Watch it Grow

"Plants grow in the soil,

Plants grow in the soil,

It has lots of nutients,

Plants grow in the Soil"

(Opening Song- Mother Goose Time Day 1, Growing Gardens curriculum)

Where do you find dirt?  Many of the children have plants growing in their house. What does a plant need to grow?  Soil, sunlight, and water. 

 The kids smelled the dirt, which smelled like- dirt. They scooped the dirt. They wrote with their fingers in the dirt and noted how the dirt changed when we added water. The water made the dirt look darker, and it looked like it got smaller.

Day One.

The kids scooped soil into containers and spread the grass seed on top. We watered them and waited for the grass to grow.

Day Five. 

On Day five the grass finally sprouted. How exciting!

Find out more at Mothergoosetime.com

Music and Movement

"Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without."  - Confucius


Most of us remember singing songs as very young children. It's one thing we learn as children that stays with us throughout our lives. If I sing B-I-N-G-O or Twinkle, Twinkle, Little star nearly every adult would be able to finish the song. Music is an important part of our lives as we grow and learn. In the 1950's research began into what is called "The Mozart Effect". Researchers theorized that classical music may improve the IQ.  It has been proven that musically trained children have higher SAT scores. Music education contributes to higher math scores, greater self esteem, creativity, and verbal skills.

Music is especially important in developing language skills for preschool age children.  Children who are exposed to music have more developed language skills and are able to express themselves better than children who are not exposed to music. Music also strengthens memory and fine motor skills.

We use music throughout our day. As part of our Mother Goose Time Preschool curriculum. Included as part of the curriculum is a CD of songs to use everyday. We start with, Circle Time, Days of the Week, Months of the Year, and then "Little Helpers". Routine and repetition are important at this age.  The CD also includes both sing-a-long and instrumental versions of popular children's songs like, The Muffin Man, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and many others.

Each month our curriculum also includes a CD that is part of the monthly theme. This month our Theme is Growing Gardens. We use these songs to reinforce the concepts we are learning. They love the songs. Their favorites so far this month are Rabbit Hop, Hot Potato, and Peas in a Pod.

As a part of our Add On Curriculum we participate in a Program called Dance N Beats. This DVD provided by Mother Goose Time promotes fine and gross motor skills. We are learning through dance and songs that coordinate with our monthly theme.

Dancing along with Dance N Beats

April was a crazy Month

So much to do and so little time. That seems to be my motto. As the mother of 4 children there is always something to do, someone to take somewhere, a practice, meeting, homework, field trips, birthday parties, etc.... It never seems to end.

This past month has been no exception. My youngest daughter celebrated her 9th birthday. She has been dying to have a sleepover. I'm not a fan, but she had her heart set on it. So I did what any pushover, er mother, does and we had a sleepover.

11 kids playing twister, eating way too much, telling scary stories, listening to music, making pillow cases, & picture frame

The very next day a few of my teammates and I held a fundraiser for The Avon 39, The Walk to End Breast Cancer. Talk about busy. I started walking in the Chicago Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in 2008. My Grandmother passed away from breast cancer. In 2003 my Aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is now a 12 year survivor. 

 

Jellyfish Jiggle

 

Playing games makes learning fun. Who is Hatching? Toss the pom pom onto your game board, then match the hatching turtle with the site word, letter or number. 

Jellyfish are a type plankton. "I know plankton from Spongebob"  Groups of Jelly fish are called a "bloom". Jellyfish look like an umbrella.  Some Jellyfish are transparent and can be nearly invisible to the naked eye. We thought this was a really cool video to learn about Jellyfish.

 We tried to pulse our bodies to "swim" like a jellyfish.

O is for Octopus

Throughout the day we practice writing our names. This year we've been using plastic sleeves Avery Economy Clear Sheet Protectors, Acid Free, Box of 50 (74090) This way we save paper and get lots and lots of practice in. We use dry erase markers along with printables from The Kidzone website .

 

Scientists recently learned that 2 of an Octopus's arms are actually used as legs to walk across the ocean floor. An octopus has no skeleton but it does have a skull to protect it's brain. An octopus has the ability to camouflage itself by changing color.  What letter does the Octopus remind you of? We have been working on the letter O, writing and counting to 8.

Find out more about Ocean Commotion at Mother Goose Time.

What's all the Commotion

There is a commotion in the ocean. We are doing the jelly fish jiggle. Dance n' Beats is an add on to our regular curriculum. The kids love to sing and dance along with the dvd. " Dance 'n Beats is a research-bashed program that helps children learn 21 movements that increase muscle control , encourage physical fitness and foster a joy for learning.

They love to dance.

We learned that there are thousand of animals that rely on coral reefs to survive in the ocean.  Fish, lobsters, clams, seahorses, sponges, and sea turtles are only a few of them. 

We learned that Whales are mammals like us! They have lungs just like humans do. They use their blowholes to breathe in air. We pretended to be whales. We used a straw to to blow out air. We blew cottonballs, feathers, and paper around the table using our straws. We then used the straws to blow paint around our whales to paint them instead of using brushes. So fun.

Learn more about our Mother Goose Time preschool curriculum or order your own.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spring Break!

We finished up our Outer Space unit this week. We learned so much about the planets, what they are made of and which planets have life on them. We absolutely loved learning about Astronauts.

 We made our own rocket ships and flew them around the room.

Can I tell you how much I love Melissa & Doug Triangular Crayon Set, 24-Piece They are so much more durable than standard crayons.


This week is Spring Break for us which means we have a few less of our regular kids and a few more of our school age kiddos. It's been beautiful here so we've spent lots of time playing at the park.

  Having Epic Star Wars Battles

Creating Sidewalk masterpieces

  blowing bubbles

and hunting for eggs.

 we still fit in our morning Circle Time routine. We love to sing and dance. 

 

We started Mother Goose Time Ocean Commotion  this week with a super cool Science Experiment. We learned that the ocean is made up of Salt Water which is not good to drink. We examined the difference between clear fresh water, water we added salt to, and water we added sugar to.

 We observed  how the water changed in color, smell, and clarity .  The sugar dissolved, but the water looked slightly cloudy. The salt water became very cloudy. It was hard to see through.

Almost everyone thought the salt water smelled and tasted gross.

How many of us have been to the beach and collected shells? We created an Oyster shell. 

 We strung beads on pipe cleaners to make our Oyster Pearls.

More Ocean Commotion to come. Happy Easter. 

Congratulations to our Book Hop Giveaway Winner Laura!