A Mother Goose Time Lesson

Mother Goose Time Preschool Curriculum has been such a blessing to my family already! We have only been homeschooling for about a month now and we are having a blast! Many of my friends have asked about MGT, so I thought I would dedicate a post specifically to explaining the curriculum.

The first thing that every mom will want to know is, how much work outside of learning will it take? I needed short prep/cleanup times and this is one of the specific reasons I chose MGT. They send everything to your door! A box arrives once a month will all the lesson plans and project supplies you need. Sometimes certain lessons will need supplemental supplies, but most of them can already be found in your home. Phew!

Ok. Let's dive in. Every month in MGT has a theme that is broken into weeks and days. The month of September was all about Friends and Feelings. This week was all about the different ways we communicate and the lesson I will be sharing with you will be all about technology and how we use it to communicate. The kids have loved this month!

Every lesson is perfectly planned and written in a way that is easy to understand and communicate. I love that MGT leaves room for me to be creative in my teaching as well! There isn't a "script," just instructions on questions to ask or things to point out. They have an amazing video online about the teacher guide to help you navigate your first couple times through. It is super easy, especially once you all settle into a routine.

Everyday comes with a bag of supplies that connect with the lesson. There you will find your art supplies, learning tools, and anything else you'll need that day. They have another video online explaining what you might find in those bags daily.

Circle Time and Community Challenge

Ok. Let's break it down further. Each part of the lesson is so fun! I'm excited to share it with you. Everyday we start with "circle time" and the "community challenge." Here are some photos and videos of Jonathan (age 4) and Hope (age 2) participating in the activities. One of the activities was a little over Hope's head, but she participated and had a good time regardless.

Ready to Learn!

Putting on the date

Telling Mom the day of the week

Pointing to letters as we sing the "ABCs"

Creative Corner

We usually do an art project or some sort of writing next. Today the kids got to make their own computer. They had so much fun! And they learned about the parts of the computer as they went. Jonathan had fun telling his dad about his computer that evening, and looking at dad's while he worked.

Small Group Math

Next we usually do some sort of math game. The kids love the tangrams that MGT sent and it has truly helped them with remembering their shapes. I really appreciate that the tangrams feel like toys and less like tools, but are so good for learning too! Jonathan and I did the word problems together, while Hope played and built with her tangrams. Note to self: Have Jonathan build a creation AFTER the word problems. He did not want to destroy his beautiful creation in order to solve those problems. 

Read a Story

After our math game, we always read a book. MGT has an amazing book list that suggests books for every lesson. I go on my computer and put the books on hold at the library, and we have amazing books that coincide with our daily lessons. Today it was, "The Bernstein Bears and the Computer Trouble." If I can't find the book at the library, youtube is a GREAT way to show the kids new books! I found this book on Youtube as well, so they got to hear it twice! Once from me, and once from a reader online. They love it!

Table Top Literacy

After we read a book, we usually do some more literacy work. They loved this game, and I got to see how much Hope knew! She is really catching on! They could play this one on their own once I got them started. So great!

Steam Station

Steam Station

Everyday, there is a station where the children can be creative on their own and investigate further. We adjusted this station a little and had them actually video chat with one another. Jon happened to be home this day (a rare occurrence), so we decided to have the children join their father and Facetime one another from another room in house. They had so much fun during this time! We FaceTime with family all the time, so it was nothing new to them, but it was fun to chat with one another.

Closing Time

We always end our school time with a song and dance. It is a great way to end on a positive note and the kids really love it! 

Well, there you have it! A Mother Goose Time lesson in the Shader home. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me! Or you can always reference the website, www.mothergoosetime.com. Every night before bedtime we ask our children what their favorite part of the day was, and quite often it will be school time! I am so thankful our first experience with homeschooling has been so positive.

