Manipulatives and Games Encourage Independent Learning

Two manipulatives are usually included in the Mother Goose Time curriculum box. This month we got more Connecting Cubes. The boys love these and play with them all of the time, creating all sorts of fun play items. We were excited to add more to our collection. That's a plus for using MGT for many years... you build your manipulatives collection... and ours are used constantly!

Anyway, I pulled them out for Mr Z so he could practice patterns. He liked following the guides that were provided during week 2 of Growing Gardens. This was a great activity for him to practice following "directions" independently, counting and matching. Mr Z also didn't want to take any of his patterns apart to reuse the cubes to complete other patterns. Luckily we had more from previous years. 

Mr Z decided to combine all of his patterns into one long stick to make a super long sword. Everything is turned into a weapon with boys. I don't know why that is.

Since Mr A is homeschooling for first grade right now, I've had to come up with some new methods to get him to actually do schoolwork. I tried using the Mother Goose Time bunny counters today to make math more fun. I found the extra egg cartons from a left over project to use as a counting container. Mr A had to come up with different ways to make the number on the MGT number card. We focused on the numbers 17 and 18 and found different ways to add up the bunnies to equal the number shown. We added up bunnies using 2, 3 or 4 digits while placing the bunnies in the egg carton compartments.

I tried to keep Mr Z busy while Mr A was working on his Rabbit Math. I pulled out the Scarecrow Make & Play game for him to play. He had fun matching the scarecrow to the pictures and arranging them on his own. Mr A was rather distracted and wanted to play with him instead of doing his math. Some days, schoolwork is just hard to concentrate on.

I love this happy smile Mr Z while he is enjoying himself play this simple game.

These were all activities and games that encouraged independent learning. The boys were each responsible for their activity and required little to no instruction from me. The boys took control of how they wanted to complete or accomplish the task and I was able to get a chore or two done while they were occupied. 

Connecting with the (Farming) Community

As a blog ambassador for Mother Goose Time, we are given monthly topics to keep in mind to try and gear a post or two around. I've not been very good at it. This month we were given the topic of 'Connecting with the Community' and few focus questions to think about. While doing regular activities for the curriculum, I haven't really been able to make any connections or come up with anything grand. We just do lessons for fun, have a good time and that's about it. Most people think about the law enforcement, firefighters, mail carrier etc when talking about being a part of the community.

But, while we were visiting our local farm today, Solidarity Farm, I realized that we are mostly connected with this part of the community, this most natural part. I have been visiting this farm with my kids since September of last year for their farm school curriculum. The day consisted of activities revolving around the elements: earth, water, air and fire and helping with farm-work or chores. It has been almost weekly for the whole school year and has been a great tradition for us. We have learned so much about the dedication, hard work and the farming lifestyle in general.

At Solidarity, they don't have many animals. They mostly produce vegetables and are completely organic. So growing their crops takes work. Weeds are killed with sprays or chemicals; they are hand picked out of the ground.

I have learned the importance of community through the stories of trading and bartering that they do to have a variety of fruits as well at their produce stand. I love that this farm is all about helping others. People from surrounding properties come to help harvest or clean up fields. They also have a few helpers from other countries learning the art of farming and gardening. These individuals will take what they learn back to their home country when they are through, to help their community back home thrive. 

These chickens are new. We saw them for the first time today since they are still growing. Little Miss loves the animals they do have. Mr A and Mr Z have been wanting chickens of their own as well, so it was a treat to see these additions to their property. More chickens equals more eggs and more natural fertilizer for their fields.

 "Nurturing the Present" tee shirt

I loved this shirt that one of the farm owners was wearing today... "#8 Plant a Garden".

Here are beds of lettuce, broccoli, mint, and all sorts of other yummy things. This area is great for finding the ladybugs: a necessary bug for any organic farm or garden. The boys have learned that they do help pollinate a little, but mostly eat the aphids. Finding ladybugs was a great past time during freeplay.

 "The Earth is my Body,

The Water is my Blood,

The Air is my Breath,

The Fire is my Spirit."

The group of little kids made a table of items representing the elements and how they relate to us personally. 

Over the months we have been able to see how plants are grown and cared for from the small seed, to the sprouts, to the being transplanted into the ground to produce their food. Here is the outdoor greenhouse where the small seedlings and sprouts are cared for until they can be moved to the ground in the garden beds. They have tons.

It was neat to see how the roots grow and develop in the small starting trays. They intertwine trying to find their way to make strong healthy plants. As we helped transplant them to the beds, we would say out loud, "Grow big, grow strong. Thank you for making us food."

Here are some beds of tomatoes and beets (i think). Nice long rows with barely any weeds and drip tape to make sure they all get enough water.

Today our farm work was to help make a new compost pile.  We learned that a "compost cake" is layers of different materials that will break down to be mixed into soil. Below Mr A and Little Miss were helping gather the green material (weeds and overgrown chard) to layer in the new compost pile. The original plan was to use the chipper to grind all of the green materials up because it makes the composting process faster, but of course the machine didn't want to start. So, the pile of greens was layered as is. Sometimes you just have to deal with what you're given.

