Animal Babies

Children learn best through play, which is one of the reasons I love the Experience Preschool curriculum.  They make learning fun with engaging games and hands on activities.  I have been fortunate enough to use it with all 3 of my kids, and all 3 of them love "school time."  My girls are older now, but they still like to do the crafts and help their brother out with the activities that are too hard for him right now.  

Ronan doesn't know English well enough to be able to answer which animal he would like to hug the most; but we were still able to use the conversation cards to name the animals and talk about them.  He is picking up new words all the time, so these are good activities to increase his vocabulary.  Both the girls wanted to hug the kitten.  

We read the monthly book that is included in Experience Preschool, The Lion and the Beetle.  

Every monthly box also comes with a durable puzzle related to the book of the month.  These puzzles are too hard for Ronan right now, but luckily he has big sisters who can step in and help when needed.  

We looked at a picture of gorillas and Ronan got to use a comb to paint ovals to look like their fur.  He loves to paint, but did not like using the comb.  He wanted to switch to a paint brush and use more colors, so that's what we did.  The art projects are child directed, which leads to more creativity.  Art projects have always been one of my kids favorite parts of preschool curriculum, and Experience Preschool has a new craft project every day.  

Every month with Experience Preschool focuses on 3 different letters.  This month they are C, S and R.  Ronan is just learning the alphabet and doesn't recognize letters yet so we simplify things quite a bit.  He started by covering letters with the manipulatives from this months box.  Then he rolled the pocket cube and we talked about the different objects, and I had him repeat the names to me.  We're still finishing up January's monthly box because Ronan was really sick for a while and is just getting his energy back.  

Waiting For Babies

This month with Experience Preschool (formerly Mother Goose Time) we're learning about baby animals, which is always a fun topic.  Week one focused on waiting for babies.

As always we started the new theme with a name tag.  Learning to recognize and write their name is a skill all preschoolers should learn.  

Ronan worked on counting by rolling a dice and then rolling the same number of "piglets" out of play-dough and putting them on the mama pig mat.  He loves using play-dough, and working with it helps build muscles for fine motor skills.  The preschool curriculum from Experience Early Learning includes math games that make counting and other math skills fun.  

Experience Preschool includes the materials needed for the daily crafts.  Ronan made a cat mask, but refused to wear it.  Elli liked it so much that she used his as a pattern and made her own.  

We also spent a day learning about animals that hatch from eggs.  Ronan used a white crayon to decorate an egg shape, and then painted over it with water colors.  When you paint over the crayon the white lines show through.  

The shape of the month for Experience Preschool is the oval.  Ronan traced around rubber bands to make oval shapes.  Each month the preschool curriculum focuses on a different shape and color.  

Ronan collected eggs and then opened them to find hidden shapes, which are one of this months manipulatives.  

A Day of Mother Goose Time

 Mother Goose Time makes it easy to just open and go.  Very little prep work is required.  We don't always start at the same time, but we have a set routine we follow.  It makes it easy to transition from one task to the next when Elli knows exactly what to expect.  We always start with circle time.  This is when we look at the daily topic poster and discuss what we're learning.  We also sing songs and go over the weather and calendar.  

Sometimes there are short games to play during circle time, such as guessing what sounds animals make when they're in danger.  

I also use the daily coloring pages from member resources during circle time.

Once that's all done we start on the days lesson.

 There are usually a few games for the kids to play.  Today Elli worked on recognizing the letters and their sounds for Y, G and Q.  Games make literacy and math work more fun. 

Each day usually has either a make and play craft or an invitation to create.  Today Elli made a duck call.

Every day has a suggested book that ties in with the theme.  When we don't have the book and can't find it at the library I'll either find a different related book or see if I can find it being read on youtube.  

Elli loved playing Be Careful Bunny, and we played it multiple times.

Closing time is when we complete the my little journals and talk about what we learned.  It's also when we do the STEAM station ideas.  Today Elli played different instruments and listened to the sounds they make.  She really likes using the ukulele.  

We also receive add ons from Mother Goose Time that I incorporate into our day.  We use the dance n' beats at different times.  Sometimes Elli dances after breakfast while I clean up around the house, other times we do it for our closing time, and sometime she waits for her sister to get home from school so they can dance together.  Dance n' Beats comes with a DVD of choreographed dances for the songs on the monthly CD.  It also has a book with extra ideas.  Dancing is a great way to get the kids up and moving, all while having fun.  It helps increase their balance and coordination and enhance their gross motor skills. 

Staying Close to Adults

Today with Mother Goose Time we learned about staying close to your parents.  The girls played a math game using the pig counters from this months box.  They would put numbers in mud puddles and then add all the pigs to get a total.  We worked on adding, subtracting, and counting.

We talked about how animals stay in herds for safety and how it's important to stay with the group.  The girls used a photo of sheep for inspiration.  They were given cotton balls, markers, and festoons to create their own art work.

Elli used the cookie cutters and shape stamps from this months box to make herds of shapes in playdough. 

Carrying Babies on the Chest and in the Arms

Every monthly box from Mother Goose Time comes with a rhyme time poster.  This months rhyme was Rock-A-Bye Baby.  We talked about words that rhyme and recited the poem while Elli rocked her baby cat.

We did some more literacy work by focusing on the letter Y.  Elli would roll the cube and if the animal could carry it's babies in the arms then she would make a Y.

We talked about animals that swim fast and slow.  Elli held a baby on her chest, and then would swim fast if I held up the otter card, or slow if I held the manatee.

Addie loves the invitations to create that come every month.  She asks that I save them all for when she gets home from school.  For inspiration the girls were given a picture of a manatee and some shells, sand, and paper.  Elli wanted to make an otter, but Addie made a manatee.

Elli also made a gorilla during another invitation to create.  She got oval cutouts, paint, and a comb.  She used the comb to paint fur onto her gorilla, which she made out of the ovals.  She thought it was a lot of fun painting with a comb.

I wrapped up a 5 pound bag of flour in a blanket and gave it to Elli to pretend it was a baby.  Then we went around the house and tried to find things that weighed more than and less than the flour.

And as always, Elli colored the daily topic pictures that I printed from members resources online. 

Carrying Babies on the Back and in a Pouch

The girls and I have been having so much fun with this months Mother Goose Time theme.  This week we've been learning about how babies are carried.  We spent 2 days learning about carrying babies on the back and in a pouch.

We used the pattern blocks, one of the manipulatives from this months box, with the shape design mats.  The girls made different marsupials out of the shapes.  Elli also used them to feed her leopard, which she worked on carrying on her back.  I would call out a color and shape and she'd have to find it to feed the leopard.

I read the monthly participation story to Elli and she used the story telling set to retell the story.

Every month comes with a new I Can Read book.  Elli used the sight word pointers to find the words in the book.  These are great for beginning readers.

Elli worked on her find motor skills and letter recognition by completing the letter G page of her my little journal.

Elli made her own turtle.  When Addie got home from school she asked to make one as well.

The girls made their own pouches with joeys in them and then pretended to be kangaroos.

Every month online at the members resources there are daily coloring sheets.  The kids have been loving the pictures this month,