Doors and Windows

So far this month with Mother Goose Time we've been learning about different homes.  With week 2 we've started leaning about different rooms.  We started with doors and windows.  The girls used playing cards to try and build houses.  Addie made a few, but Elli just kept knocking them down before she could add to them.

 Then they made their own paper-bag houses.  This was such a cute idea, and they turned out so well.

working on a door

 The girls used the plastic key manipulatives to practice counting to 20.  We put them in piles of 5 and worked on skip counting.  We also worked on sorting them by color.  I also brought out the shape manipulatives and shape mats from last week to practice counting.   After they were done with that we used the keys to make imprints in kinetic sand. 

sorting by color

using the foam shapes to count

making key imprints

 We played guess which door, which the girls loved.  There were 12 doors that each had a different animal on the other side.  I put the doors on the floor and then said different characteristics until the girls could figure out which door needed to be opened.  They used the key manipulatives to pretend to unlock and open the doors, and then acted out the animal on the other side.

trying to figure out which door needs opened

pretending to be a kangaroo

We had a lesson fail today, which doesn't ever happen with Mother Goose Time.  The girls were supposed to use their breathe to fog up the windows and practice writing letters on them. Unfortunately it was so hot out that we couldn't get them to fog up. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Review and Giveaway: Little Passports versus Top Secret Adventures

A few months ago I wrote a blog post in exchange for a free month from Little Passports.  I selected the world edition and had high hopes that it would be a good way for Addie to learn more about the world.  We received the explorer kit and the country pack for Brazil.  The explorer kit comes with a world map, suitcase, passport, postcard, letter, and a few stickers.  Addie loved it.

explorer kit

However the country pack was lacking in material.  Each month you get 3 stickers, a post card, a letter, a small souvenir (in this case a rock) and a piece of paper (it had a recipe, word search, and word scrambler).  The price ranges from $11.95 to $13.95 a month and to me it wasn't worth the price at all.  You basically get some bits of paper you could make yourself or find online, an item worth next to nothing and also a code for online "games."  The games were trivia questions with multiple choice answers and a map you clicked on and read facts about.  The only actual game was kicking a soccer ball into a goal, and there are free soccer games online that work much better.  Addie loved getting the package in the mail but the contents didn't hold her interest at all.  And she usually gets overly excited about everything.  I was an affiliate for Little Passports, meaning I receive a small commission if anyone buys their product after using my link, but after seeing what you get I deleted my account with them.  I've read so many great reviews about Little Passports, but I'm assuming most of them are from other affiliate members trying to make money.  It's a great concept, just lacking in value.

monthly country kit

We also received Top Secret Adventure by Highlights to try out.  You can get your first month for free, with just paying shipping costs, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out.  This also comes with a world map, passport stamps and passport.  You also get a spy ring, which is like a carabiner that you add country key-chains to.  Addie loves this and wears it on her belt loop when we're at home.  I decided to try Brazil since that's the country Little Passports starts with.  Every month you get a case file portfolio with a 32 page puzzle book, villain cards, country guide book, key chain, and assignment letter. 

contents of the portfolio

Addie LOVES this kit.  We've already spent numerous days working through the puzzles trying to complete the top secret mission.  I like that the puzzles have you reference the guide book to find answers.  Addie has already learned quite a bit about Brazil and we're not even halfway done.  I also like that this is something that can take multiple weeks to work through as opposed to the 15 minutes it took to complete the Little Passport activities.  After your initial free month, you can get a new mission every month for $17.40.  Top Secret Adventures is a great way to get kids interested in and learning geography.

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY

If you would like to get your own Top Secret Adventures Brazil kit enter below.  This is only for the Brazil kit with portfolio, puzzle book, guide book, key chain, and villain cards.  The starter pack which has the map, passport, spy ring and stickers is not included.  This giveaway will be open from 6/13/15-6/20/15.  Must be 18 years or older to enter to win, and a resident of the continental USA. Void where prohibited by law.

Entry-Form

Houseboats and Castles

We just finished up our first week of alphabet house with Mother Goose Time, and so far the girls are loving it.  Each day we start off with circle time.  An added feature this month is an alphabet house that the girls add a letter to every day.

