A Day Inside Mother Goose Time Homeschooling - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

 

I use the Mother Goose Time monthly box for preschool homeschool with my 3 year old daughter. Each month, a few days absolutely stand out as my daughter's favorite. This week's was Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star! Here is a look at our lesson from my favorite box to date: Nursery Rhymes.

 

Each day we start off with our Daily Topic Poster. Each day's poster had the corresponding Nursery Rhyme right on it, which my daughters loved! We would start each day reciting that day's nursery rhyme.

 

 

The Teacher Guide was filled with great ideas on how to incorporate the days activities and theme.

 



 

 

Each day this month we have begun by reading our Nursery Rhymes book that was included in our box. Each month you will receive a real, sturdy, beautifully illustrated book that you can reuse over the years. This book has been my absolute favorite. The girls and I read it inside and out of class time!

 



The "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" page was bright and fun!

Next, Bella has been working on her monthly puzzle! Each month you receive an awesome sturdy puzzle that matches the monthly book. I save them and keep them together in our little library. We have such a great collection of books and puzzles that Trinity and Bella both use!

 

She has really started to get the hang of the puzzles and was so proud of her finished product! She has improved so much not just on the problem solving of the puzzle, but staying interested in the project until she finishes!

Next we used a couple pages in her My Little Journal to stamp and color Stars to go with the day's theme.

Each month you receive a new stamp in your kit! While the Star shape was from another box, I love how you can reuse and incorporate supplies throughout the whole year!

Bella created her own pattern of stamping a star, then placing a star sticker inside that star and lastly coloring the star in with a crayon. I always give her free-range on her My Little Journal and I love to see the things she creates on her own!

Next we created her Make & Play which was a star wand!

She "painted" the glue on the star herself.

She has become so determined on her projects and takes her time completing them.

 

I helped her pour the glitter, but her wand turned out perfect!



 

Lastly, we cut out these stars and the suggestion was given in my Teacher Guide to place them on the wall and have the children practice placement around the stars. While they suggested we use a paintbrush, I used a flashlight for the activity! I placed the stars on the wall with my mess free putty and had Bella come into the hall and use a flashlight to shine on specific stars.

I would instruct her to "shine on the blue star" or "shine above the pink star", "shine below the brown star". It was a great exercise and Bella loved it!

We are excited to begin March with Trinity and Bella both involved! I can't wait to share about it with you!

After months of being a paying customer, I was given this month's box for free in exchange for my personal feedback!

DIY Handprint Bouquets

Just in time for Valentines Day! This craft is fun, cute and simple!

For this project you will need:

Paint (Red)
Paint Brush
Paper (I used regular construction paper)
Pipe Cleaners (Green & Pink for a bow)
Scissors
Marker
Tape/Hot Glue Gun
Laminating Paper (optional)

Since I created a few bouquets for the family, and have two children, this project took me a little longer than if you were to create one. But still, it was simple enough! If you are a handprint master then this will be a piece of cake! I tend to avoid handprint art because, well... I'm lazy. This actually wasn't hard at all!

First, paint the child's hand. I stuck with one hand to make clean up easier. I've learned the less paint the better. Do an even layer over the entire hand.

Next, press the hand firmly and press over each finger. Pinkies and Thumbs are easily left off if you don't give them a little help.

Perfect! Now, do this as many times as you would like! I did 2 handprints per child, per bouquet. I would have definitely added more if I was only making one bouquet.

Lay the papers flat to dry. Mine dried fairly quickly, within 30 minutes.

When the handprints are dry, begin cutting them out along the edge. I did my daughter's handprints in two different shades so I could clearly tell whose were whose.

After I cut out the handprints I labeled them on the back with my child's name, the year and their current age.

If you are using tape, you will want to write this information on the back top of the handprints so it does not get covered.

After this step, I self laminated the handprints. This was by far the most complicated part. I am the world's worst laminator and always somehow mess it up. Surprisingly, it didn't go too bad. This step was more to protect the paper and handprints so they would last throughout the years for memories! Again, this step is completely optional.

After you cut out the handprints, you can attach them to the "stem". I used a hot glue gun and it worked like a charm! I simply placed the glue on the back of the handprint and laid the pipe cleaner on top and pressed it down securely.

Now you will have beautiful handprint flowers!

I twisted the bottoms of the stems together and tied it with a pink bow to finish it off!

I'm going to play around with different ways to finish off the bouquets and will update the blog later! Have fun creating your own unique bouquets for your loved ones!

Christian Homeschooling Lessons for Toddlers

As you guys know, I use Mother Goose Time for Bella's homeschool preschool curriculum. If you haven't heard of them before, check out my previous post here. While this box comes with EVERYTHING, for an extra $5 a box you can create a Christian Curriculum and add on a package called Experience God - Child Art Packs. This was something I really wanted to do to incorporate God into our daily life with my kiddos. Let me give you a quick breakdown of what came in December's box!

