A Day on Rainbows...

The weeks until our move to Georgia are passing quickly! We only have 3 weeks left here in California and are beginning to pack up our lives to move across the country. We are so thrilled to be moving, and so sad to be leaving this wonderful town.  I will miss our friends so much!

This week Mother Goose Time is wrapping up our Bubbles, Boats and Floats theme with the wonders of water. Our favorite day this week was spent on rainbows! The kids and I had so much fun learning about the colors of the rainbow and how it is formed.  This day in particular had them practicing the names of their colors and doing a lot of team work.

Our first activity called for teamwork in building their own rainbow. We first discussed the order of the colors and the Roy G. Biv clue to help them remember. We also sang a rainbow song that the kids already knew.

I found the teamwork part of this portion was especially difficult, considering their ages and development level. There was some bickering during the construction of this artwork, so I stepped in quite a bit to help them make their rainbow. We talked about the importance of working together and each of them doing their part. It turned out so cute!

Next was our "Make and Play" art project in which the children each made their own rainbows.  This gave me the opportunity to talk about the components of what makes a rainbow. In order for a rainbow to shine there must be clouds, rain and sunshine. Jonathan did this entire project on his own: cutting, gluing and drawing. I am so proud of him! Hope definitely needed help, but she also did very well!

I had the kiddos watch the song we sang earlier on YouTube and they sang along. I also read them the story of the first rainbow... The one created by God in Noah's Ark. The kids LOVED this story!

Next came an activity where the kids did some roll play with some characters from a book. Mother Goose Time provides these really sweet books about Forest Friends and how they learn responsibility and other character traits. This story had the children pretending to pick up garbage out of the river and acting responsibly. Such a cute story and so fun for my kiddos to act it out with the little paper characters provided by MGT.

Our last activity was matching the water-themed, paper dominoes provided by Mother Goose Time. This activity also required some teamwork to get the pieces all in order. I was so proud of how they did! Of course, this was at the end of our learning time, so tempers and attention spans were a bit short, but overall, they did very well. At the end, we counted all the tiles.

 Thank you, MGT, for another great day in homeschool preschool!

Bubbles, Baths, and Reading Fun

It was another great week in our homeschool preschool with Mother Goose Time! Our curriculum took us into the "bubble" portion of our Bubbles, Boats and Floats unit this month. I took this wonderful opportunity to teach our children about the importance of bath time. Baths in our family are done OFTEN, mainly because my children are happy and contained in one place when in the bath! Ha! When Jonathan was a baby, I remember putting him in the bath as many times as twice a day, because he was happiest while in the water. I have so many sweet photos and videos of that time!

So, needless to say, the day MGT spent on baths was one of my kids favorites. The activities were unique and we had so much fun!

Our first project had the kids creating themselves taking a bath. It was such a fun project and all the supplies were sent by MGT. Y'all, (Look at me! I'm so southern already! We move to South Carolina in 4 weeks. Haha!) I didn't even have to cut out the little people! MGT sent it perforated, so all I had to do was punch it out. A-MAZING!

 Mother Goose Time provides these wonderful books every month that include the sounds and sight words we've been working on. Jonathan was able to read most of this book on his own the first try. I am so happy with how far he has come with his reading. He is a good reader now!

The last activity was so much fun! The kids were to roll the pocket cube, draw the shape on the bubble mat, and erase it using soapy water. Jonathan was able to fully participate in this activity. To make it easier for Hope, I had her trace the shapes from previous months, and wash with soapy water. This was definitely their favorite activity. Learning is so much more fun when you can get messy! Ha!

We also spent some time out at the water table squirting with bath toys. They had fun learning how to fill the toy with water and squirting it into the other side, one another, and their mother. So much fun on a warm day!

I am so blessed to be able to watch my kiddos grow through homeschool. Thank you, MGT, for the opportunity to learn alongside my children.

Ducks and a Visit to the Lake

Last week Mother Goose Time had us studying about lakes and the habitats, animals, and water in the lakes. We had so much fun! And of course had to take the time to visit the lake. On Mother's Day we visited Lake Kaweah with my sister and her family. We all had a wonderful time swimming and enjoying the sunshine! Here are some photos from all of our fun. I had so much fun reviewing what we have learned all week with them and they knew a surprising amount of information about a lake! Jonathan made sure everyone knew that the lake was full of fresh water and might have fish in it. Hope was all about the swimming and enjoyed being in the water the most. We saw a couple snakes (eek!), and a few ducks on our outing.

One of our favorite Mother Goose Time days was the day we spent studying the ducks. The kids knew so much about ducks to begin with, and enjoyed making a list with what they knew.

MGT planned the cutest art project that the kids loved! Hope wore her "Mama Duck" headband all day. Hehe! While we completed this project, we talked about how the ducklings follow their mother. They put the ducklings in order from largest to smallest, or from smallest to largest, an EXCELLENT activity for kiddos this age.

The next activity had us rolling our pocket cube and placing our math manipulative duck in that position near a cup. Jonathan was able to read the words by looking at the picture cues and letter sounds. I was so proud to see him read the word behind because he saw the duck behind the cup, and the letter B. A wonderful activity! 

Another favorite activity was reading the book provided by MGT called, "Rowing Down the River," and placing the magnets in order of the story. This was a great way for the children to predict the story by looking at the pictures, fill in the story with rhyming words, and stay actively involved in their learning by moving the figures around according to the story line. The kids loved this one! And continued to play with the magnets, telling their own stories and funny jokes.

Another great day in homeschool preschool! We love Mother Goose Time!

Learning About Fishing and Rhyming

The kids and I have had so much fun learning about lakes in our Bubbles, Boats and Floats unit this week!  Mother Goose Time has been such a blessing to us... The hands on activities, singing, poems, reading and manipulatives have been so helpful to us. I have the wonderful reassurance that I am giving an amazing start to my kids' education. Jonathan and Hope are really coming along in their reading and number sense, and Mother Goose Time has been a huge contributor to that!

Our favorite day this week was definitely the "fishing day!" The kids had so much fun with the rhyming words, poems, fishing activities and games.  We are actually going to be visiting a lake this weekend, so I will be updating you all with those pictures. :)

Our first activity was to read a poem and recognize rhyming words.  Rhyming is SO good for developing readers! Not only does rhyming teach my kiddos to recognize words from text, but also to make predictions in reading. They can see the word and read it with fluency because they can anticipate what it says. I LOVE working with poems and songs to teach my children to read!

We made our own fish on a pole with a poem on the back. MGT had the kids thread a string all around the fish, an excellent fine motor skill builder.

Jonathan took some time to "read" the poem written on the back. So cute!

Our most favorite activity was one where we got to fish! MGT provided magnets, paper clips, and fish with shapes so the kiddos could fish for the correct shape. They would roll the pocket cube, find the matching shape, and pick up the shape with the fishing pole. SO much fun!! As they were fishing we counted the sides of the shape, sang the shapes songs, and pointed out the different shapes in our living room.

The last activity was "Would you rather?" The kids would choose what they would rather by placing their little ducks onto the picture. This skill is so important for kids, especially Hope's age! She had to know that she could only choose one... and had to understand that she could only pick from the two options I said. After each answer, I asked Jonathan why he chose that option, and he had to tell me in a complete sentence, "I chose the beaver, because he looks so soft!" This was a wonderful exercise for my shy kiddo, because it had him practice speaking in complete thoughts, even if it was just to Hope and I. Practice makes perfect!

Another great day in our homeschool preschool! The kids and I love this time!