"Right Away, All the Way, and With a Happy Heart"

When I was student teaching in my education training (nearly 10 years ago now! 😱), I had the amazing opportunity to teach with a wonderful Master Teacher. He taught first grade, and I learned more from him than I ever thought possible. He instructed me about educating students in a classroom, and so much of that carries over into motherhood! He had a quote in his classroom that he used with his students all the time. Obey, "Right away, all the way, and with a happy heart!" The students responded so well to it, I was astonished at how well the children obeyed, along with the discipline and direction Mr. Jauregui gave them. In his classroom, the students responded to his instruction "right away" (immediately), "all the way" (working at the task until it was finished) and "with a happy heart" (without questioning or complaining).

When you think about it, "Right away, all the way, and with a happy heart," is a Biblical principle! I was in church on Sunday, and the pastor was teaching on Abram and Sarai, and how they packed up their bags immediately after God called them to a different path (Genesis 12). Abram and Sarai didn't question God's calling, they followed "right away, all the way, and with a happy heart!" They demonstrated their faith and thankfulness to Him, with obedience.  There are so many other stories in the Bible like this one. This is the kind of response the Lord wants from us! (John 14:15) He wants obedience and faith to be an immediate reaction on our part... And if you think about it, how much time and grief would we be saved from if we just obeyed?!

I imperfectly implement this now, with my own children. And by imperfectly, I mean, obedience is HARD! My children and I are not perfect. Just when it seems like we have this down, the complaining/whining kicks back in, or my instructions are ignored, or the job is only half done. This will certainly be something that we will be working on for many years to come. I decided to spend the week directly teaching this kind of obedience, along with the Mother Goose Time curriculum, specifically with our clean-up time.

I have been saying this quote to my children since Jonathan was about  2 years old, so they were both very familiar with it. But seeing that directly teaching (and re-teaching) is necessary in order to clearly communicate expectations, I decided it was time to focus on it again. We did this during our circle time in the morning.

All ready for circle time!

Our circle time board

During this time, I taught what each part of the quote meant for them. I even had them memorize the quote themselves and recorded it with my phone. They had so much fun recording it and then watching themselves say it again. They especially loved being silly while saying it.

Then it came time to practice! Throughout the lessons, we took time to clean-up our messes and made sure to implement/say "Right away, all the way and with a happy heart" as we were doing so.

Putting markers away

Mother Goose Time comes with some amazing resources and tools to help with the learning process, and when we finish, we need to put them away. Jonathan loves working with these tangrams and it offered an excellent time to practice!

This quote has been so helpful to me in my business, my motherhood and in my own spiritual walk! I will be forever thankful for my wonderful Master Teacher, for not only teaching me how to be a good teacher, but also how to be a good mother. And I am so grateful to MGT for giving me the opportunity and direction to teach my own children.

www.mothergoosetime.com

Differentiating A Mother Goose Time Activity

The kids and I began our homeschool preschool a couple weeks ago and we are SO excited to be sharing it with you all!

One of the BEST parts about the Mother Goose Time curriculum is the lesson plan! They send all the lesson plans, along with the supplies for the plan, to me in the mail! They have wonderful activities, art projects, literacy and math games. It is seriously so much fun! And basically gives direction and structure to their learning.

A Mother Goose Time Lesson Plan

The activity the kids loved the MOST this week was the "Letter Slap." They sent two copies of the alphabet to me along with this lesson. All I needed to do was cut them out and supply the fly swatter. SO EASY!!! And I found that this was an extremely easy lesson to differentiate for my children's abilities.

Letter Slap by Mother Goose Time

Jonathan (my 4 year old) is just on the cusp of reading. He knows all his letter names and sounds. He can recognize all his letters and is just now beginning to blend sounds together to decode simple words. Hope (age 2) is just beginning to recognize letters and knows a few sounds.

For Jonathan, I started by showing him the letters he should slap and he would tell me the name and the sound and then slap that letter (He loved this part!) This was WAY too easy for him, so after a few turns like that, I would say (without showing him) "Slap the letter M." He would slap it and proceed to tell me the sound. After a few turns that way, I would say, "Slap the letter that makes the 'fffffffff' sound," and he would proceed to slap it and tell me the name. This kind of differentiated instruction tells me that he knows his letter names and sounds very well! He can recall names and sounds without struggle.

