My Favorite Comparison

Bubbles Boats and Floats with Mother Goose Time

Day 4 Alligators ...continued...

The Little Goose booklet had an idea to color some popsicle sticks like alligators and have the child put them through a slot in an old container. I just did the alligator sticks. The boys made their own games with them and had quite the time. Mr Z wouldn't let them go for a few days. He liked to take them everywhere. Because we did a day about alligators, he says that they are one of his favorite animals.

Now, most of you know that we thoroughly enjoy our crafts around here. But this Alligator A was by far my favorite to watch. The different executions and visions of both boys was amazing to watch.

Mr Z started his project by deciding he wanted to cut his letter A paper that was provided in the Daily Discovery Bag from MGT and make a cheetah. He spent quite some time cutting the entire letter into small pieces. 

"These will be his spots." Mr Z said.

Mr A was well on his way making his alligator like the instruction page/picture. I did help him draw the teeth on the white paper. He was getting rather frustrated that he couldn't figure out the method to making the zig zag shape. Mr A cut on the lines I drew very well after I helped a bit.

I grabbed Mr Z a piece of paper so he had some place to put all these tiny green pieces. He started gluing and his method is so neat to watch. Mr A even noticed what he does while he glues. Mr Z puts some glue on the paper (size varies), then keeps placing a piece on until all of the glue is covered. If he presses the paper down and glue squishes out of the side, he adds another paper to cover it up.

Below was favorite thing to watch him do. Mr Z used clear glue and made a large puddle in the middle of his paper. He drizzles it around and then fills in any holes. I suppose its mesmerizing to watch glue as it drips. Then, when the clear glue was not coming out very easily, because it was nearly gone, he grabbed the white glue to continue making the glue pile bigger.

His glue glob looked rather neat as he kept adding more. I would ask if he had enough glue there and Mr Z would answer matter-of-fact, "No, I don't." Then would keep on drizzling glue. His pile reminded me of a marble.

Finally, Mr Z was finished with the glue and started adding his paper.

When Mr Z's "cheetah" was complete with sticker eyes and some teeth that Mr A made, Mr Z was super excited that he had finished his project. He was even more happy that it was about the same size as his cheetah animal.

I love this project that Mr Z completed, mostly because watching his process was so fascinating. I didn't advise or try to help at all. What he did completely on his own makes me smile.

I love how the eyes are looking different directions and the teeth are sideways on the head. I love the abstract design and its overall awesomeness.

Here are the two finished projects side by side. Done by a 5.5 year old alligator that followed the picture vs a 3 year old that wanted to make a cheetah instead.

(Mr Z climbed on my lap as I'm writing this post. He says in a disappointed voice, "But I didn't put enough spots." I explained that he worked hard and it is great just the way it is and he was satisfied with that.)

I love this comparison of the different ways that one project can be done. The vision that the child has is great and can only be let out if they are allowed to explore. I'm certainly glad that I let the boys do their own thing and create what ever they wanted that day.

Check out the MGT blog Inspired Learning too

Multi-Age Learning

The "Art" of Learning

Mother Goose Time provides amazing curriculum each month, that we've been using for a year and a half. I'm still learning how to teach my children. Its difficult. Everyday is different.

I'm always amazed at the different learning styles of my two boys. It is fun to watch the ways in which they go about things, but it also drives me insane. I understand, each kid is different and they are various ages, which affects how they do things too. I think it mostly makes me nuts, because I don't know how to get the 3 year old to focus on something. Some days are better than others.

With the Bees and Butterfly unit, we were given just white paper with a paper frame. The boys were to draw and design their own swallowtail butterflies.
Mr Z is 3 and scribbles with no rhyme or reason all over his paper. Or on occasion, in one small area and is done within 5 seconds.

Mr A is 5.5 and has gotten better at drawing objects to look like 'the real thing.' He also has a creative side and makes adjustments and additions to his pictures for a certain reason. Mr A can take up to 20 minutes to finish his drawing with the detail that he adds. His swallowtail butterfly "has lots of eye-spots so that it can scare away predators like cheetahs."

Learning is an "art", even for me. Probably mostly for me at this point. I am constantly learning how to teach my children... and its hard! We get on each other's nerves or we have a great time. The trick is finding that balance between getting lessons done and playing. Usually it works best to play and do the activity at the same time, incorporate the two. We aren't structured enough to have an official circle time and sit down and formally talk about things. We just talk about stuff that has to do with the topic while doing the craft, eating breakfast or playing outside. The hardest part of teaching is figuring out how the kids learn best. I'm still figuring it out. Its different every day for the kids. They way they want to learn depends on their mood, attention span and interests for the that particular day. So I have to adapt every day. Have an open mind every day.
Listen to your kids and have fun with them. Learning is better when its not forced. That's what I have to re-learn every single day.

The Art of Learning! with Music

There is so much ART in learning. As adults it can be so messy that's its frustrating and stressful. By messy I mean it can just be messy or it can just not be the way the adult intended and it drives him/her crazy not to step in and take over. But it's oh so fun for the kids! No matter what they are doing, its a blast.
Painting inspires creativity and exploration: as well as other mediums like chalk or coloring with crayons. Crafts that involve glue and scissors are great fine motor activities that can leave adults pulling their hair out. Dramatic play is great way for kids to try new roles and experiment with pretend play. Music helps kids express many different feelings through dance or song. Music can also help kids remember information and process it. With Mother Goose Time, all of these types of learning are encouraged and explored through various activities and lessons.
Today, I pulled out our plastic frogs and aquarium plants to go along with our frogs vs toads lesson. The boys immediately started playing with the frogs. Mr Z hopped them around while making the ribbit sound. Mr A began making a home for the frogs and sang while he did it. It was such a cute song, I couldn't pass up videoing him. He made up his own tune and words to go along with it. Singing while playing is sign of happiness... I think!