A Week Full of Love - Homeschooling with Mother Goose Time

For February we have been learning about hearts and the color Red with Mother Goose Time! Since we celebrated Valentines Day early, we decided to focus this whole week on Hearts! There were so many fun projects this week so I thought I would highlight a few.

First, we created this awesome Invitation to Create! With this photo as inspiration, Bella very carefully placed beads on the Pipe Cleaners and twisted it around our heart shaped Pipe Cleaner.

This was incredible for Bella's hand-eye coordination. I was impressed with how she was able to get the little beads on the pipe cleaner all on her own!

Next, we used her Heart shaped stamp (included in this month's kit), a red marker and her Heart page in her My Little Journal to let her create a page all of her own.

For the My Little Journal I like to give Bella free range so she can create whatever she wants. She decided to stamp lots of hearts and fill it with her marker.

While it may not seem like a big deal, Bella has become so much better and staying inside the lines and concentrating on filling certain areas! I'm so proud of her!



In preparing for making our Valentines for family, we got in the holiday spirit by breaking into our Valentines Pack (included for free in this month's box). It's also available to download for free here!

The first item was this super cute Valentines head band!

Bella has really improved on her cutting and wants to cut whenever is possible! She was my little helper and cut tissue paper to fill the hearts.

Her coordination has also improved drastically! She now can help with tape and put the pieces on herself. 

She concentrates so hard! I love how involved these projects keep her. 

The finished product! Bella loved her headband, but not being a model! HA!

Next we played this fun letter game! Each piece has one capital letter and one lower case letter. It helped her learn this new concept in a fun and easy way!



Lastly, today on Sunday we did our Experience God activity which also was heart themed! For this project Bella decorated a heart pocket and weaved yarn to create a pocket for Bible verses!

Bella and Trinity had fun pouring the glue on the heart. I've been letting Trinity get more involved in our crafts and she really enjoys them as well! I am thinking it's time to order enough supplies for her to join in on the fun and learning!

Of course we had to add glitter! Included in the pack of course. They give you everything!!!



While our glue and glitter dried, Bella cut out her verses and we read them together.



The stringing of the yarn was another excellent exercise to improve Bella's coordination. The pocket turned out so cute and I LOVE the cards that Bella can now use to memorize verses!

All of these awesome crafts and projects have made for a great Valentines prep! Don't forget to head over and get you free kit! Not only are these projects fun to make, but they teach your child so many skills and new topics in a easy and interesting way!

After months of being a paying customer, I received this month for free in exchange for my honest 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!

February with Mother Goose Time

This month's Mother Goose Time box is so awesome I had to share a little more in depth what comes inside. The types of supplies that I am focusing on come inside each month's box, but with a new theme. I won't even be going into the 20 days of activities, but rather focus on the tools you can use and save each month. This month's theme is Nursery Rhymes and it is my favorite so far.

Here is an example of this month's Circle Time board that you will use your new supplies on

Each month's box comes with a Circle Time Kit and a Teacher's Tool Bag. Items in these bags will supply you with tools you will use throughout the whole month and beyond! Each month you collect new letters, shapes and numbers along with so much more! I am not even going into the daily bags on this post because there are so many supplies to cover!

Here is this month's Theme Web and Theme Poster. It will break down what topic you will be learning each week and each day.

Week 1: Number Rhymes
-This Little Piggy
-Sing a Song of Sixpence
-1, 2, Buckle My Shoe
-Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Week 2: Character Rhymes
- Humpty Dumpty
- There Was a Crooked Man
- Itsy, Bitsy Spider
- Hey Diddle Diddle
- Old King Cole

Week 3: Food Rhymes
- Pat-a-Cake
- Old Mother Hubbard
- Little Jack Horner
-There Was an Old Woman
- Hot Cross Buns

Week 4: Little Rhymes
- Little Boy Blue
- Little Bo Peep
- Little Miss Muffet
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
- Mary Had a Little Lamb

You also receive a Planning Journal and Teacher Guide. These will help you plan out your daily activities and explain how to use the tools and supplies provided.

