Tiny B goes to school two days a week and I spend those two days with a very sweet boy who loves being in the backyard. Strong B can play by himself but I'm discovering that both him and his sister get lonely when they're without each other. They both get cases of "I wish I had someone to play with!" I never had that issue because I was raised as an only child.
On this day Strong B had a bad case of it and therefore I decided to stop our Mother Goose Time Nursery Rhymes theme early and start up with Ponds. I pulled out our crispy new box and tore it open to see what adventures hid inside.
I opened the Teacher Guide and saw an Investigation Station that intrigued me. The Investigation to Create lesson went perfectly with it, so I combined the two.
I excitedly sent Strong B outside to find the makings for a duck habitat.
I threw the books and materials on my bed and began putting the lesson together in my head. Basically, both lessons called for the children to create a duck habitat. Normally I'd take them to a pond prior to the start of this Pond theme because I don't believe they have a ton of prior knowledge on it. But, desperate times (a bored 4 year-old!) call for desperate measures (starting a theme without introducing prior knowledge!)
As he looked for materials, I set up his Investigation Station. I put it right near my bedroom window so that over the following week he could play there while I laid on my bed and relaxed. Smart, right?! I'm becoming a smart homeschool mom!
These duck manipulatives are the cutest.
We began with some basic things.
Then I gave him the Invitation to Create materials. I had wanted him to glue the blue cellophane paper to a plate to be used as water, but he wanted to cut it up to put in the pond tub. That's even better--he's using his own imagination (I guess that's what Invitation to Create is all about!) and he's practicing his fine motor skills using scissors.
I put on the Pond CD as a preview of the subjects that we will learn about for this theme. It's adorable.
I laughed when I noticed that the "I'm Sorry" song had been brought back from a year and a half ago with the Friends and Family theme I believe. It was Tiny B's favorite song at that time and at the time of this post writing, it's been on constant play mode which has caused a bit of annoyance for Strong B and daddy. Ha!!
Strong B used the really nice magnifying glass that came with this theme.
He put together his dirty duck pond which really is perfect being that ponds are dirty and contain lots of stuff.
He also played this game with the leaping frogs and tried to land on particular numbers.
What a sweet day this was. I always plan to clean on those "relaxing days" when Tiny B is at school, but it never happens because Strong B so desperately wants this time for attention. As my mom says, "These are the best days of your life." I'm so tremendously thankful to Mother Goose Time for the last two years for providing a lifetime full of sweet memories for me and my children.
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