Mother Goose Time, Making Learning Fun

Mother Goose Time makes teaching your preschool aged child at home easy and fun.  One of the things I love about their curriculum is how easy it is to just open and go.  I don't have to spend hours looking up themed ideas on pinterest, and I also don't have to spend the time and money going to various stores to collect the supplies needed for different crafts and activities.  I also don't go through a ton of ink printing out worksheets.  Everything you need for a month of fun, engaging lessons is already provided.

Each month comes with 20 lessons surrounding one common theme, all individually packaged for ease.  This months theme is camping.  For day 15 we learned about mushrooms.  I opened the daily bag ahead of time and cut out the cards and pattern pieces.

I skimmed the lesson plan book ahead of time, and then was ready to go.  It's that easy.  Each day is broken up into circle time, 4 activities, a related book, and closing time.  

We always start each day with circle time.  This is when we talk about the weather, and place the date on the monthly calendar.  This month Elli has also been completing a new letter page in her my little journal before we start the bulk of the lesson.

Elli used the mushroom cards to work on patterning.  She's having fun learning a math concept.  

The girls used the provided craft materials to make their own mushroom crafts.  They love the art projefcts that come in every monthly box.

They also played edible mushroom.  I hid the vocabulary photo cards under bowl mushrooms.  If you picked the mushroom they got mixed up and we started again.  

Elli used playdough and rocks to make her own mushroom fields.  We also went outside on a mushroom hunt, but wound up getting distracted by ripe raspberries which needed to be eaten.

Another thing I love about Mother Goose Time is that it is customizable.  Elli gets the more math and literacy workbooks, since she has taken an interest in writing and doing basic math.  There are also add ons for babies and toddlers, a Christian add on, and also a dance add on.  You can tailor the curriculum to fit your child.

We've only been using the math and literacy add on for 2 months, but Elli is already showing even more interest in written words and figuring out what  sounds letters make.  

Often times our library doesn't have the suggested book of the day, but lots of times they can be found on youtube.  If not then I try to find a related book on the theme.  Kids learn best when they are engaged and having fun, and that is exactly what Mother Goose Time does.  My girls both love Mother Goose Time, even my 8 year old still likes to get involved in the lessons. 

Bears

 The Mother Goose Time lesson of that day that Elli chose to do was bears.  

During circle time we talked about the letter J and Elli completed the J page in her my little journal. She made finger print berries and pretended to mash them into jam for a bear.

Elli worked on counting by feeding a bear pom pom berries.  She would roll the pocket cube and feed the bear the same number of berries. She even worked on basic addition by rolling twice and adding up the total.  

She completed a dot to dot bear picture in her more math book to help with number recognition.

We played scare the bear.  We took turns picking cards, making the letter sound, and then moving the right number of spaces.  If you landed on a bear you had to yell to scare it away.  

Elli got some more literacy work by making her own baby bear book, which was in the more literacy workbook which we get as an add on.  

The invitations to create are Elli's favorite thing about Mother Goose Time.  She loves taking the materials and creating her own artwork.  Today she made a bear picture using the stencil that was provided.  

We finished with a book.

Raccoons

We've really been enjoying this months camping theme with Mother Goose Time.  Today we spent the day learning about raccoons.  Elli completed her letter R page in the my little journal.  

We used the geometric shapes from this months box to play a game.  I would hide a shape and the girls would try and remember what was missing. 

 The girls made their own raccoon masks.  They made up a game where we set out play food and they had to try to sneak past me and get it without getting caught.  If I was able to get them they'd be put in a cage made out of couch cushions.  They LOVED this game and played it for well over an hour and then played it again the following day.  

We went outside for a scavenger hunt and worked on counting in the process.

Elli completed the pages in her more math and literacy workbooks.

We finished up the day reading a book from the library.

Tents and Sleeping Bags

In continuing with Mother Goose Time's camping theme we spent 2 days learning about tents and sleeping bags.

We start each day by completing a page in the my little journal and adding the letter card to the book.  

Elli really likes the 3-D geometric shapes that came in this months box.  She used them to make shape imprints in play dough.  She also used them to make a play dough ice cream cone.

Elli made her own tent picture and also sewed a sleeping bag complete with a popsicle stick person.

We made a tent out of blankets and played tent troubles.  We took turn rolling the cube card and finding ways to solve the presented problem.  We also played a matching game using letter sounds and pictures.

Elli has also been working on the more math and literacy workbooks that she's getting as an add on. 

Backpacks

We just started a new month with Mother Goose Time.  The theme this month is camping and we started off by learning about backpacks.

This is a review month, so each day will have different letters to focus on.  Today the letter was B.  Elli completed the B page in her my little journal and added the letter card to the page.  She was very proud of herself when she was able to correctly write the letter B after trying a few times.  

Elli completed her new monthly name tag.

She used the look and find glasses to find different items on the monthly theme poster.  

This is our second month getting the more math and literacy workbooks, which is an add on offered by Mother Goose Time.  Elli has really been enjoying these workbooks, and they're great practice for beginning reading and math skills.

Elli made her own backpack out of a paper bag.  We went on a walk outside and collected nature items to add to the bag.  While walking we found a snake that Elli desperately wanted to put in her bag;  fortunately a car drove by, and while she was distracted it slithered away into the woods.  I can already tell this theme is going to be a favorite for us.  We love to camp and take a camping trip every summer for 5-6 days.