Addie never realized that some people live on boats.  She thought either living on a boat or taking a vacation on one would be fun.  The weather was beautiful so I grabbed the bag for day 4 and we took it out to the boat.  I love that each day is separated into its own bag so you can just grab and go. We used shape manipulatives to make houses, put different objects in water to see what sinks and floats, and also made a boat out of foil and tried to sink it with coins.

The girls loved castle day.  They made crowns that they wound up wearing multiple days in a row.  Anytime a craft has glitter or gems the girls will love it. 

Dragons are one of Addie's favorite things.  Her room is decorated with dragons, last year she wanted a dragon birthday cake, and she has a lot of dragon books and stuffed dragons.  So when I said we were making a dragon puppet that we would be using the rest of the month she was thrilled.  We talked about Poland and learned about the Wawel Castle, which has a tunnel that many believe leads to a dragon's den.  I made a tunnel for the dragon and after the girls were done playing in it we built a cave and watched How to Train Your Dragon.

We wrapped up the day reading a book about castles, building castles out of blocks, and completing workbooks.

An InLinkz Link-up

Nancy Larson Science 1

Disclosure: I received this product for free in exchange for my complete and honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Addie loves to look at pinterest for science experiments and craft ideas.  It was on one such search that she saw a picture of the Nancy Larson Science 1 complete curriculum.  She loved everything about it and asked if she could have it for Christmas.  I researched the program and read every review I could find, and I have to admit, I was impressed. 

 

Nancy Larson currently has 5 levels available with a sixth in the works.  Each level has a recommended age range, with science 1 being for ages 5-8.  The complete curriculum has EVERYTHING you need to teach science for the year.  There is a scripted teachers manual, student workbooks, resource materials, relevant books, and all sorts of hands on items to help enhance the lessons.  I am so thrilled to be given the opportunity to review this curriculum, but I think Addie is even more excited.

The topics we will be covering are:

-Describing the life stages of human beings

-Observing Trees

-Exploring sunlight, water and soil

-Investigating animals and their habitats

-Discovering what is inside of our bodies

-Examining the characteristics and life cycles of insects

Addie is most excited for the chance to use the provided ladybug and butterfly houses complete with larvae coupons.  We currently have a praying mantis egg that we are waiting to see hatch and we have done the caterpillar to butterfly in the past.  She loves learning about insects and she frequently goes on bug hunts.  I love that this science set provides so many hands on opportunities for learning.  But the best part of the curriculum has to be how excited it makes Addie.  She has already been begging to start the lessons.  What better way to capitalize on a child's desire to learn than by making it fun and interactive?  Stay tuned for follow up posts throughout the year on how Nancy Larson is working for us.   I'd love to share all the pros of the curriculum with you right now, but feel I need to actually use it before I can list them.

Read about our experience with Nancy Larson so far here.

RVs and Hotels

Today we took our Mother Goose Time lesson to the car.  The topic was RVs and Hotels.  I started by having the girls pack their suitcases with pillows, blankets, slippers and a stuffed animal.  Then we headed out to complete our lesson in the back of our car, which was the closest we could get to an RV.

All packed and ready to go.

We talked about different places you can sleep while traveling.  Then the girls completed an rv shape puzzle.

We talked about different reason you would need to stop if traveling in a car or RV.  We used tape to work together and create a road and then added road sings along the route.  The girls used the toy cars we brought outside with us to drive around and then stop at designated areas.  They liked this so much that once we came back inside Addie made another road and they sat and took turns driving the cars on it.

We also spent quite a bit of time talking about the different types of homes animals build.  The girls drew their dream home on the front of their my little journals.  Addie said hers would have an indoor pool and a clinic for animals.

