Random Mother Goose Time and Experience God Learning

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Although my follow through of Mother Goose Time lessons may be random, what they teach and how they teach it is not.  That I know for sure.

We have implemented the new 10 drawer system which has lead to bits and pieces of Mother Goose Time done here and there.  I don't see that as a negative though because it has given my 3 year old much more choice and freedom in how he wants to do "school".   He is able to initiate school time which has lead to some really amazing time together.  So this post is going to include random MGT and Experience God activities we have done here and there.

First up is an Experience God lesson.  We have taken a long break from Experience God because I just didn't feel like I was using it to it's full potential.  What we did instead was read little daily devotionals from the Jesus is Calling book or spent some time memorizing scriptures from our Awana book.  Although these are great and quick options, Experience God really makes things interactive and brings a whole new level to biblical truths.  This month is called "God is Eternal" and in week one we are learning that God Always Was, Is and Will Be.  All three boys were sitting at the counter eating breakfast and I was across from them, I thought it was perfect time to pull out the tri-fold paper I had pre-folded.  I painted a pattern on the center section, then folded one side in and then the other.  Then I showed them that the shape was the same in all three sections and I pointed to them and called the first section, "yesterday", middle section "today" and the right section "forever".  Each day has a little blue box with a simple synopsis of the lesson.  "God never changes.  We can trust him to always love us."  Then I added, He is the same yesterday, today and always.

And then we went to the beach for our anniversary with a plus one and ate gelato.

Now onto day 1 learning about islands. We actually completed most of this days lessons.  First Adam got to explore the new foam letters and numbers.  I sent numbers one through six with him to the bathroom sink.

Experience God in Toddler Nursery

Once a month I work in our churches toddler nursery.  This time I did my best to gather some supplies to do a little bit more with the kids, even though a lot of the kids are even younger than Adam who is 2.5.  In fact, most of the attendees on this day were right around 18 months.

I had with me the Easter Story, "God Asks Me to Pray", which was left over from a previous month.  Perfect for October, right?  I figure it's the root of our faith so it could be used anytime.

When you order the Experience God Christian curriculum form Mother Goose Time you get story cards, a lesson book and then a bag of goodies for each child.  If you order supplies for 10 kids, you get 10 bags.  Each bag has all the things you will need for the full month of learning or for all 4 Sunday's if you use it as a Sunday School curriculum.  It includes four crafts and coloring sheets.  You can see more posts about our use of Experience God here.

I first dug through the drawers in our room to see what supplies I had available to me, glue, tape, crayons etc.  I didn't have much so then I looked through the crafts to see what the kids in the room would be able to do and what we had the supplies to do.  Thankfully there was one that met all the requirements.

It went with the theme of praying everyday.  It was a blank grid that you were to write calendar dates on and then let the kids decorate with the provided stickers.

As I got the calendars ready I got out the corresponding coloring sheet, which again goes with the Easter theme.  But that's okay, because He has risen, He has risen indeed!

Adam had just spent an hour the night before decorating his Dad's birthday present with stickers.  So he had just recently mastered this skill.  I first set up Little J's calendar and asked Adam to help her get the stickers off.  It was one of the sweetest things I had ever seen.  He got them off, handed them to her and then she stuck them on.  She would usually finish with a big old clap for herself as she placed each sticker.

Oh, the pride in her face.  It melted my heart.  And look at those little fingers getting so much fine motor practice, during a Bible lesson.  I also made sure to count out loud as I wrote all the numbers on each calendar because I knew little ears were listening.  On a few of the numbers Adam would chime in.  That's what is neat about Experience God, they incorporate the standard learning elements, the ABCs and 123s, into their Bible lessons and games.

God Asks Us to Love Our Neighbors - The Good Samaritan

We reviewed this Bible story with Experience God a few months ago.  But it has made a big impact on my oldest son.  I shared a story on Mom with a Dandelion in Her Hair's Facebook page. 

This is what I posted.

I have to brag a little bit about my biggest little man Lachlan. A month or so ago, Lachlan was outside riding his scooter and trying to race some big boys. All of a sudden he crashed and went falling to the ground hurt. The big boys he was racing just kept going. He recounted the story to me with tears of hurt in his eyes. I was so heart broken for him but at the same time a little proud that he knew, what they did, was not the right thing to do.
Yesterday, Lachlan found himself in a similar situation, where he was out front playing with neighbor children. One of the neighbor boys fell and hurt himself. Lachlan rushed over to check on him and ask him if he was okay.

My husband was out front with him on both occasions and yesterday, when they came in, Lachlan did not share the story with me but Jeff did. I said to Lachlan, "you were like the good Samaritan." "Yep", he says "that's what I was doing."
The Good Samaritan was one of our Experience God lessons from a few months back and the story has really seemed to stick with him.
Lachlan is brave, hard working, inquisitive and compassionate. I am so proud of the young man he is becoming.

