Dramatic Play and Music at the Garden

Going to the Garden

 

 

 

Well, thank you Mother Goose Time for yet another great idea that I would not have come up with on my own had it not been for the inspiration I receive every day from this curriculum.

 

We are learning all about gardening for the month of May and I saw that our library gives free passes to a beautiful garden - The Old Westbury Garden! Now, I have noticed this pass before but always skipped thinking that my 2 young kids would find nothing to do there. When we went, I was shocked to see all of the fun they had. I also noticed that because my kids are under 6, the cost for the day is only $10! This may just become our new summer hang out!

 

No bouncers. No loud activities. No toys. Just nature. We stayed for about 2 hours, had lunch and walked around. The grounds are very large and, at times, just field. We would stop at each large field of beautiful grass and I would sit back and just allow them some time to indulge in dramatic play without any interference from me. No time limits. No rules (unless safety concerns). No interaction from me. Just 2 sisters and their imaginations.

 

My camera battery died halfway through the trip, but here's some of the beginning.

 

Ring Around The Rosie

 

Every morning in our circle time, we play the circle time theme and then we sing a song from our teacher guide. After circle time, we will usually have a dance party where we put on the theme of the months CD and just dance away. The girls normally end up with a ring around the rosie dance move and here we have it. I'm telling you, it's because of our Mother Goose Time routine that their bond is so strong these days.

 

 

Dramatic Play



When we are home, I often find the girls either playing separately, fighting when playing together or making pretend YouTube toy videos separately. Here at the garden, they played together. They pretended they were planting flowers like farmers and at one point they pretended they were in a castle and had to find their way to the prince in the enchanted garden.

 

 

 

More Singing Time

Sonia led Daniella in some songs, pretending to be Mommy, at school. She sang songs from our circle time, she made some up and she tried to mimic some of the dance moves from Dance 'n Beats.

 

 

Map Time!

This imaginative play was inspired by last months Shipwreck lesson. When we were talking about how sometimes there are treasures in shipwrecks, Sonia immediately connecting pirates, buried treasure and a map. So, when the gardens gave us a map to help us find our way, the girls took it from me and led the way. 



 

 

I wish I may, I wish I might

Though, the actual flower part of the trip came after my camera had died, the girls managed to find "wishing flowers". They both made their wishes, blew on the flowers and we watched them blow away to the wish maker's land. I hope all of their wishes come true, mine already have!

 

 

A Moment to Meditate

After they had played for awhile, I could see they were a little tired, so we stopped, sat down and took a moment to meditate. We thanked Mother Nature for her beauty. We thanked God for each other. We sat in silence to meditate and take in all we were blessed with.



When the girls were done, I wanted to continue my own meditation and they found a bench and allowed me some much need momma meditation. When I opened my eyes, I turned around and saw this! Wow, life does not get any better!

Dramatic play is, in my opinion, one of the most important ways a child can learn at any age.

Tell me, when have you sit back and allowed your child to lead the play activity. No corrections, no input, just let their imaginations run wild? What experience did you have?

 

 



 



The best way to teach your kids is to ....

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Dirty Feet? Messy Hands? GREAT JOB MOM!

Dirty Feet? Messy Hands?

GREAT JOB, MOM! 

 

 

When my kids are covered in dirt or paint, I am my happiest....and so are they!

 

 

 

This week we learned about plants from seed to flower and boy did we have fun! Usually, the planting happens outside and then we do some sprinkler play to help clean us up before the bath, but Mother Nature would have none of that. The day we chose to plant, rained all morning. That's ok! We did it all indoors. One of their life lessons took place before the actual lesson began.

 

You see, the night before, I had set up all of the items we would be utilizing on the kitchen table and got the kids super excited about our day outdoors. However, when they woke up and saw it was raining, Sonia was so upset when she assumed we would be cancelling the planting. So here I got to show her one of the most important lessons she will ever take with her. LIFE ON LIFE'S TERMS. We don't get to control the weather BUT we can control our reaction to the weather. No cancelling this day. We just did it all indoors.

 

 

 

On to the Unit Studying. Where will our plants live? Let's paint our pots!

 

 

 

What will we plant? Grass, Carrots and Tomatoes!

 

 

 

 

What do plants need to live? Water, Sun and LOVE

 

 

Scooping the dirt.

 

 

Planting the seeds.

 

 

 

Watering the plants.

 

A little more mess for mom to clean up but I needed to give the floor a good cleaning anyway, so we all won.

 

 

 

 

Now, onto another one of life's great lessons...PATIENCE! We will wait patiently until our first seed sprouts. Until then, we will water them every day and make sure they have lots of sun.

