If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Lesson Plans

Here are the Mouse and Manners Lesson Plans I used for a preschool co-op-type class I taught a few months ago. It seemed to be a big hit, but I'm just now getting them on here:

Materials Needed:
*If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
*Opening songs to introduce topic
*Gray cardstock
*Construction paper/cardstock--pink and red
*Black yarn
*Wiggly eyes
*Small pink pom-poms
*Hole punch
*White cardstock/heavy paper
*Napkin
*Straw
*Glue
*Typed scripture verse: "...It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35
*Opptional:  Cardstock circles, any color, to make cookies.

Directions:

Before class...

1.  Cut out as many gray mice as needed.  Mine were approximately 7 and 3/4 inches long and 3 and 3/4 high on the tail end of each mouse.  When cut out, they look like half-hearts.  Next, use a hole punch to make a hole on the tail end of each mouse.

2.  Cut out several pink and red ovals for mice ears, two red and two smaller pink ones for each mouse. 

3.  Pre-cut black yarn for whiskers (approx. 2 inches long) and tails (approximately 8 inches long). 

4.  Go ahead and tie the tails on each mouse by folding one piece of yarn in half, pushing the folded end through the hole, and wrapping the ends of the yard through the loop.  Pull tight. 

5.  Print out scripture verses if you don't have time for the children to copy them onto the mouse. 

6.  For the story itself, fold a piece of cardstock to create a play "mouse book" (see picture).  Draw a glass of milk on a piece of white cardstock, and make some "mouse" paper on another piece of paper.

During class...
1.  Introduce the topic by discussing the characteristics of mice--how they look, sound, move, eat...have the children be mice if time allows.
2.  Discuss manners--what they are, such as please and thank you.
3.  Read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  While reading, give different children the straw, napkin, "mouse" paper, "mouse" book, and glass of milk.  Choose one child to be the mouse.  Have the "mouse" gather each object as the story is read. 
4.  Discuss whether or not the mouse had manners.  Point out the mouse never said "thank-you", etc. and re-read story, this time using please and thank-you. 
5.  Sing mouse songs (the one I created is below)
6.   Have students make their own mice.  Pass out gray mice, red and pink ovals, whiskers, wiggly eyes, pom-poms, and scripture verses. Guide students step-by-step to create mice by gluing the pieces on.  Pom-poms and scripture should only be visible on one side of the mouse. 
7.  If time, cut circles out of cardstock and direct the children to design their own cookies. 

Suggested Song: 
"The Mouse Asks Silly Questions" by Jennifer Martens to the tune of "All Around the Mulberry Bush"

All around the house today,
The Mouse asked silly questions.
I gave the mouse a _________ (cookie--have students fill this in),
"Thanks!" squeaked the mo-ouse.

But then the mouse asked for ______ (milk),
And a straw to slurp it down,
Now he needs a napkin,
"Please?" squeaks the mouse!

Next he looked in the __________ (mirror),
And noticed a long hair,
He asked for scissors, but cleaned up the mess,
"Thanks!" squaked the mouse!

He's so tired, he needs a rest (make yawning gesture),
With a pillow and a blanket,
He'll crawl in and ask for a story,
"Please?" squeaks the mouse!

He likes the pictures oh so much,
He has to draw one, too,
He'll sign his name and hang it on the fridge,
"Thanks!" squeaked the mouse!

Now he's thirsty and wants more _______ (milk),
And soon he'll want a _________ (cookie).
We're so glad he asks nicely,
"Please?" squeaks the mouse! 

School Room Organization

A while back, I mentioned the disaster known as my office and how I was in pursuit of converting it to the office/school room. I've actually made quite a bit of progress, and I'm now just waiting on Hubby to build a cabinet to hold some more of my endless school supplies/materials/games.

I'm in the process of getting school chairs for the desks, but for now, the camping chair and the broken plastic chair will have to do! I found turning these desks to face each other a great alternative for making my children stare at the wall, and it appears to take up less space. In addition, they get the full benefit of the window and the greenery that's outside.

I recclaimed my bookcase (it was mine as a teenager, but Hubby had taken it over with hunting videos and the like), so now the top shelf is organized by subject (Bible/Manners/Character, Math, Language Arts, History, Science, Music, Art, etc.), the 2nd shelf is filled with hands-on materials, and the third shelf is reading material for the girls that's been organized into fiction and non-fiction, and then by reading level. Workbooks are kept in their desks, and their writing materials are on top. They each have a desk header with their names, the alphabet, a number line, and pictures with colors.

Do you have any tips/suggestions for school room organization?

CHEK Conference

Learning at another homeschool convention!