At least one Mom on the Facebook page felt like this could be a valuable lesson for her child.  So I took some pictures of the materials from this lesson to share with her and you too. 

When we covered this story I actually didn't do that many of the lessons.  But I did read the story cards many times through out the month.  The boys were fascinated with the story and all it's details. 

Here is the first card.  With a picture of the neighbor walking to Jericho.  Then it tells of the robbers who hurt him.

 Card 2 shows the neighbor in bad shape.  The priest and another man walked by with out helping.

 Then of course the Good Samaritan comes into the story.

The Samaritan puts the neighbor on his donkey and paid for a room for him to rest. 

Who do you think was the neighbor to the man who was hurt by the robbers?  Is the question asked at the end of this story. 

 This is the verse that can be used as a memory verse. 

 This is the lesson plan book that goes along with this topic. 

Above is week one lesson one.  On each page there is an Ask section and an Explain section.  Even if you don't have this particular curriculum and the supplies that go with it, you could still have a great discussion with your kids using these two sections.  For example, on this page it asks: What do you do to help your family or friends?

It explains, This story is about a man who is alone and in pain.  Some people hurt him.  Other people saw him but did not want to help him.  Only one person decided to show God's love and help. 

This seems to be the lesson we left off at.  I always mark my books with this little post it tags.  Otherwise, if I just use a piece of paper, it always seems to get pulled out by little hands.

Ask: What does a neighbor look like?  This of course is an important part of the story to understand. 

 I love the questions these lessons address. 

 Ask: How many times do you think you need to help someone? 

 These are the four crafts we made to go along with these lessons. 

Oh I almost forgot, I did find one of the boys' coloring sheets from this theme.

When you do purchase a kit, you tell them how many kids you need it for and they send you a bag per child.  Each bag has all the craft supplies they will need for all 4 crafts and a coloring page for each week.

I looked this topic up on Mother Goose Time and I am sad to say, I think it is sold out.  I believe I saw the activity bags available but not the story cards or lesson book.  But Experience God is an amazing Christian program and I have not had a bad month.  Of course with all faith based lessons some seem to be the right fit for what you and your family need to hear and learn at the time. So I encourage you to take a look at the topics that are available.  I am sure there will be one that is just what you need.  

Winter Wonderland - Skiing & Experience God - Four in a Flock

Wow, long title.  Sorry about that.  But I wanted to make sure you knew we did an Experience God lesson on this day too.  I've been getting better about working in an Experience God lesson each day.  Maybe it's because it's December and Christmas is coming.  Part of my motivation is that I have been posting the ideas on Mom with a Dandelion in Her Hairs Facebook page.  I think most people I know are trying to figure out how to fit more Jesus into Christmas and I thought quick posts on Facebook with ideas could be helpful.

We started our day learning about skiing and making self portraits of ourselves skiing down a mountain.  Honestly, I don't think my boys have really seen skiing before.  So I pulled up a YouTube video for them to watch so they had an idea of what they were trying to draw. 

Mother Goose Time sent us two miniature craft sticks for skis, a paper and a pretty paper frame for our project.

 Beautiful Lucy came for a visit on this day and drew a pretty great picture.

 Peter seems to ski like I do, with his skis crossed.

 Adam enjoyed banging his blue bear manipulative on the highchair. 

 Lachlan is gluing his skis down.

Always has to use that tongue for precision. 

While still at the table we played a game of would you rather for the Mountain Travel lesson. 

The cards ask a would you rather question, like the one above.  Would you rather live on a beach or on a mountain.  There were four of us here on this day for voting.  I grabbed what I had handy for keeping track of the votes, cheerios.  But the bears they suggested in the Teacher Guide would have been much cuter. I think I was the only one who voted for the beach.

 Personally, I thought the Penguin would be hard to ride.

I know the pictures all look the same, but they are all very different questions.  It was fun to hear their answers and it sparked some funny conversation.

Next we slipped in an Experience God lesson called Four in a Flock.  We learned about being a shepherd, finding lost sheep and protecting your sheep through the night.  First we prepared 5 pieces of paper with 4 circles each.  I figured the kids could help me with that part.

 As they were doing that I hid 20 cotton balls around the living room.  Cotton balls aka sheep.

It's always easier to find sheep in the day time with a flashlight. ;)

When they found the sheep they would bring them back to the papers. 

 Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 

Just as a shepherd watches over his sheep, God watches over us.  Jesus is the lamb of God.  

Later in the day I got out a tray of flour and two big craft sticks for the lesson Ski Tracks.  We were supposed to draw numbers in the flour, but I just let the kids explore the flour on the kitchen floor, making tracks with the skis/craft sticks.  Honestly, I used this time to get some work done on the computer.  They were completely happy making a mess and experimenting with something Mommy wouldn't normally let them play with.  Just a quick sweep and it was all cleaned up. 

