with Mother Goose Time by focusing on molecules.  

During circle time the girls worked on counting the number of atoms on the molecule cards.

Molecules move faster in warm water.  This concept was reinforced by having the girls put food coloring in a cup of cold water and a cup of hot water and observing which one spread faster.  

I read the excerpt on Alfred Nobel from the book of the month.  The girls talked about ways they thought they could make the world a better place:  giving hugs, giving out flowers, and surprising people.  Afterward they each received a Nobel prize sticker. 

They used pipe-cleaners and beads to make their own atom patterns.  Afterward they turned them into necklaces to keep.

Their favorite activity of the day was attaching cornstarch noodles together to create different colored molecules.  They absolutely loved using these noodles. 

Reactions

Day 4 with Mother Goose Time had us learning about reactions.

During circle time we sang the chemist, to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.

The girls compared a cup of water and a cup of vinegar.  Even though they look the same, they are very different.  The girls noted that they smelled different.  They put water on baking soda and watched for a reaction;  in the words of Elli "it turned to goop."  Next they put vinegar on the baking soda and watched the reaction that took place. They loved watching it "explode."

The girls used lemon juice to write messages on paper.  They used a blow dryer to heat the paper and reveal the messages.  We couldn't get this to work really well, the message only appeared very faintly.  I'm not sure if they needed to use more lemon juice or maybe heat it for longer.  Either way they thought using "invisible ink" was pretty cool.

Every monthly box comes with a book of the month and a story telling set.  The girls used this to retell the story of Alfred Nobel.  They also watched a Bill Nye episode on chemical reactions, that included a segment on Nobel.

The girls drew fireworks with glue, which they sprinkled with salt.  They used water colors to drip onto the salt, and watched how the colors spread.

The girls cut triangles and glued them into their my little journals.  They turned them into volcanoes that were erupting.  Tomorrow we learn about molecules.

Surprise Ride Review

 We recently received a free box from Surprise Ride for the month of August.  These are prepackaged boxes geared for 6-11 year olds.  Each month has a new, surprise theme.  The boxes are beautifully packaged in tissue paper, and everything is neatly organized.  Our surprise theme was treasures.

The box came with so many goodies.  First there is the treasure fact sheet, which was placed on top of the tissue paper.  Underneath was a sticker book, chapter book, treasure chest with painting supplies, fools gold, treasure map and supplies, popcorn snack, bracelet, and direction cards.  You can tell the creators put a lot of thought into what went into the box.  My 7 year old wanted to do everything right away.

She started off with the treasure chest, and got right to work painting it.  They included absolutely EVERYTHING you need for this project.  There was an instruction sheet, treasure chest, smock, gems, glue, paint, paint pan, and a paintbrush.  I loved that I didn't need to help with anything.  She had all the materials that she needed.  It was great to have her working independently on a fun task, while I cooked dinner without being disturbed.

For the second activity there was a paper to make 2 different maps on, colored pencils, tree pencil, eraser, bag and fools gold.  The direction sheet said to put the fools gold in the burlap bag, hide it, and then use the materials to draw a map to its location.  Addie had a lot of fun creating her map, and her little sister got to keep the fools gold when she found it.

The girls have been having fun making scenes with the stickers, the popcorn was devoured within minutes, and the book has been making an excellent read aloud at bed time. Surprise Ride is definitely one of  the nicest monthly subscription box I've come across, but it's also more pricey than most.  You can tell there is a lot of thought and care put into the boxes.  I wish they had an add on for siblings, where you can get just the extra art material and snack instead of buying a whole new box.  My guess is that will be something they work on developing in the future.  I think this is a great product for busy parents who are looking to give their kids some independent activities that don't revolve around a screen.  Surprise Ride also has boxed themes for different countries, which would be great to take along on a vacation for a little bit of down time.   If you're interested in trying Surprise Ride, just click here.