Even though I had to go alone, I still ventured out early this morning to explore the Christian Home Educators of Kentucky Homeschool Conference.  My main goal was to learn more about IEW since I'm thinking of becoming an accredited IEW teacher/tutor.  I went ahead and bought the material used, but it won't get here until sometime next week.  I listened to Cathy Flowers, an IEW instructor in the Louisville.  I also heard two sessions by Andrew Pudewa, which were quite entertaining!  If you haven't heard his speech regarding the difference between boys and girls, you really need to!  It's amazing how different we are built from each other, all of which can affect how/what we learn. 

I did hear a session entitled "Seven Secrets to Helping Your Kids Think for Themselves", hoping it would help me get past the kitchen sink, as my bio explains.  Irrrrr!  Wrong answer!  I don't know why or how those seven items could be considered secrets, since they are common sense to me and things I try to do all the time! 

• Instill character values, such as responsibility and kindness. 
• Don't tell your child, "Because I said so."  If your young child is asking questions, try your best to answer them, even if it is the fifteenth question in the last five minutes!
• Even in mistakes, we learn. 
• Allow your child to narrate what he/she has learned back to you.  This makes him/her an active participant in the learning process.
• Connect ideas throughout the subjects in your curriculum.  In other words, if you are learning about Egyptians in history, the child can make Egyptian art, mummify a chicken for science, etc.
• Go outside and learn!
• Have your children keep journals regarding what they have learned, what they see, and what is interesting to them. 

Of course, these are in my own words and what I am instilling in my daughters' classical education.  Overall, the conference was worth the drive, even though I'm still not sure where I was!  I needed to get fired up for homeschool again, since I'm already thinking of my hectic year to come! 

Do you have any other ideas to get me beyond the kitchen sink (that encourage's my daugther to be more independent)?

Pickles

I forgot to include this in my last post.  This was the reaction when I asked Lovely to say "pickles" instead of "cheese."

On to other news...Today's schooling was a little more difficult, simpley because Lovely refused to repeat things correctly for me.  Classical education has a lot of verbal repetition, so it doesn't help when Little Miss purposely mis-pronounces things.  I've told her several times she needed to adjust her attitude, so today I overheard her telling her sister, "You need to adjust your attitude!" 

Math has been much better, though, I must say.  I had her using counting bears today, so I had to listen to each and every one describe who would or would not be the other's friends (did you know no one likes green bears?) as she made pairs.  She seems to be catching on faster with this, which is marvelous! 

I read some books for the summer reading program to both of them today, as well.  I found really cute picture books about a boy genius named Alistair--both the girls enjoyed them. 

After school, I went to the A Beka Materials Display for our area and purchased the worktexts I'll be using for Snugglebug and Lovely for phonics.  I bought Letters and Sounds for both girls, Writing with Phonics for Snugglebug, and Language 1 for Lovely.  I know I'm already doing Writing with Ease and 1st Language Lessons with Lovely, so I didn't want to overload her with Writing with Phonics, too.  (Not to mention--I'm out of TIME! with everything else we're doing)

Now, I'm going to see if I can squeeze in the CHEK Homeschool Convention this weekend as well...we shall see! 

Graduation Days

Although we finished school back in April, their actual graduation/recognition ceremony wasn't until June.  It turned out very nice and the girls were very proud of their certificates!

You have no idea how hard it was to get her sitting still...

So this isn't her "real" smile--but it's pretty close =)

And here's a pic of Lovely and me during our trip to the Children's Museum...

Strings in June

Today was registration and the first practice for the summer strings orchestra--it went awesomely! 

Lovely had been asking for a violin for the past two years, so we purchased one at the Cinci convention, along with books and cds to learn.  I've been going over simple instruction, but she hadn't really played, other than plucking "A A A A" and "E E E E" over and over again.  I admit, I want her to play partially because I was never allowed to take music lessons due to the expense.  However, I also thought this might boost her self-esteem since she is so extremely shy, plus, she actually asked to play without my prodding. 

The summer orchestra is only for four days, and then they have a little concert at the end.  They teach four different levels, including those who have never seen a violin before!  I placed Lovely in this group since she hasn't actually played previously.  There are only 5 other students, and although she hasn't spoken to any of the other kids, as the teacher was coming around to tell everyone which is the A string, she said, "I already know where the A string is," to the teacher!  I was shocked, since she had never met her before today.  Then, at the end of class, I reminded her that she needed to ask the teacher to fix her bridge, so without hesitation, she marched across the room and asked her to fix the bridge.  What?  Was that my super shy daughter?!!

