The flowers, produce, and the monster weeds

  The children definitely enjoyed the other lessons this week. The children always surprise me with the things they say.With the "Flowers" lesson I learned that the Pizza Man" likes flowers. The " I'm a Flower" was great. I love all the things you can do with this activity.The " Japanese Flower Patterns " helped me see that this activity should be left out so the children can work on it everyday. We have more to learn in the garden this coming week. 

Learning about the "Letter F" and plants.

Making the adorable flower headband and how shapes can fit together. Also working in recognizing the shapes that you need to put on the flowers. In the area of "Dramatic Play" I felt the " Japanese Flower Patterns "  gave the children the opportunity  to use their imagimation.http://www.mothergoosetime.com/

Sprouts ,Stems , and Leaves

  I did not do the lessons in order this weekweek. This coming week  I am going to squeeze in"Day 6 Sprout and Stem . I am doing it this way because we have not had very good luck getting out seeds to grow. I am going to try other soil and seeds and see what happens. I honestly think the main problem is the seeds got way too much water. I am going shopping tomorrow  for more planting supplies .Moving on to " Leaves" which went very well. I asked the first discussion question " Why do think leaves come in different  shapes?" .  I got told "Because they like to."The " Concept Review" was a blast.  I used different shapes that were green and the children had a lot of fun doing the activity.When we did " Parts of a Plant " it gave the children a fantastic  chance to be creative.  The children loved it.

The children enjoyed looking at the bean plant poster . I just put it on the table were they could look at it on their own.They were also exploring the shells from " Ocean Commotion " too.

The children's imagination came out when they got to learn shapes and make their own plants. 
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Finding out how plants eat their food

  According to the children I take of and my youngest daughter the answer to the first discussion question " Where can you find roots? " is " Roots are in volcanos." The " Letter Yy " part of the lesson was really cool . The children were able to find the letter "Y" right away . We moved on to the " Lettuce Turnip the Beet ! book .  I was having just as much fun as the kids did counting and with the jokes. The kids told me their favorite fruits and vegetable are apples, carrots, and strawberries. We are not all the way done with the book. I want to finish it this coming week. The children surprised me with the " Worm Painting " and the " Worm Poop" activity. The " Mother's Day activity came out very well too. One of the funniest parts of the lesson was asking " How do you think worms help the soil healthy ? " I explained that worms poop in the soil and that gives the soil nutrients and I got told " Ooh that's disgusting ! " I am so excited to get all the lessons ready for next week. 

 

 This project was great . They were able to glue the roots on all by themselves.

 

 

 They are doing great learning their letters and the children love the " Mother Goose Time" books .

 

 The " Worm Painting " activity gave the children a    chance to express their creativity. 

    The "Worm Poop " activity was a great and fun way for kids to learn more about worms.

 

 

 

Small Children's Minds

   We  have had a lot of water in Illinois this week. We may have to start over and plant our seeds again. They got way to much water. I still have some seed left so we can use that. I am going to go get more vegetable seed from the store too. The introduction discussion question" How do you think sunshine helps plants grow ? " got me some unique answers . The answers I was given were the plants would be " Super big and Super little " .  Next we did the " Concept Intro : Numbers " . The children had a lot of fun with this activity. I had them point to the number too so they can learn to recognize the numbers too.   The " Sunny Garden Journal " is a big hit so far. One little girl drew a whole garden on the cover of her journal. When I asked this little girl the discussion question that went with the journal activity " How does sunshine help a plant to grow ? she gave me the answer of "sunflower" . I am going to look for another way to help them understand the growing cycle of plants .      

 

 Learning to recognize different numbers.

 

 Creating their own garden in the front cover of the "Sunny Garden Journal".

 

 We worked in our workbooks and the children liked finding the hidden diamonds in the picture.

 

 

 

First stop " Seeds "

   When starting the seed lesson and I looked around at the children and they were all ready to start even my daughter . I love that all the children are so enthusiastic about learning . That enthusiasm carries over to the answers the children give me to the discussion questions. Such as " Where can you find seeds ? " The answers that came out of their mouths consisted of store, soil ,and in the sky. The "Planting Shapes" portion of the lesson was really fun for the kids . They liked being able to make whatever they wanted from the blocks . The next part "My Garden and Me " was interesting because I got told by a little girl that she would wear red and gardening gloves while she was planting a garden. The " Jack and the Beanstalk " story went well. I want to do this story again but this time I want to bring the children  into the story more . They had some trouble comprehending the story  and I think if I bring them into the story more they will understand it better. We still have to do the " Exploring Seeds " portion of the lesson . We ran out of time and did not get to it . We have started planting our garden here in Illinois . I am hoping to incorporate  our garden into the " Growing Gardens " Mother Goose Time Curriculum .

We are learning our new shape this month which is the diamond. The kids are doing great with this.
 

   I am sticking to my concept of having the children use glue , scissors , construction paper etc. by themselves if they are able too . I can tell it has made them more confident and it gives them a sense of accomplishment .
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This is the start of our garden here in Illinois . We planted the tomato plants today . We have more to do tomorrow . It is going to be so cool to incorporate our garden into the Mother Goose Time Curriculum . 

Getting our hands dirty

  We jumped into digging in our gardens this week . I asked the children the discussion question " What can you find in the soil ? " .  It was like you could hear the brainstorming in the room . Then the answers came pouring in . They told me guinea pig food, sharp things , worms , and spiders. I loved the " Concept Intro : Letters " . It is a great activity . It also showed me I need to work on this more with the children . They struggled with finding the letters in their names . The children enjoyed the "Scooping Soil " part of the lesson. I put some dirt on a pan and they got to write their name and put dirt in the different containers. The children had a blast doing it. The children even had more fun with the " Watch it Grow " part of the lesson . They jumped right in and put the dirt in the cups and put the grass seed in the cups too. My youngest daughter wanted to do one too. She also wanted to try to grow bean plants and corn in the cups of soil . We are going to see how all the plants turn out .

Playing in the dirt and learning how to write their names . They enjoyed sticking their fingers in the dirt.

Getting our garden started with grass , beans , and corn . Also getting to mess with dirt some more by using fine motor skills to pick up the dirt and put it in the containers . It was a fantastic day to learn new things .

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