Q & A: Daily Transitions with Mother Goose Time

Let me start by telling you that transitioning to and from lessons each day requires a certain amount of finesse at times. We usually start our day after everyone is dressed. The children wake up around 7:00 am and we head to the kitchen. Sometimes they play while I make breakfast for everyone. Other times they're too much underfoot and I resort to cartoons to finish breakfast preparation.

I wish I could say that we all sit down to breakfast together and start the day with our daily bible readings. I dreamed of starting our days that way. Clearly, I underestimated what it would be like to begin a week day at 30+ weeks pregnant with two (sometimes three) small children. These days I settle for a quick blessing of the food and a meal that doesn't involve me instructing my two year old not to throw her food.

Before I dive in to the question & answer portion of this week's post, let me start by reminding everyone that Mother Goose Time preschool curriculum has agreed to provide  us with the complete monthly curriculum and Little Goose supplement for the month of September free of charge in exchange for sharing my honest and unbiased opinions and thoughts.

How do we start our day with Mother Goose Time?

After breakfast, they get dressed and brush their teeth before we all meet at the table to start the school day.
Usually we start with reading a related book. Often the suggested Mother Goose Time book is a big hit and we read it several times. This was the case with the Eric Carle book (From Head to Toe) from week one and the book Ada Grace affectionately named "2,3, Apples!" (Ten Red Apples) from week two.

Then we move on to our first Little Goose two Little Goose activities. These activities build appropriate developmental skills for their ages and often include an "arts & crafts" element that the girls generally enjoy.
Usually, at this point in our lessons, I'm starting to see a lack of focus and/or a need to wiggle from one or both of the girls. That's when I skip ahead to the Wiggle & Giggle activity. While they dance and sing, I set up the supplies for the Tray Play or STEAM Station. It's generally easier to transition them to an open-ended activity like a Tray Play after all that goofy wiggling and singing.
Then, I can get their focus back for the final activity. After that final activity, it's usually time for lunch.

Do we do the Tray Play from Little Goose as well as the STEAM Station?

Sometimes. It really depends on the activities. Occasionally, I feel the Tray Play is a bit redundant. For instance, in Lesson 11 (Shirts) one activity invited the children to make an color their own shirts. The girls really enjoyed it! However, the tray play also invited them to color a shirt. Both girls had lost interest in coloring by the time we reached the Tray Play so we skipped that activity for the day and did the STEAM Station instead. 

Other times an activity doesn't work out for one reason or another. There was a STEAM station involving noodles that sounded like wonderful fun, but due to some allergies it wasn't a great idea for us. One Tray Play involved making homemade play dough and I admit, I cringed at the thought of it so we altered our activity for the day.

Do we use Mother Goose Time's "Circle Time" portion?

No, most of the time we don't. I always check in with "Circle Time" in the teacher's guide. We often do the greeting song and spend a little time with our calendar. Generally, the community challenge doesn't work well in our home school setting so we tend to skip it. 

What about the "Cuddle & Snuggle" Portion?

Often we stop after our Tray Play/STEAM Station activity and save the Cuddle & Snuggle for a time later in the day. It's usually perfect for the hazy moments after naps when they don't want to go back to sleep but aren't quite back to "full energy" yet.

Do we complete all the activities given/suggested by Mother Goose Time every day?

No. The girls are very young (both very recently turned 2) and we want to keep their lessons short and sweet for the time being. The Little Goose Curriculum Supplement does a great job of applying the important parts of the larger more in-depth preschool lesson and leaving out the activities meant for somewhat older children. However, I still occasionally find an activity I feel the girls aren't ready for or that they will not enjoy. I tend to skip these activities or adapt them as necessary. I really appreciate the wide variety of fabulous activities Mother Goose Time provides us with that make it possible for me to pick and choose in a way that works for my kids and myself.