10.14.07
Posted in Mommy Nature's Home Preschool at 5:36 pm by Administrator
Mommy Nature’s Preschool Blog is getting a facelift! Why? Well, our website, MommyNature.com, has served more as an information source for what we are doing at Mommy Nature’s Preschool which has left the blog trailing behind, searching for a goal, as it often just simply restates what can be found on the site, causing inefficient, double-work on my part! Therefore, I thought the blog could serve a more helpful role in answering questions that would be beneficial for all.
I bet your next question is, “What questions?” Some of you may not realize that I receive several contacts a week asking for more information on how I created something on the site or looking for more in-depth information on ideas for specific learning activities. I’ve even created writing sheets for a mom who used a public computer and couldn’t download the font she was looking for (from SearchFreeFonts.com, not some paid program I have secret access to! 
Well, this all gave me the idea to use the blog as a vehicle to serve a larger group. I’ll begin by answering questions already posed to me, usually via email, but please send in any you have (through this blog or via email) and if I don’t have the answer, we’ll work together to find it! Meanwhile, visit MommyNature.com for more updates and activity ideas to use – great for those cold/wet weather indoor days!
Thanks,
Gina
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10.08.07
Posted in Podcasts at 9:53 pm by Administrator
Here is the audio component to the transcript found at
http://www.mommynature.com/preschool-educational-philosophy.html
It is about 5 and 1/2 minutes long so it takes a minute to load. You may also save any podcasts by right clicking on the link above and clicking “Save Target As”. Choose where you want to save it to. Voila!
Enjoy my thoughts! I’m just thrilled someone actually wants to hear them – agree or not! 
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10.04.07
Posted in Mommy Nature's Home Preschool at 2:36 pm by Administrator
We’ve really been working hard this week on the letter f. Ask your child to sing “You’re a Grand Ole Flag”. We’ve been singing it every day since Monday as the kids march around waving their flags. Some days I’ve finally had to put the iPod on “repeat song” because they ask me to “play it again” so many times. Cliff says it sounds like I’m brainwashing them. Well, you know, Terina, all the blond hair and all!
Some of the fun things that we’ve enjoyed this week include learning the Zoophonics computer game that we got. This game will carry them through sounding out words (if we get that far), but it has several areas that are perfect for their beginning level. We’ve also started practicing putting the letters (a-f) in alphabetical order. They did really well with that! We just sang our song “Come Meet Us at the Zoo” while playing and we zipped right through. Earlier in the week we played Hide and Seek with the a-f cards. I would hide the cards throughout the room while they waited in the living room, then they would dash in and find as many letters as they could. Of course, then I gathered up all the cards and we sounded them and signaled them before playing another round. We’ve also read about Benjamin Franklin and the artist Faberge. I found a great pop-up book showcasing Faberge’s art that the kids love. It even has some of his flower sculptures that he created so today we made flowers after becoming inspired by looking at his. Tomorrow we’ll make “Fantastic Fudge” to take home. As you enjoy the fudge with your child, have him/her tell you what sound is at the beginning of “Fantastic Fudge”. Can they think of other words that begin with Francy Fish’s letter? Can they “teach” you Francy Fish’s signal?
Although we learn/reinforce the sounds of all the letters throughout each week, as you know, we focus on one letter a week to cement the sound into the children’s knowledge base. Also, sprinkled throughout the year are review weeks where we’ll review the last set of letters and numbers since the last review. Next week is one such week where we’ll revisit a-f as well as the numbers 0-6. I’ll use some of the activities that were planned originally that we never got around to doing and I’ll throw in a few other things. The biggest thing we’ll be doing is starting a picture dictionary to build upon throughout the year.
Enjoy!
“Miss Gina”
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10.02.07
Posted in Mommy Nature's Home Preschool, Podcasts at 10:30 pm by Administrator
Fish story – soon to be uploaded.
The PowerPoint Presentation for this story (without the narration) can be found at http://www.mommynature.com/Power%20Points/Fish.ppt
Okay, yay! I think I may be on my way to figuring out this whole “podcasting”/uploading audio stuff. I’ve tried to make a PowerPoint on each animal we’ve learned about and am in the process of uploading them to the site – another issue. The kids love these presentations, which are like books on a computer screen. They ask to see them over and over.
Well, Cliff – my wonderful husband – bought us a new iPod AND an iTalk so that I can record directly into the iPod, so much easier and less time-consuming than what I was doing! Of course, now I just have to get used to how they work. My plan is to also record the children singing songs, during Morning Meeting and maybe some of their infamous knock-knock jokes that have become a lunchtime favorite, that we can post online for your enjoyment.
And back to work I go…
Gina
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