One of the best parts about homeschooling:
Not wearing a shirt! 

Slap that letter!

There are so many ways to differentiate this activity alone! You could give them a short decodable word and they could slap a series of letters. If your little one is struggling, just show them the letter to slap and have them slap the matching one. This is what I did with Hope, as she is just beginning to understand the letters. I was surprised to hear her know a few of her sounds though! They know more than we realize.

After a little supervision, I left them to play on their own. After just a couple squabbles over the fly swatter, they fell into a routine of helping one another and playing. It was so fun!

There have been so many fantastic activities and hands-on learning experiences this week! Here are just a couple more pictures.

By Jonathan (I wrote it for him)

Inspiration Picasso Painting

By Hope

Why Mother Goose Time?

As many of you may know, I am now the mother of a preschooler and a toddler! I can't believe Jonathan is old enough to go to preschool. He is my sweet boy and an absolute joy. One of my favorite things about Jonathan is that he LOVES to learn. And though I am a bit biased, I believe he is one smart cookie. My little Hope Ann is my delight. I get so much joy out of watching her discover and learn. She is my adventurer and sassy baby.

Because of the uniqueness of our journey through medical school and residency, we will not be spending more that 3 years living in one location. We have always wanted to homeschool our children, at least through the elementary years, and this part of our journey is perfect for that. So this last spring I began looking for a preschool curriculum that would give us just enough routine and focus to begin the learning/reading process.

As for curriculum, I am looking for something very specific. I need all the supplies to be sent to my door. I don't want to be making trips to the store for pipe cleaners and googly eyes if I can avoid it. I also want something fun! This will be our first experience with homeschooling and I want something that will peek Jonathan and Hope's interest and keep them motivated to learn. I want something experience, conversation, and literacy heavy. Mother Goose Time curriculum is all those things. Before you continue, I need to tell you that I don't sell subscriptions! Haha. At this point in an article I always click off because I realize that the "author" is actually a "sales person!" Not me! But I do get the curriculum for free with the stipulation that I share with you all what we're up to every week. I am so glad to be writing this blog and to be sharing what my kiddos are learning (and let's be real, what I am learning too)!

One of the biggest things I struggle with, as a mother, is routine. I appreciate routine, and I certainly have the "Big Bones" picture of everyday that are set in stone. Mealtime and bedtimes are always at set times in this home. Everything else is pretty much up for negotiation around here. When you begin homeschooling, however, you need to maintain a strict routine! Because this was only our first week, I'm still trying to figure it all out. Here is the routine we maintained (or attempted to maintain) this week. I am a bullet point kind of lady, so this routine is, and always will be, bullet pointed!

-Breakfast
-Get ready for the day
-Circle Time: Calendar, letter and numbers of the week, songs and topic for the day (in California we skip the weather because it is literally ALWAYS the same here)
-Community Challenge: A time in our day that we discuss the topic of the day and sing a song about it. Sometime there will be a little activity we do as a group in this one.
-Read a story: I try to read at least ONE book to both of them everyday (besides bedtime books). MGT (Mother Goose Time) comes with a couple books and a list of suggested books for the month.
-Leave the house: gym, trampoline park, playdate, church, etc.
-Lunch: Lunch out or in
-Nap
-Math: Number and shape work
-Literacy: Work with letters and writing
-Creative Corner: Art Project of some kind related to the topic of the day/week
-Closing/Reflection: We talk about what we learned and end with a song
-Free Time
-Dinner
-Bedtime

As things are right now, I would love to get literacy and math time in the morning. I will be working all of that this month. Every schedule certainly needs adjustment and a little tweaking, and I would really like to get those things in the morning because I know my children are at their best in the morning.

I'm excited to begin this journey! And I know my kids are excited too. Every night before bed, we ask the kids what their favorite part of the day was... Last night, Jonathan said, "I liked doing school!" 😍

www.mothergoosetime.com