Professionalism!

When I first started my in-home preschool it was very difficult for me. I did not have the balance of professionalism a caregiver needed to maintain a welcoming atmosphere. Each day consisted of a lot of play and no structure. It did not take long for me to see that I needed structure of some kind in order to keep things running smoothly. I began doing this by researching different activities I could implement at home that were cost effective and easy to do. I continued on with this strategy for several years. This system seemed to work for me, but it was difficult to keep up with purchasing supplies each week, and I struggled to find time searching online to find different different projects at home.

Therefore, I made the decision to try something new. I had several children that were getting older, and I knew they would soon be transitioning into kindergarten. I wanted to make sure the kids were ready for their transition, so I began looking for preschool programs online. I struggled with the idea of finding affordable preschool programs. Everything I found had activities that did not seem any better than what I was already doing.

After several weeks of looking, I came across Mother Goose Time (MGT) curriculum. I was amazed at the level of professionalism their curriculum held. The materials were individually packaged for each day which contained most of the items I would need for each lesson. I also liked that it came with a teacher's guide. This made teaching easy, and fun for the children. The activities, music and lessons were engaging for the students.

Needless to say, this has been a  journey for me. I have learned that in order to maintain a professional environment. I need to make sure that the materials I present are geared towards learning with an end goal. Each MGT lesson is prepared to allow each student to learn basic concepts and it includes physical activities to keep them engaged toward learning.

My kids have learned so much in the little time I have been using these products. MGT simplifies my learning lessons, and keeps the kids engaged in learning throughout the process.

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Painting Trees!

Getting ready to search the outdoor area using a magnifying glass to investigate different colors. 

L is investigating the blades of grass. He said the blades of grass increase in size when you look through the glass.

L is investigating a green leaf.

C is looking at a dandelion through her magnifying glass!

L is painting a tree trunk, so we can play a game.

Playing a game called "Spin and Paint". Each child spins for a color, then paints a flower in using the same color. 

Each child placed a piece of paper on a shadow, traced it, then filled the shadow using paint. 

Using items from nature to paint a collage!

L is using a green leaf to paint.

L is proud of her work.

D is creating a tree trunk using tape.

I made a mini water table for the kiddos!

Splashing in the pool!

Making mud pies!

The kids learned how to identify different colors, and used their fine motor skills by tracing different objects. They even applied physical science skills during times of exploration.
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Building with Trees!

Dance time is playtime!

Searching thehttps://www.facebook.com/MotherGooseTime topic poster to see what we could use as building materials.

Calling out shapes, and inviting a child to search for that shape. D is looking for a rectangle.

M is looking for a square. He learned that the side of a cube has a square shape.

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Singing "Building with Wood" and mimicking the actions to each verse. C is dancing to the part when the hammer goes up and down. 

What are different parts of a tree? The children learned the wood part of the tree is called a trunk.  They also learned that some trees have a lot of branches and some of them don't.

Placing foam shapes onto different parts of the tree!

K loves playing with her foam shapes.

Making pictures of leaf animals! I asked the children what kind of animal they would like to make and poured glue in that same shape. Then, the children glued leaves and branches to create their animals.

Dance break!

Making pine cone feeders! The children learned they could use pine cones to make bird feeders.

L is proud of his pine cone bird feeder!

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Climbing Trees!

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The children love dancing to the circle time song!

Who can you find climbing a tree?

M says a monkey likes to climb trees.

E would like to teach the class today.

M and C are counting the days of the month.

M says it is cloudy today.

C says it is sunny.

D is searching the theme poster to see who she can find climbing a tree.

The children are pretending to climb a tree while listening to a song.

The children learned that some animals eat leaves.

Each child used scissors to cut out their Koala bear puppets.

Searching for leaves, twigs, and anything else the kids can use to make imprints in homemade dough.

L is searching the leaves to see what she can find climbing the tree.

L found something on a leaf.

We were not exactly sure what this was. We placed the leaf and other nature items into a jar to see what it turns into.

Making dough prints!

C is using her magnifying glass to get a closer look.

Today was an eventful day. The children enjoyed exploring and making their koala puppets. They enjoyed making prints in the dough, and writing their names. The kids all agreed it would be fun to climb a tree, but also scary because trees can be very tall.