Grandparents

We finished up week one of Mother Goose Time's me and my family theme by learning about grandparents. 

During circle time Elli pointed out the similarities and differences between the grandparents on the monthly theme poster.  

 The recommended book for the day was Thunder Cake, which I was able to find on youtube.

After hearing the story Elli got to make storm cakes.  It took a very long time for her to peel the potato, but she was so proud that she did it all herself.  I boiled the potato and some carrots until they were soft.  Elli used her hands to crush and pound the food in a plastic bag until it was like a pancake, then we fried it up.  She said it was delicious and now wants them every day with lunch.

We talked about why people might wear glasses.  Then Elli got to design her own pair of "Grandma's Glasses."  She loved wearing these around the house and showing them off once they were done.

We played a few round of family dominoes together.  Elli had fun matching the pictures.  It's also great practice for taking turns.

Every day has a tinker and scrap idea.  These are times when you can leave out materials and the kids get to use them however they want.  Today I left out a tray of pipe-cleaners, beads and other odds and ends.  The girls used them to make jewelry.

Elli worked on completing the letter a in her my little journal.  Next week we'll be learning all about feelings.

Setting Up Mother Goose Time

 September marks the beginning of the school year with Mother Goose Time.  The first box of the year comes with an all new circle time display.  I use a smaller trifold board that doesn't hold everything, so I just pick the stuff I know will get the most use.  I even kept some of the things from last year that I liked, such as the days of the week.  We use the display every day during circle time to review the days of the week, count on our calendar, and talk about the weather.  When we're done it folds up and gets stored in a closet.

Also included in the first box are scheduling pieces.  I haven't figured out where to put these yet, but have just been setting them out in the order we will be using them for the day. I've only just started using them and it has been making the day go a lot smoother.  Whenever we finish an activity Elli runs over to see what is next.

I changed the way I have been storing the daily bags.  Previously I used a rolling cart, but now I just keep everything in the monthly box, stood up vertically for easy access.  

I stopped using our rolling cart to store Mother Goose Time materials, because it now stores all of our art materials.  The girls have been loving the invitations to create so much that I wanted to put all the materials within easy reach.  This way they can freely create throughout the day whenever inspiration strikes.

Since making everything more accessible my girls have already created numerous projects all by themselves.  Addie loves being able to use the hot glue gun whenever she wants, and has created a reindeer and a helicopter that also goes in water since getting free reign on the supplies.  I love seeing the creative things that the girls come up with.

Dad

Day 4 of Mother Goose Time's me and my family theme was Dad.

We always start our school day with circle time.  We go over the weather and calendar.  Elli also looked at the monthly theme poster and found the dad, who was buried under a bunch of buttons.  

We used the buttons for a math game.  We took turns rolling the included dice and adding the corresponding number of buttons to our shirts until we had 10.  After that Elli separated the buttons by color.

Every month we get the dance n' beats add on.  Elli loves getting up and moving to the catchy songs.

Elli decorated clothespins to look like people and built them houses.  She played with these for a very long time and also wound up building an apartment building for them.  She had so much fun with her newly made people that she asked to add them to her block bin to use all the time.  Such a simple idea and it will be sure to provide hours of entertainment in the future.

 I saved the invitation to create for when Addie would be home from school, since I know how much she loves art.  The girls looked at a picture of keys for inspiration and made their own pictures.  They both cut doors with key holes out of paper.  Addie attached hers to another piece of paper so they could open like real doors.  The glittery door was the entrance to a magical world.

The girls played Father May I.  They would roll the provided cube and then ask to do the funny walk.  They had a lot of fun with this game and we played it for a very long time.

We finished up with a book.

Mom

We just finished up our third day with Mother Goose Time's me and my family theme.  So far the girls and I are loving it.  During circle time the girls used the looking glasses to find different things on the monthly theme poster.  The back of each looking glass has prompts for the kids, such as bark like a dog.  Every monthly box comes with a new poster and looking glasses, and my girls always love them.

Each month also comes with a new book.  This months story was Little Red Riding Hood and the Lonely Wolf.  It was a cute story about the wolf wanting a family, with adorable pictures.

After we read the book the girls used the cookie cutters from this months box to make play dough cookies.

The girls also made with own picnic baskets.  We took them outside and they took turns pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf chasing her.

The girls also completed the covers of their my little journals, which they will work on all month.

We finished up with reading a library book about moms and dads.

Brother and Sisters

This week with Mother Goose Time we're learning all about family.  Today the topic was brothers and sisters.  We talked about the difference between a brother and a sister.  During circle time the girls looked at the monthly theme poster and decided who could be a brother and who could be a sister.

The book for the day was Owl Babies, which we were able to watch on youtube.

After watching the video the girls studied an owl photo ans used the provided materials for their invitation to create.  These are open ended art stations that let the kids use their imaginations.  This is the second one we've done so far and the girls are loving them.  For today they were both given a piece of black paper and then a pile of cotton balls, a paper bag, sticks and some brown paint.  Both girls made their bags into owl puppets.  Addie used sticks to add a nest for her owl.  Elli glued a bunch of cotton balls on her paper and said it was a bonfire to keep her owl puppet warm.  

Next the girls played design a sibling.  They would roll the included cube and then put whatever shape it landed on into the provided magnetic puzzle.

The monthly rhyme time poster was Jack and Jill.  Addie read the poster out loud and Elli worked on identifying words that rhyme.  

Family Tree

 We started the Me and My Family theme for Mother Goose Time a few days early.  September is the beginning of the new school year and Mother Goose Time has made some minor tweaks to their program that make it even better, as if that was even possible.  For day 1 we started by learning about family trees.

The teacher guide has been slightly changed, making it even easier to use.  Now the recommended story and the daily stations are added right to the lesson page. 

During circle time the girls completed their name tags.  I write with highlighter on the tags and Elli traces it.  Addie has been trying to learn cursive, so I wrote her name in cursive for her to trace.  

For the circle time finger play the girls would pick a number apple card and then act out Who Shook The Tree.

One of the included supplies in this months box was this cute set of rubber stamp people and an ink pad.  The girls love using stamps so I know these will be used a lot in our house.

We talked about the different family members who make up our family.  The girls drew pictures of a house and then used the stamps to add people to their scenes.  After the pictures were done the girls explained where the people were located, using words like next to, under, etc.  One of the new features for this year with Mother Goose Time is a portfolio for each child.  This was stared as a piece of work to save and to assess how well positional vocabulary was used.

Invitations to create are also new this year, and it's only the first day, but I already love them.  The girls get a photo to study and then various art supplies.  There are some prompts, like tearing up paper, or using hands to make leaves, etc.  What the girls create with the supplies is entirely up to them.  This focuses on the process, not the project. The girls really had fun making their own pictures.  Initially I thought Addie might have a hard time since she always tries to recreate exactly what the sample crafts look like, but she said she loved being able to make what she wanted without any guidelines to follow.  She even suggested they go outside and gather real leaves to add to the pictures.  I like that they got to use their imaginations and get as creative as they want.

One of the letters for the month is A.  I traced the letter A outside in the sand and the girls walked the outline.  They also worked on kicking a ball, that we pretended was a large apple, around the letter A.  I'm so excited to see what the rest of the month brings.  The girls had such a great time with the days lesson.