Summer School – Box Day!

Jenny

I am so excited to announce that we’ve decided to use the Mother Goose Time curriculum again as our official Pre-K curriculum for Peterman! We’ve been waiting until The Sweetness finishes first grade to start a new, longer learning routine with Peter (now that he’s a big boy four), and it’s finally here! Call us crazy, as most other families are counting down the days until summer break just as we are ramping up to start a new school year with Peter, but that is the flow of this household. A little crazy. Truthfully, we’ve just enjoyed a little hiatus from our usual school routine as we moved into our new home and have gotten our new footing here, and so we’re looking forward to a fun, fruitful summer!

One reason we chose to go with Mother Goose Time is because it is so hands-on (and super visually appealing)! Check out June’s Theme, Alphabet Island!

I have found that each day this week that we’ve pulled out our Mother Goose Time daily bags, both kids still want to stay at the table longer, and continue with their “free play” time making additional improvements or adjustments to their STEM creations & art projects. That speaks volumes to me, in and of itself.

When Day 1’s Topic, Island, called for water play, Peter stayed at the table an hour past our lesson time, continuing to explore what he could do with this month’s math manipulatives in his water tray. This was super handy because it allowed Natalie to do a little bit of her handwriting and reading practice while he was engaged, in the same room, with minimal interruptions. Can I get a Hallelujah? (I am pretty sure I heard angels singing in the background.) So far, it has been a total win for our family in this season!

And we all just love Box Day! I mean, look at how adorable this is (and the kids aren’t too bad, either)!

And then you open it up, and everything is already organized (swoon)!

This is my first box, which will include the Starter Kit (one time bag), and then all the other materials that I will continue to get each month (the Teacher Tool Bag, pictured below, that includes materials such as the Teacher’s guide and the monthly planning journal; the Circle Time bag, that includes materials that I can add to my Circle Time board or station each month, including letters of the month, new calendar pieces, theme poster, etc; and the 20 Daily bags that include each day’s topic poster, as well as the majority of materials needed for each day’s lesson plan (minus a few everyday household items, like glue, markers, and the like).

With all the materials already divided up and the lessons planned already so clearly laid out, I don’t have to spend long hours planning and compiling materials. Which means I am freed up to put my energy into teaching my kids and enjoying my time with them as they explore the materials. I have found that the extra time and energy it saves me on the front end allows for me to follow their ideas and moods on even given day to further personalize their learning.

I am a visual person, so I want to show you just what I experience on any given box day each month, as I pull out all the colorful materials and get excited about the time we’re going to get to enjoy together over the next few weeks. I mean, who doesn’t love getting mail?!

So we’ll explore Alphabet Island together in some upcoming posts, where I will share pictures of the contents of these fun little bags, and a few of our personal take-aways from the lesson plans.

Thanks for reading!

As an official Mother Goose Time Blog Ambassador,
I receive curriculum in exchange for posting about my honest and authentic experiences with the curriculum.
Click here for more information on Mother Goose Time.

Friends and Creative Play

Jenny

September is proving to a be a fun-filled, but FULL month for us. I was so excited when I found out how closely September’s Mother Goose Time theme, Friends and Feelings, was coordinating with a local homeschool co-op that we recently joined. One of our primary goals for joining this year was for Natalie and Peter to hvae some opportunities to be around other kids on a regular basis besides just Sunday mornings at church, now that our summer playdates have come to an end, and also to give Natalie specifically some opportunities to learn how to better acclimate to new environments. She’s very easily over-stimulated in large crowds and new places, and so it’s been very stressful for her (and us) even on Sunday mornings to drop her off in the large room for her new class, now that she has moved up to the Elementary-age ministry, Kid Motion. We knew that she needed some more opportunities to experience some change in safe ways and build up her confidence.

So needless to say, we’ve had a lot of discussions about making new friends and how she is feeling. And it’s one of those seasons, when my husband and I have been in much prayer about it, that it’s so apparent that God is responding and guiding us (as He always done, but sometimes I have a hard time recognizing it in the moment). He’s been so faithful to remind us that He is the Good Shepherd, and He will lead and guide us, providing all we need along the way. I have felt so helpless and ill-equipped to help her with these current struggles, and so it’s been a great reminder for me that I don’t have to have all the answers – He loves her so much and will take care of her. Sometimes through me and Jordan, sometimes through other things.

So moving on to our fun with this month’s curriculum. This post will be short and sweet, one of my favorite moments so far. We were doing the following activity called “Friend Puppets.”

It is pretty much how it sounds – we made these cute little puppets out of the provided materials (because Mother Goose Time is fabulous!). Before we got started on the exercise, Natalie had been playing with another little workbook, focusing on practicing with scissors and has these cute little items you can cut out and apply to background pictures. She had been working on cutting out ice cream scoops to add to a page full of ice cream cones when Peter decided to be a little creative with some of the remaining ice cream scoops that were left on the page.

I questioned him as I was helping him glue on his various accessories, asking if he wanted the ice cream on the front of the shirt instead of the back. And he quite clearly and adamantly told me that he wanted the ice cream “on the booty. Ice cream on the booty.”
I’m not quite sure what inspired this very specific action, but it was hilarious. And we felt he was pretty accurate as to where ice cream lands after you eat it.

Here are both Natalie’s (left) and Peter’s sets of puppets. Natalie chose to add pipeclearners for hair (not included in the provided materials) and a bow tie, and decided that the feathers were much better arms than hair. I love that she constantly thinks outside the box instead of just what is put in front of her to complete activities. It really challenges me and broadens my horizons, as I’m such a rule-follower and just try to recreate examples that are given to me.

And of course, we had to get a booty shot for full effect.

I just love this time with my kiddos, seeing their personalities expressed is ALL different kinds of ways.

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.

Individual Time

Jenny

As I’ve started this homeschooling journey, juggling my time, energy, and focus between my two kiddos has been a concern of mine. I can get easily over-stimulated when there are a lot of things happening at once, which is why the idea of trying to do the same curriculum with both littles this summer was a daunting idea at first. Thankfully my fears were quickly relieved once we got into the thing. Don’t get me wrong – there are still days when I feel more like a referee than a mom, let alone a teacher, but other days, we can find out our little crazy rhythm and it works for us.

However, it’s still my goal, and I pray it will continue to be something both the hubs and I can stick to consistently throughout the years, to spend individual time with our kids. I need to come up with a better name for it, but I’m talking about the precious one-on-one dates and special trips out, or moments where we are reading together or in Natalie’s case, making up stories together. Those are sweet times that I hope we can foster and make a priority as they grow up.

So, one way that I’ve found that Mother Goose Time has really helped provide a reminder for me about this is through the More Math and Literacy Workbooks. These are two resources available for kids transitioning out of preschool to work on separately from the daily topic or lesson plan for the day, although it beautifully flows because it’s all themed together.

When I see the workbooks with the rest of the curriculum, it is my cue and a personal reminder to schedule that time when just Natalie and I can sit at the kitchen table together and talk about these activities. And because of the nature of the book, it really encourages her independence as well, which allows for me to get a head-start on dinner prep or clean up breakfast dishes that hung around all morning into the afternoon. It’s also let to some fun discussion and been a neat time for me to watch her grow individually.

June’s Theme was Alphabet House, obviously hitting on the ABC’s as well as different types of homes, rooms and other things you find in a home, and even into responsibilities around the home. We’re a little ‘behind,’ but that’s the beauty of homeschool – we get to set our own pace.

Here are some fun pictures from today’s ‘individual time.’

A little unit study makes my heart happy!