Busy, Busy, Cough, Cough, Busy

Life is crazy.  Then you add the fact that it's December and it's 15 days until Christmas, oh my!

In the last few months we have developed such a great routine.  It has been good for all of us.  Days have gone by with fewer bumps.  But last week was a different story.  Lachlan got sick.  So of course I let him sleep in.  We watched more TV, and we did less Mother Goose Time.  We didn't always eat at the table, sometimes on the couch.

Well, last week was miserable.  But it wasn't Lachlan who made it tough, it was Peter.  I think the routine has more impact on him then I realize.  Honestly, I am still trying to figure out what's got Peter all wound up as I am typing now.

All I know, is that we got back on our routine, starting yesterday, and things seem to be improving.  (Say a little prayer that it continues, I'd appreciate it.)

It's so hard to keep up routine when kids are sick, life is busy or when your in a tough spot.  I guess that's what I appreciate most about MGT though.  It's a grab and go sort of program.  I can have just 10 minutes to try to fit something in and I can pull it off because I just have to grab a day bag and get started.

I've said it before and I will say it again, I turn to MGT whenever I am looking for a meaningful way to interact with my children.  It is a teaching tool, sure, but for us, it is also a way to connect.  I get to ask questions and take a peak inside their minds, more than I think I would have on my own.  I think my kids can feel it when they don't get this kind of time and interaction with me because I have too many other things to do.  I can see the change in their behavior. 

Ultimately, nothing in this world is more important than showing love to my children.  That is what this season is about after all.  The ultimate love of God coming down in flesh to rescue us all.  I do hope I can keep my priorities in check and not let the busyness crowd out what's really important.

This month the MGT theme is Winter Wonderland.  We have learned about snowflakes, snowman, icicles, igloos, melting and freezing, and mountain hiking.  It's all been so much fun.  This months Experience God theme is God is Love.  It is, of course, the story of Jesus' birth.  I have been trying to be extra diligent this month, with including an Experience God lesson each day. 

This is how our crazy, unplanned, no prep day went.

Peter started his day early and wanted to play some Nick Jr. games on the computer.  At one point he discovered their print outs and I noticed they had a maze set.  I printed them and put them back to back inside these pouches.  I gave these to the boys real quick as they sat at the table waiting for their breakfast.

I quickly started gathering supplies for week 1 of Experience God's craft as the boys ate.  

There was this big heart with John 3:16 on it as well as the crinkle paper for hay, craft sticks for a manger and a wooden ice cream spoon for baby Jesus.

He drew eyes, hair and blue for a blanket.  We spent some time talking about where they slept when they were babies and compared that to where Jesus slept when he was born.  We have a manger we put under our Christmas tree, so they have a great visual.  The explain section of each Experience God lesson always sums it up beautifully - Jesus came here to love, not to have a fancy room and toys. 

Next I grabbed the number sheet and we counted out 14 cubes.  Lachlan wanted to keep going so he took the cubes and put them on the number to form the number 14. 

 While Lachlan was working away, Adam struck his ,I'm so cute, pose. 

Here's Lachlan's finished board.

As he worked I was still gathering and getting ready for the next few lessons.  I stumbled across this100 card and it looked to me like the squares were about the same size as the cubes.  So I asked Lachlan to count to see how many cubes we have.

 Turns out we got 50 cubes in our MGT kit this month.  Half of 100.  It was a great visual for Lachlan.

As he was finishing up his counting I ran to the living room to hide the other manipulatives we got in the kit this month, plastic bears.  They were supposed to find them and organize them in groups of 4.

 Adam "helped".

I hid 12 so they could have 3 groups of four.  Adam still really wants to get his hands on them.

The boys thought this was great and decided to hide them for me.  I could find all but 1, which Adam later found.  It was a big one, so not a choke hazard, and he was quite proud of himself.

While they were bear hunting, I got out Lachlan's More Math & More Literacy books and turned them to the pages for Day 6.  One of the pages was a cutting page.  I always like to cut those out of the book before they get started so that they don't accidentally cut through more than one page.  It also makes it easier for them to hold while cutting.  I invited Lachlan over to his desk where I had them ready and he got started.

 He cut them out and then we worked on pairing the rhyming words. 

Here Lachlan was supposed to color the matching item.  He circled instead.

But I want you to notice that fuzzy foot in the background.  That's me in my fuzzy socks.  I, of course, am still in my jammies.  The only reason the big boys look dressed is because they went to bed in the shirts they wore the day before.  Adam is of course sporting his Christmas pjs. Your day with Mother Goose Time certainly doesn't have to be pretty and all wrapped up in a bow.  I think just doing it, in whatever way you can, is the important part.