Each pack comes with 4 lessons and activities (one per week). I usually do one each Sunday, but due to Christmas I waited to devote the week of Christmas to teach all about the story of Jesus. True to why I love Mother Goose Time, these packs come with all of your supplies needed for the art project along with instructions and a lesson. I will focus on the art projects in this post, and do a more detailed post later!



Lesson 1

 

Our Completed Art Project from Lesson 1

 

The first lesson we created a Mary puppet, which Bella really enjoyed. I love the creativity of this company!

 



Lesson 2



Our Completed Art Project from Lesson 2

 

The second lesson we created a Donkey in which Bella "rode" to Bethlehem.

 



Lesson 3



Our Completed Art Project from Lesson 3

 

The third lesson (my personal favorite) we created a manger. This project was super fun and I loved the way it turned out. Bella really enjoyed this one as well.

 

Lesson 4



Our Completed Art Project from Lesson 4

 

For our final project we created two Christmas Tree ornaments which are currently hanging on our tree!

Each lesson also includes a coloring sheet on the back! They really waste no space.

 

Here is a breakdown of the three items you can purchase to complete your Experience God curriculum! You can also read about it on their website here! While I received this month's MGT box for free in exchange for me to blog about my personal experience (after months of being a paying customer), I continue to purchase these Experience God packs myself because I love them so much! 

Projects with a Toddler Made Easy

I am a mom of two girls ages 1 & 3. I'm married. I work a full-time job. We like to travel.

I have no time.

One of my biggest priorities when I start my day is to spend one-on-one time with my daughters. My 3 year old struggles when we don't have some direct time together. I've tried doing it all myself. I've tried creating projects. I've tried spending $80 at a craft store but still having to struggle with what I will create.

THIS HAS FINALLY STOPPED!

Once a month, I get a box delivered to my door. I open it and inside lies 20 days worth of pre-bagged activities and projects I can do with my daughters. 20 days of learning. 20 days of ITEMS that I don't need to buy. I don't need to scrounge, stress out, or prep. My life has literally changed.

Mother Goose Time has made the biggest impact on my family in the best way!

I didn't plan on homeschooling my toddler. I was simply looking for something a little extra to do with her every day and this kit is perfect! You can combine days, spread them out, or do it a day at a time. There is no one to answer to but yourself, and a full kit delivered to your door that will help you and your child learn new things every day.

I am constantly impressed with the items received in this kit. For example: this week we learned about Pine Trees and Pinecones. I combined the days because, due to a crazy schedule, sometimes we have to miss a day of "class". These are straight-out-of-Pinterest, amazingly fun projects! THESE KITS COME WITH EVERYTHING!!!!

Bella and I were so excited to make this Invitation to Create Bird Feeder! This is something I have seen around since I was a child, but never had the supplies to create myself. First off, I don't have bird seeds (ever) and I don't live near pinecones. I opened our daily bag to two full-size Pinecones, bird seed and string (along with tons and tons of other items FOR ONE DAY). Look at this face!

Not only does it come with everything you need, it comes with an explanation on how to use the items and teach your child something new. It is fool-proof.

Our bird feeders came out perfectly and we also learned about the life cycle of Pine Trees! Bella uses so many skills thanks to this Preschool Program. These are things I could never do on my own. I'm grateful for this company! Check out the photos below of us creating our awesome project thanks to Mother Goose Time!

 

 

*After months of being a paying customer, I was approached by Mother Goose Time to receive this month's box for free in exchange for my honest feedback!

 

Quick Tutorial: Mess-Free Art Display

Quick Tutorial - Mess Free Art Display

Estimated Time for Project: 5 minutes (unless your kids try to help)

My oldest daughter has started the Mother Goose Time Homeschool Preschool program (which I will explain later) in which she creates a lot of awesome stuff daily. She wants to proudly display it and so do I. This was a cheap, easy and cute way to hang her art without putting holes in the wall or cramming the refrigerator door.

Items Needed:

1) Command Damage Free Hanging (Cord Organization) - I found this at my local dollar store!

2) String
3) Scissors
4) Clothespins

Steps:

1) Hang your hooks on opposing sides of the wall (as level as you can when free-handing it because you don't have time to measure precisely).

2) Wrap the string around your index finger loosely and tie a knot to create a small loop.

3) Hang the loop on the first hook and measure how long you would like your string. You can have the string tight or loose depending on your space. Cut.

4) Wrap the string around your index finger loosely and tie a knot to create a small loop. Hang the loop on the 2nd hook.

5) Use Clothespins to hang whatever you like!

This is our Work-In-Progress Supply Center for Homeschooling