Nursery Rhymes are the theme of our Mother Goose Time curriculum this month. Although Little Guy and I are known to play rousing games of Little Miss/Little Mister Muffet, that is about as far as my interactive nursery rhyme education has gone. He knows quite a few, because I apparently like to hear the sound of my own voice and am always singing or reciting something, but it hasn't be a focus of our time.
This month we have been doing A LOT of fun activities that not only have helped him learn new nursery rhymes, but worked on a variety of skills, including numbers, phonics, and motor skills. Since I am working at making homeschooling work for us, we have not really followed the plan, but have been tackling two topics each day, in an order that fits with our schedule for the day. So I will be sharing some of the fun things we have been doing, along with what skills the project focuses on and the assessment question that is related. Each assessment question is written to connect with Benchmark D (preschool) in the Developmental Continuum provided at the back of each Teacher Guide.
Spider Shapes
Spider shapes was an activity to go along with Itsy Bitsy Spider. Little Guy put the shape beads on the Shape Design Mat. Sounds simple, but it actually helps children build their abilities in three different skills: Spatial Awareness, Shapes, and Fine Motor. The main skill this activity helps develop is Spatial Awareness. Our assessment question was "Did the child flip and turn the beads to make them fit in the shape outlines?". The answer for Little Guy was yes, he did his best to make them fit (the shape beads we had were slightly different than the design maps, so he couldn't do it perfectly because they didn't match). That means that in Spacial Awareness 17.1 (more details are available for each skill on the Developmental Continuum) he is meeting preschool standards. After looking more closely at the Developmental Continuum for this skill I realize he is actually at Benchmark F.
Fill The Cupboard
On Old Mother Hubbard Day, we played Fill the Cupboard. We simply rolled the die, and put the bone on the corresponding bone spot on the cupboard game board. The primary skill that this activity developed was, of course, Number Concepts. Since it was a turn that involved taking turns, and cooperating to meet a common goal, it also aids in the Social Relationships skill. The assessment question for this activity was "Did the child identify the numbers 1-6? Could he look at the dots on the die and identify the number without counting?" For this question Little Guy was hit and miss. He can identify the number 1-6 no problem, but he can only look at the dots and identify the numbers for 1-3, anything higher and he had to count. So I will go again to the Developmental Continuum 15.1 and see which benchmark he is at. He is between Benchmarks D and E, which is right on target.
Jumping Over the Rhyme
Jumping Over the Rhyme was an activity to correspond with the nursery rhyme Little Jack Horner. It is an activity focused on Phonological Awareness, and (obviously from the video - I have no idea why he slurred the words at the end by the way) Gross Motor. Did the child participate in the rhyme game? Did he recite the rhyming words as he jumped? were the the assessment questions. The answer to both of these is yes. After a closer look I can see that for Phonological Awareness 10.2 Little Guy is at Benchmark E.
At the back of the Planning Journal there is a page to record all their benchmark levels. I have not used this before, but I think I will start. Knowing which areas your child excels at, as well as which areas he needs extra help to get on track is a great help in aiding your children academically.
Little Guy and I receive Mother Goose Time free of charge in exchange for sharing our pictures, experiences, and honest opinions!
