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Saturday, March 19, 2016

Mother Goose Time - Pet Tortoise Craft and FREE Preschool Printables

Take a look at this adorable Mother Goose Time Pet Tortoise Craft!



Photo Copyright Caroline Brooke
"Mom, I love my tortoise. He is so cute."

She had so much fun creating her tortoise.

"Mom, I don't want him to be too bumpy. I don't want to glue on the lentils."

We talked about how tortoises can be different. We don't all need to be the same.

Photo Copyright Caroline Brooke
"His name is Dusty."
 
Mother Goose Time provided all the necessary materials (other than scissors and crayons). This makes my life so much easier! Thank you, Mother Goose Time.
Photo Copyright Caroline Brooke
"His name is Dusty."
Pet Tortoise Craft by Mother Goose Time

Here is a photograph of the Pet Tortoise Craft instructions sheet.



Each time we have a craft, Mother Goose Time provides an instructions sheet with all the necessary materials.

After we did this activity, she naturally asked this question...

"Mom, what's the difference between a tortoise and a turtle?"


So, I got out the Mother Goose Time photograph that showed both a tortoise and a turtle with an explanation of exactly how they are different.


 

We read and discussed each difference. The beautiful photographs really helped her understand. I love this page. It made it really easy for her to understand. She then started to remember when she saw a real tortoise and real sea turtle.

Photo Copyright Caroline Brooke
"Remember when we saw a real sea turtle?"

The little picture cards were an additional, helpful tool to help her visually see the differences between a tortoise and a turtle.


Photo Copyright Caroline Brooke

Photo Copyright Caroline Brooke
I could see in her eyes, that she was really beginning to understand the difference.
That was fun for us.

We love Mother Goose Time! Thank you!

Mommy Reflection As the Year Comes to a Close

Next year, she will begin Kindergarten. As I am reflecting on the year, I cannot bear to not have Mother Goose Time in her life anymore. Everyday, we enjoyed this special time. Even her older 3rd grade sister loved taking a break from her studies and actually learning while doing these fun activities. My year contract with Mother Goose Time is coming to a close, but I will definitely find a way to include Mother Goose Time as part of her Kindergarten experience. As a former Kindergarten teacher, and now a homeschooling mom, I definitely see much that can still be learned while using Mother Goose Time in Kindergarten. My hope is that eventually Mother Goose will create Kindergarten add-ons or a complementary Kindergarten curriculum. I believe a lot of what they offer can be differentiated for all elementary grades. One thing I love about Mother Goose Time is how they combine science and art, like in the pet tortoise craft. These kinds of activities are useful for older elementary-age children, too.

On the same day that Tracy at Mother Goose Time emailed me and let me know that the year is almost over... Only one more box, Bees and Butterflies, my preschool-age daughter rode a bike with training wheels. My baby no longer rides on the back of my bike. I felt a sense of loss. Both of my little girls are growing up so quickly. It just reminds me to treasure everyday.

Speaking of treasuring everyday...

I am so appreciative that Mother Goose Time focused on Food and Fitness last month. All the focus on that really made me think about mommy-self-care. With the encouragement of friends and our homeschool group moms, I decided to go get a blood test and I found out that I was anemic, deficient in iron, vitamin D3, calcium, magnesium and B vitamins! Wow, no wonder why I was so exhausted. I could not figure out why I had such horrible, painful muscle spasms and facial twitching. I am so thankful to say that I feel 100% better now. Now that I am taking all of those vitamins my energy is back. I do feel thankful, but looking back I wish I had known sooner. I went through a lot of pain and exhaustion over the past year just from the painful muscle cramps. As I really think about this, I just want to encourage everyone reading this to get your blood checked. Find out what vitamins and minerals are lacking in your bodies. I need to remember to treat myself as good as I treat my children.... I want to live a long time, so I can take good care of them and have fun. I'm sure you feel the same way, so be sure to check with your doctor and find out what your body needs. I took my multi-vitamin everyday, and it wasn't enough. Also, I wore so much sunscreen, I was deficient in D3.

For next year, I'm considering continuing with Mother Goose Time Preschool curriculum and enrolling her at www.SetonHome.com, because Seton has Kindergarten workbooks with their curriculum. Doing both will give her plenty of learning, while still feeling the joy of play. Her older sister is enrolled at Seton and the program worlds really well for us.

Here are some Free Preschool Printables for You.


Free Childcare Marketing Toolkit for March 2016http://info.mothergoosetime.com/grow-your-preschool-business

Animal-Theme Nametag [Free!] Downloadablehttp://info.mothergoosetime.com/januarymylittlejournalgiveaway

4 [Free!] Activities & Storytime Props to Accompany the Aesop's Fables Storybookhttp://info.mothergoosetime.com/happy-national-tell-a-fairy-tale-day-0

One Full [Free!] Day From the Experience God Christian Preschool Program
Experience God sample link:
http://info.mothergoosetime.com/experiencegodsample

One Full [Free!] Day From the Mother Goose Time Teacher's Guide
Free Sample link:
http://info.mothergoosetime.com/one-full-free-day-of-mother-goose-time-preschool-curriculum
www.MotherGooseTime.com


3 comments:

Jennifer Gladen said...

Very informative Carol! Thanks for sharing. And she is so adorable!

Carol Brooke said...

Hi Jennifer, Thank you so much! Great to hear from you. I miss you, my writing friend :)

Carol Brooke said...

I miss being in a children's book writing critique group with you, Jennifer. Hopefully, we can do that again in a future life season.