Little Miss carried some chard to the goats to feed them a snack while Mr A finished helping with the farm work for the day.

Farmer Nan told us about the importance of compost on a farm (or in a garden). He said, "The compost pile is the most essential part of the farm because it provides the most important (good) bacteria and micro organisms that benefit the soil and help the plants grow healthy and strong. It helps kickstart the growth and keeps the soil nice."
They like to name things on the farm. The compost pile we helped start today is named Shortcake.

I asked the boys, "How are you connected to the farming (or gardening) community?What have you learned from all the activities and farmwork we've helped with, since Mother Goose Time is about gardening this month too?"
Mr Z's answer was quick and obvious,"They grow food and we eat food."
Mr A took a little bit longer to answer and didn't really know how to respond but said, "I just like going there and learning and helping with all the work... I learned that plants need water and sun and you don't walk on the raised beds where they grow."
We have really been able to connect with this MGT unit from all of the experience we've had going to the farm. Our discussions have contained many farm examples and memories. This unit has really come alive for us... pun intended.

Before each class we would all recite this little poem about the different elements. I like how it teaches us to pay attention to the earth and respect what it gives us. Our Earth is our community and we are all connected to it. The greatest community of all is nature, its beauty and its resources.

I promise to take care of the earth,

I promise to respect the water,

I promise to listen to the air and

I promise to nurture the fire,

all in the spirit of wonder.

Happy Gardening!... it is a lot of work.

The Letter F in Growing Gardens

Growing Gardens with Mother Goose Time

Week 2 in the Growing Gardens theme is all about what happens in the garden and it's outcomes. Sprouts grow, Leaves gather sun, Flowers bloom to help pollinate, Produce (or the fruits or veggies) come and Weeds grow.

We talked about flowers and the Letter Ff today for awhile (and maybe that's what inspired the Growing Gardens musical production in this post here). Flowers smell nice to attract little visitors like bees or butterflies help pollinate the various plants.

included in the topic daily bag for Flowers, there was the Letter F coloring page. I copied the pictures on the whiteboard to make it a little more fun to talk about. While the boys colored we talked about words that started with the Letter F or had the Ff sound in it. We had a huge list. 

Mr Z was done coloring his page rather quickly and so he traced the Hands-On letter on the board a few times. It was taped to help it stay in place. PS... this whiteboard was the best investment for our home. The kids love writing on a verticle surface!

We combined a couple of days' topics today. It is easy for us to get behind with the new curriculum we need to keep up with for Mr A's new school. The easiest way to catch up is to combine days from MGT. We talked about the produce that comes from plants. The produce usually comes after the flower on a plant and they usually taste really good.
The Make & Play craft was to make your own garden with produce. The picture was of vegetables, but Mr A opted for a mostly fruit garden. Using the paper provided, he made an orange, lemon, avocado, strawberry, corn cobb and a carrot.

Mr Z needed more help with his. (I have noticed that the Make & Play crafts sometimes require more adult help, which I don't mind since I only have a few kids of my own.) Mr Z wanted all vegetables. So, I helped him cut them out and he taped them on to the popsicle sticks and pressed them into the egg carton.

The math counters are usually the favorite thing that come in the Mother Goose Time curriculum each month. This time there was a set of red, green, yellow and blue bunnies in two sizes. Right away Mr Z started playing with them in his vegetable garden. He even used the holes on the side of his egg carton as the perfect bunny burrow.

Because we have been busy using a curriculum for first grade for Mr A, we've fallen behind with MGT. It has definitely been a different kind of day trying to get him to get his required work done for school. I realized today, as we combined a few MGT days into this afternoon, that we need this kind of fun break. Yes, there is still plenty of learning with these lessons and activities but its not as pressured or forced to get done. We have fun with Mother Goose Time and the kids have freedom to create. They have a whole new level of concentration, well Mr A does. He can be himself and just have a good time while spending time with everyone else. He needs these laid back activities and crafts.

A Musical Number: Gardens

The Mother Goose Time Impromptu Musical Play brought to you by the Bright Children

Mr Z has always been great at making up his own songs. This series started with him trying to comfort his baby sister with songs about her because she was throwing such a fit. He wanted to help make Little Miss feel better and stop crying. It quickly turned into a small production with a background and a small stage. He did several versions, but here's a couple below...
Mr Z talks about the flowers and how you need sun and water to grow plants. He sings about the colors of the things you can find in a garden. Mr Z sings about what he remembers the most about gardens and plants from the Growing Gardens theme from Mother Goose Time. Mr A is using a whistle to make bee sounds and in the second video, I love his interpretation of the Mr Z song and the sprouting plant at the end.
Enjoy!

I love how these videos capture our lives so perfectly. Mr Z is doing his own thing, Little Miss is erasing what she can on the board and doing what she wants while Mr A is trying to fix or re-draw what Little Miss messed up. There's so much going on, but these are my favorite.
between the two videos, you can see the progression of the drawings on the background.
Kids are fantastic!
(side note: I had no part in the the creation of these ideas or videos besides writing the words at the top of hte board.)