 

 

 

From this lesson, we worked on Math when we counted the seeds, Art when we painted our pots, Language when we talked about plants and what they need to live, Science when we talked about how the sun and water feed the plants, character when we learned to be resilient and have patience.

 

The afternoon became much nicer and after naps, a fresh new pair of clothes to get dirty, we took the lesson outdoors with our Sensory Activity. I hid a bunch of toys in a big bucket of dirt and they found them!

 

 

 

Then, we went to a friends house and they led the adventures with their friends and their toys!

 

 

 

My little tree huggers!

 

 

 

Hey, every farmer needs a little fun and relax time!

 

 

 

A little reality check from this mom, I probably would have LOVED to do this unit study, I may have even wrote out a lesson plan BUT I might have just skipped it because I would have been hesitant to know what supplies I need, what lessons were age appropriate etc. Thanks to Mother Goose Time, most of the planning was done for me. They even sent soil and grass seeds! This inspired me to get the clay pots, veggie seeds and watering cans. With this curriculum, I'm able to turn my creative THOUGHTS into a hands-on curriculum and get the inspiration and gentle nudge I need to expand on it as well.

 

Want some more inspiration on how you can home school or add to your children's pre schools adventure? Check out what the Mother Goose Time Bloggers are up to: Get Inspired!

 

 

 



You Won't Believe What Mother Goose Time Showed Me About My Daughter, Sonia...

Mother Goose Time Does It Again!

Every time I sit down to write a blog about what we are learning about with our Mother Goose Time, I am always filled with gratitude. Just knowing that, not only, am I helping my children learn about numbers, shapes, counting and more but that I am instilling great qualities and helping build amazing character.

We sat down to read Jack and the Beanstalk and I thought it would be a nice story and we would plant our beans and move on to the next activity. What actually happened left me in awe. In awe of this curriculum, in awe of my parenting but mostly in awe of my 4.5 year olds soul.

I could not believe what I was hearing. It truly opened my eyes to her beauty. It opened my heart to love her even more than I thought I could.

It sounds silly that one discussion question could bring up all of these emotions. But let me tell you, I'm not kidding. I would never have known or even thought to ask such a young child such a deep question.

In fact, when I read the question, I didn't realize how deep it went. That is, until Sonia answered.

Here's a blurb from the actual story:

"BEANS!" cried the mother. "How could you trade White Spots for a handful of beans?" She was so upset that she threw the beans out the window and they landed in the garden"

The discussion question asked, "How did the mother feel about the beans?"

At this point, I expected an answer like mad, angry, upset, she yelled, etc. Here's the answer I got...

"She was afraid and worried. They had no money or food".

After I digested what my daughter had just said, I took this opportunity as a very teachable moment and we went on to discuss that when people seem angry or upset, they are really just what she said - afraid and worried. I asked her, "Have you ever been afraid or worried?"

"Oh yes!" She said "Thunderstorms make me scared. But I run into your room and I know I am safe."

"Yes, Sonia, I will always keep you safe."

Because of Mother Goose Time, I had the opportunity to see Sonia in a different light. I never thought I could love her more than I already do but to see how empathetic, what a deep thinker and what an old soul she is, makes my entire body glow from the feeling of healthy pride I get knowing that this little human is mine. It also gives me a deep feeling of responsibility and the importance of modeling these great behaviors.

I will be the best parent, I can be to my kids.

Please let me know , in the comment section of the blog, when your child left you speechless.

 

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Learning Life Lessons Through Play Every Day

Learning Life Lessons Through Play Every Day

When people hear about home school, they often envision kids at the kitchen table working on work books. Some days it does look like that (for the older students). Most of the days, I teach my kids with play and experience. Take a look at all of the amazing lessons that come out of a day in our own backyard!

Remember, my kids are 2 and 4, so all lessons are usually about social aspects of life, character and confidence building and I sprinkle in some traditional "learning" along the way.

Take a moment and read and see how children can learn so much "just" by being themselves with the proper guidance.

Working together as a team

 

Daniella learns to use her voice to explain how to be pushed in a safe way. Sonia learns how to respect other people's wishes.

Sonia learns right and left to direct her car. She works on gross motor skills as well as following direction. She is able to problem solve in order to fit into a space and drive smoothly.

Daniella is learning her own power. She learns independence by being able to push herself off, bring the car back to its starting point by herself and do it again and again.

 

Working together and sharing makes the day go by smoother. Sonia learned that there was a solution to "giving up" the car. This was her idea and boy did they both enjoy it.

The best classroom any kid could have - a backyard!

Daniella learns up and down and independence.

 

The most important lesson of all - LOVE