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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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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The Bundle of Sticks

Today's fable was The Bundle of Sticks.  We started off by talking about what it means to cooperate and then the girls worked together to stack blocks.We sang "Work Together" to the tune of "Row Your Boat" while building. 

We talked about what makes us feel strong. We listened to The Bundle of Sticks with the read along CD and then Addie answered the discussion questions.  We went outside and the girls tried lifting heavy logs.  When they couldn't lift them by themselves they worked together and were able to get them off the ground.

Addie couldn't quite get the log off the ground.

Together they were able to lift it.

After they were done lifting heavy things like other logs, rocks, and porch furniture we went and collected a pile of sticks.  The girls tried to break a bunch of sticks at once, but were unable to.  When they tried to break just one stick they were able to.  We slowly added sticks to see how many they could break at once.  Together the stick pile is stronger than an individual stick.  Then we used the sticks to play a game of pick up sticks.

They couldn't break all the sticks at once.

One stick was easier to break.

Playing a game of pick up sticks.

We went inside and the girls used the provided colored stick manipulatives and play-doh to build.  After they free built for awhile Addie used the spinner to see how many sticks to use in her creations.  Elli used number cards and practiced putting the correct number of sticks in her play-doh.

 We talked about things that make us happy.  I gave the girls paper strips that they used to make letter and numbers with.  Then the girls wrote their name and the names of family and friends and the strips (I wrote Elli's) and made them into chains.  Addie said hers was a love necklace, since it had all the people she loves the most on it.

Addie completed her more math and reading workbooks while Elli did her tray play activity from the Little Goose book.

We finished up by reading The Little Red Hen and talking about how it's important to cooperate and work together.

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