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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The Lion and the Mouse

The start of a new month brings the start of a new theme with Mother Goose Time.  This months theme is fables and folktales.  Day 1's topic was The Lion and the Mouse. 

We started by talking about ways to help others.  Then the girls took turns acting like lions and mice and we sang "The Lion and the Mouse" to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell."

Elli acting like a lion

We talked about ways to help animals, and reasons an animal might need help.  Next I brought out the book of the month.  Every month comes with a new book.  This month the book also has a read along CD.  While the girls listened to The Lion and the Mouse I wrapped up some animals they had picked out earlier with yarn.  When the story was done the girls worked on rescuing their animals by using scissors to cut them free from the yarn.  They LOVED this and had me rewrap the animals to do it all over again once they finished.  After they were done we read The Lion and the Mouse one more time.

After all the animals were rescued we talked about things you can catch.  Then the girls practiced tossing beanbags into bags.  When they were done with that they wrote their names on their name tags.  Using an idea from the Little Goose book I taped yarn to each tag and the girls took turns running around trying to catch their name.

 Something new that came with this months box was a baseline assessment kit.  It's a way to record a child progress and see what they may need more help with.  There are indicated activities everyday that you can use to evaluate.  Today's was watching them practice their writing and seeing how they are able to recognize letters and write their name.

Every month comes with a look and find poster.  The girls always love these.  They found the items on the provided magnifying glasses and then followed the directions on the back.

crawl like a turtle to something brown

We talked about how lions and mice look similar and different to one another. Then the girls made their own lion and mouse puppet.  We used them to retell the story of The Lion and the Mouse.

Elli didn't want to let her puppets go

 Addie finished the day up working on her more math and reading workbooks while Elli completed a tray play activity, using post-it strips to make a mane.

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