Tomorrows topic is houseboats.  Since the girls had so much fun having the lesson out in the car, I'm hoping the weather will be nice enough to have our lesson on the boat. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Houses and Apartments

We've started a new month with Mother Goose Time, and that means a new theme.  This month's theme is the alphabet house.  The girls loved last months growing garden theme so much that a lot of our lessons wound up getting extended by a day or two, so we weren't quite ready to move on.  I'm hoping to finish some of the lessons we didn't get to when we have extra time this month. We started off with circle time.  This month there is a new feature, a house with a different letter on every piece.  Each day the girls will get to add 1-2 letters, building the entire house by the end of the month.  On the first day of every new theme the girls get a name tag.  This was the first time Addie was able to correctly write our last name without any help. She was so happy to show me that she remember how to spell it correctly.

We also always get a monthly theme poster with look and find glasses.  The girls both always love this.  They find the items on the front of the magnifying glasses and then on the back there are questions/activities.

pretending to be a sleeping owl

The girls also got to complete an art project.  They painted a house cutout.  After the houses were dry they were able to add our house number and also any other details they wanted.  Addie already knows our address, but this was a great way to reinforce and review it.  They both had a lot of fun making the houses;  I think they liked using different brushes than what we usually use.

We also read the 3 Little Pigs and We Were Tired Of Living In a House. 

Day 2's topic was apartments.  The girls each got an elevator with different floors separated by color.  They were given number cards in different colors and then found the corresponding letter "living" on the color and floor number they picked.  There was a provided alphabet sheet to write down the letters as they were found.  Addie doesn't like writing, but had so much fun with this she asked if we could save the elevator and do it again.  We'll have to use blank paper to write the letters on next time.  I love that she was practicing writing her letters, but didn't even mind since it was like a game. Elli just practiced matching the colors up on her apartment building.

 Every month Mother Goose Time provides a new book.  This months book was Goldilocks.  I loved that it was a different spin on a classic story.  Goldilocks's room is so messy she can't find her little bear.  She winds up having a dream where she cleans up everything in a bear families' house and when she wakes up she finds her bear.  She also learns that it is important to keep her room clean.

Next we talked about living in a city versus the country.  In the city people frequently live in apartments because they can hold more people.  There isn't enough room for everyone to have their own house.  To demonstrate this the girls put 2 houses on 1 piece of paper (country) and then 20 on another (city). 

The girls also added the rabbits, from last months manipulative pack, to the apartments.  They spent almost an hour reconfiguring the building with the rabbits and trying to figure out the best way to hold them all.

The tallest apartment is 89 stories tall.  The girls tried to stack blocks as high as possible.  This proved to be very difficult with a 2 year old who likes to knock things down.

Destroyed by a 2 year old

 Addie decided it would be more fun to live in an apartment than a house because there would be all kinds of people she could be friends with.  Addie worked on her math and reading workbooks while Elli put the rabbits into an egg carton apartment.

Tray play activity from Little Goose book.

 Every month there is a list of corresponding books to use each day.  Unfortunately our library rarely has any of the books mentioned, so we read Eddie's Kingdom instead.

An InLinkz Link-up

The Art of Learning

When most people think of art they think of the visual arts, but it is so much more than that.  The arts encompasses music, dance, drama, culinary art, media art, and visual art.  So basically a bunch of things my girls love.  One of the great things about Mother Goose Time is that so many aspects of the arts are included in every lesson.  Of course there are art projects involving glue, markers, paints, etc.  But they incorporate more than just the visual arts.  Each day we start with circle time and sing songs.  There are also usually finger play or opening song ideas that involve acting out the lyrics.  My girls always love to get up and moving which is why we also receive the dance n' beats DVD.  We usually use it at the end of the lesson.  Over the past few weeks my girls have pretended to plant seeds, acted like worms, and even pretended to run their own produce shop.  One of their favorite dramatic play games was keeping toy rabbits from eating their produce, and they've played it numerous times since the first day we did it.  Addie has helped me cut fruits and vegetables and even started making her own mini pizzas with different vegetable toppings.  One of her favorite things we did this month was when we took a field trip to a local store and I let her use my camera to take pictures.  Children learn when they're having fun, and with Mother Goose Time my girls always have fun.  In fact they have so much fun that they never want to stop.  Addie is always begging to do more and I know once Elli starts talking better she'll be saying the same thing. 

working on a culinary treat