The Planning Journal Overview page is my favorite! It will show each day and the project you will be creating that day. I plan Bella's outfit off of this page. I can tell whether we will be using paint etc.

They also supply you with a Gathering Tools List. This list will tell you things you will need to provide for the project. Most of the time it is something super simple or can be substituted with something you have.

 

Each month also comes with a Skills Chart. These help you with your assessments. Check out more about their assessment program here. You can keep track of your child's skills and advancements. All of these supplies come in your Welcome Kit with your first order. I love being able to see the skills Bella is learning and accomplishing.

 

Now for the fun stuff! Each month you receive a new Calendar that goes with the theme. Here is this month's! I let my daughter pull out each day and glue them on herself each morning. It is a great way to teach the dates and days of the week. I explain this more here.

Each month you also learn a couple of new letters. This month's letters are J, R and I. These letter posters can be hung on your Circle Time board each day, and be used with your manipulatives for the children to trace etc.

These smaller letters, words and pictures are meant to be cut and put into a foam Pocket Cube (included in your Welcome Kit). We like to mix and match letters and colors and try to decide which letter is which etc. There are endless ways of using these cards! By the end of the school year we will have the whole alphabet!

 

Each month you also receive a new color. This month is Red. You learn a new shape (and get the same shape on a nice wooden stamp) which is Heart. The Red and Heart is fitting for February! You also receive cookie cutters in the shape of your letters you are learning that month. We use these in play dough, sand and for tracing. Again, the possibilities and uses are endless!

 

 

 

Each month you receive an awesome Dance 'n Beats CD with songs that match the theme. I love the Nursery Rhyme songs this month! They are the classics you grew up with. You also receive Circle Time Songs which have new lyrics to match music from your Circle Time CD.

 

Simply cut out the cloud shapes, duck and numbered fish to add to your Circle Time board (like shown on the first photo).

 

 

One of my (and the girls) favorite supplies we receive each month is the manipulatives! Manipulatives are fun little toys/objects that help teach the children skills or help them learn to count/categorize/separate. This month came with nice wooden blocks with holes that the child can string shoestrings through. This will be excellent at developing Bella's fine motor skills.

 

It also came with these cute sheep. I will ask Bella to separate the Blue from the Yellow, put all the bigger ones together, count out a certain number etc. Ideas are also offered in your Teaching Guide.

 

Each month you receive a beautifully illustrated book and this one is by far my favorite. Inside is every classic Nursery Rhyme! This is something I did not have in paper, only from memory. The girls and I have already read this multiple times.

 



Here is an example of the rhymes inside with illustrations!

 

 

Each month you also receive a puzzle to go with the theme. This is another one of my favorite items included. We have collected 6 puzzles and books. They are sturdy and the kids love to play with them again and again.

 

This is Bella's new "My Little Journal". In this we explore certain colors, new numbers and new letters. The Teacher Guide also gives ideas for things to draw with each days lesson.

Here is an example of what a page looks like inside the journal! I save the journals so I can see how much Bella has progressed over the months. I let her to the journal without influence so I can see authentic progression.

Lastly, I will go over Bella's "Look! I Can Read!" book. Each month she receives a new book with new words and letters. She searches the book for the words that match. PRICELESS. I save these and will continue to use them over and over. I love this idea and the way it gets Bella involved in reading.

 

 

Like I mentioned earlier, this is only the Circle Time items and tools you get every month! I haven't even gone into the 20 DAYS OF PROJECTS! I HAVEN'T EVEN GONE INTO THE 20 DAYS OF PROJECTS! I mean, this box is the best value. I am always impressed with all of the items I receive that I get to reuse over and over again while teaching my daughter such amazing and original topics.

 



If you want to see more, you can learn more about what comes in a typical Mother Goose Time box at their website here!

After months of being a paying customer, I received this month's box in exchange for sharing my personal experiences!