While we are not officially starting our 2017-2018 school year until next Monday, when your little boy asks you if you can do some Mother Goose Time, you pull out your lesson for next Monday and just decide to dive in early. Now, don’t get the wrong impression. My kids are not constantly asking me for school work! HA! Far from it. But when they are ready and especially with a fun curriculum like Mother Goose Time, it’s easy to pull out a lesson on the spur and get going. And so that is what we did!
We started out our lesson with the second Bible story from the Experience God add-on from Mother Goose Time. The theme this month is The Miracles of Jesus, and the memory verse for this month is “I praise You, God, for I am wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14. So we started out our time reviewing the verse and getting into our second Bible lesson, Jesus healing the blind man. (More on our first lesson here.)
Before I read the story (which was not necessarily new to Peter, but also not a story we often talk about), I asked Peter to tell me what he noticed about the picture. It was neat to see what details he picked up on, like the mud on Jesus’ tunic, and also the lines near the man’s eyes that brought attention to them.
I then proceeded to read the story, and then asked Peter to tell me what he could remember.
This was his super cute recap. (And my daughter’s hand at the very end, because like in real life, she needs to be a part of everything.)
We then practiced writing for Peter. I initially wrote his name and asked him to trace it, and then moved on to give instructions for Natalie. Since she can already write her name, I wanted her to just practice her spacing and handwriting. When I came back to check on Peter, who apparently didn’t quite get my instructions, he had started writing his name on his own, and was asking for an eraser because his second “e” was backwards. It was so sweet to see him writing on his own (something he usually groans about even at the suggestion of), and so we worked together for him to finish his name on his own, and then to go back and trace what I had written. It’s neat how what can seem like such a simple, 2 minute exercise like writing your name on a name tag, can become such a point of learning and instruction. It reminds me to slow down with them and see that we’re accomplishing a lot more than I think I often recognize.
So we continued on with Day 1 of My Amazing Body (September’s theme from Mother Goose Time), focusing on the Self-Portrait activity.
We briefly looked at the example print that was included and then discussed what features we wanted to include in our self-portrait. The activity actually calls for the kids to look in a mirror, which I think is great and we will probably try that again sometime, but this time around, I decided I thought it would be fun to see how the kids see themselves without their reflection freshly in their minds.
Peter got started right away, starting with his face and then his shirt (which he quickly told me was his green shirt with the race car on it), and then with his legs and hair. Although we didn’t really talk about our bodies, it was fun to see him a holistic portrait (minus the arms, which I had to remind him about). When I asked him why he chose to draw his whole body, he looked at me like he didn’t understand why he wouldn’t. I just love to catch a glimpse into their little minds.
Peter, by Peter. Note the backwards 6 for his date. I didn’t have the heart to correct him and I kind of love that we’re at the stage where letters and numbers are reversed.
Natalie, by Natalie. Of course, she is stylin’.
We then went into the living room for a little dance break and listened to the CD that was included in this month’s box. Day 1 recommends we listen to “Head to Toe,” and we continued on for a few other tracks before heading back to the table.
And then we finished off our lesson with Eric Carle’s From Head to Toe. I didn’t realize until we started reading it that we actually own this book upstairs, in a much smaller version, but this large one from the library was a great version with bright, colorful images. The kids had fun mimicking the poses on each page.
And this is a glimpse of what our school table usually looks like most mornings. As much as I love organization and tidiness, that is not what happens in the midst of the “schooling.” I have learned to embrace the mess, which doesn’t bother the kids one bit, and just allow our resources to be readily accessible during the lesson, not losing time (and their attention) to tidy up between activities. Maybe we will get to a smoother flow in the future, but for now, this is our reality.
As an official Mother Goose Time Blog Ambassador, I receive curriculum in exchange for posting about our honest and authentic experiences with the curriculum. Click here for more information on Mother Goose Time.
September’s School Theme: My Amazing Body
JennyWhile we are not officially starting our 2017-2018 school year until next Monday, when your little boy asks you if you can do some Mother Goose Time, you pull out your lesson for next Monday and just decide to dive in early. Now, don’t get the wrong impression. My kids are not constantly asking me for school work! HA! Far from it. But when they are ready and especially with a fun curriculum like Mother Goose Time, it’s easy to pull out a lesson on the spur and get going. And so that is what we did!
We started out our lesson with the second Bible story from the Experience God add-on from Mother Goose Time. The theme this month is The Miracles of Jesus, and the memory verse for this month is “I praise You, God, for I am wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14. So we started out our time reviewing the verse and getting into our second Bible lesson, Jesus healing the blind man. (More on our first lesson here.)
Before I read the story (which was not necessarily new to Peter, but also not a story we often talk about), I asked Peter to tell me what he noticed about the picture. It was neat to see what details he picked up on, like the mud on Jesus’ tunic, and also the lines near the man’s eyes that brought attention to them.
I then proceeded to read the story, and then asked Peter to tell me what he could remember.
This was his super cute recap. (And my daughter’s hand at the very end, because like in real life, she needs to be a part of everything.)
We then practiced writing for Peter. I initially wrote his name and asked him to trace it, and then moved on to give instructions for Natalie. Since she can already write her name, I wanted her to just practice her spacing and handwriting. When I came back to check on Peter, who apparently didn’t quite get my instructions, he had started writing his name on his own, and was asking for an eraser because his second “e” was backwards. It was so sweet to see him writing on his own (something he usually groans about even at the suggestion of), and so we worked together for him to finish his name on his own, and then to go back and trace what I had written. It’s neat how what can seem like such a simple, 2 minute exercise like writing your name on a name tag, can become such a point of learning and instruction. It reminds me to slow down with them and see that we’re accomplishing a lot more than I think I often recognize.
So we continued on with Day 1 of My Amazing Body (September’s theme from Mother Goose Time), focusing on the Self-Portrait activity.
We briefly looked at the example print that was included and then discussed what features we wanted to include in our self-portrait. The activity actually calls for the kids to look in a mirror, which I think is great and we will probably try that again sometime, but this time around, I decided I thought it would be fun to see how the kids see themselves without their reflection freshly in their minds.
Peter got started right away, starting with his face and then his shirt (which he quickly told me was his green shirt with the race car on it), and then with his legs and hair. Although we didn’t really talk about our bodies, it was fun to see him a holistic portrait (minus the arms, which I had to remind him about). When I asked him why he chose to draw his whole body, he looked at me like he didn’t understand why he wouldn’t. I just love to catch a glimpse into their little minds.
Peter, by Peter. Note the backwards 6 for his date. I didn’t have the heart to correct him and I kind of love that we’re at the stage where letters and numbers are reversed.
Natalie, by Natalie. Of course, she is stylin’.
We then went into the living room for a little dance break and listened to the CD that was included in this month’s box. Day 1 recommends we listen to “Head to Toe,” and we continued on for a few other tracks before heading back to the table.
And then we finished off our lesson with Eric Carle’s From Head to Toe. I didn’t realize until we started reading it that we actually own this book upstairs, in a much smaller version, but this large one from the library was a great version with bright, colorful images. The kids had fun mimicking the poses on each page.
And this is a glimpse of what our school table usually looks like most mornings. As much as I love organization and tidiness, that is not what happens in the midst of the “schooling.” I have learned to embrace the mess, which doesn’t bother the kids one bit, and just allow our resources to be readily accessible during the lesson, not losing time (and their attention) to tidy up between activities. Maybe we will get to a smoother flow in the future, but for now, this is our reality.
As an official Mother Goose Time Blog Ambassador,
I receive curriculum in exchange for posting about our honest and authentic experiences with the curriculum.
Click here for more information on Mother Goose Time.