I know this isn't much for a lot of parents, but Lovely has always been extremely shy, like her mother and her grandparents.  I must say, I am thrilled to watch her blossom!  As hard as it is sometimes to belong to our homeschool group, I am so thankful for the opportunities it provides to get Lovely out and about, playing with others.  I think that has also led to her finding more self-esteem. 

ne

School Updates for Classical Education

Disgusting fact for the day:  After unearthing in 1979 what scientists claim was a 36,000 year old steppe bison, they attempted to eat the meat.  Even after cooking it in a spicy stew, the scientists said it still tasted like mud. 
                 -- from It's Disgusting and We Ate It







We've finished lesson 14 in First Language Lessons, and I am absolutely LOVING the short lessons that get the point across!  I can already tell Lovely is getting much better at memorization!  I also overheard her Polly Pockets telling each other, "A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea."  Smart dolls, eh?  I'm also trying to remember to go over the ABC's with Snugglebug everyday, and yesterday we watched the "Letter Factory", and we sang the songs together during the video. 

We just finished Week 2 in Writing with Ease, and I believe we are in Chapter 3 of SOTW.  For reading, she has finished her A Beka K readers, so I'm waiting on my sis's 1st grade readers now.  We've finished reading three long books (over 100 pgs each):  Little House on the Prairie, Little House in the Big Woods, and Pinocchio.  The last was her favorite, so I believe she's a bit like me:  I liked adventure and excitement in books when I was younger.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I still enjoy adventure and excitement! 

We've also been working on A Child's Book of Character Building, bk 1 and I'm trying the Charlotte Mason method of scripture memorization.  In addition, I'm throwing in art and music when I can (and when I don't have a pounding headache!) 

Now, let's see what we can finish by the time I begin school and begin working again part-time! 

Reading List...I Fibbed...

I know I said I wouldn't read anymore Little House books, but I have to admit, Mr. Edwards falling into disaster in the Ingalls' well really caught my attention.  I was not pleased at the end of the book, but rarely am I.  So, during our next visit to the library, I got a special read aloud edition of Little House in the Big Woods.  I liked this one much better, as I never before imaged a sleighing pig...some of the chapters gave Hubby and I quite the chuckle! 

Next on the reading list was Pinocchio.  (Yes, I remember what certain people told me about this book...)  My daughter loves it.  I mean LOVES it!  She begs me to keep reading, never tiring of hearing the infamous tales of that naughty puppet.  I had no idea it was so different from Disney's version, but I guess that's what I get for ignoring it all these years!  I did choose the book with the most enticing pictures, so perhaps that has aided her enthusiasm. 

To boot, I am slowly redesigning the office into a kid-friendly space.  I took back the bookcase and placed a round basket infront of the base of the bookcase, filled with readers.  Lovely is ecstatic to have her very own books.  She LOVES them as well. 

So...yay!  My daughter is finally sensing the love of reading I have had my entire life!  Let's just hope it continues! 

Another reason why I love my husband...


He allows me to look like a complete idiot on the tennis court when we play each other, and he sometimes joins in ;-)

Tinkering Around...

So I was trying to be all fancy-shmancy and learn how to do this graphic design thing for the blog, but I have come to the realization, I just don't have the time! I remember teaching myself html coding as a teenager, simply because my bf at the time was telling me how difficult it was. That's just how I am: I like a challenge.

But I'm no longer a teenager. I don't have all the time in the world to veg out infront of the computer and eat rice crispies for dinner (how thin I would be if I did!). So, I just did a simple photo-editing thing, uploaded it to here, and voila! One of my favorite pics of the girls :) Hope you like it!

Discipline

I admit, I am a bit lax sometimes, much to my embarrassment. I have been working on manners, character, and overall good behavior as much as possible lately, so that I know I am doing my children a service by teaching them to respect God's Word, to respect others, and to learn when and what is appropriate during various situations. Then I went to Meijer today...

I left my children in the car with my mother so I could run in quickly. While rushing through the store, I see a ball whiz past me and bang into a display on the end of an aisle. Next, I see a little girl chase after the ball, find it, and kick it as hard as she could into the air, across several aisles. I am infuriated as I wondered who would be under the ball in that other aisle.

Next, I make my way to the back of the store where I find the tags I was looking for. I hear a loud CRASH! and I wonder to myself what the little angel was up to now. Sure enough, I hear the same flip-flops running from the crash site. When I find the crash site, several items are scattered all over the floor and another lady was standing there with the same look on her face that I had, along with the same thoughts: What happened to discipline?!

If my little darlings dare to knock something over (which neeever happens--haha), I make them pick it up. Actually, they know they must pick it up without me telling them. If they dared to play with a ball in the store...well, let's just say they wouldn't be playing with a ball for the next decade or so.

All of this made me think of the Nightline edition on radical unschooling, the second to air a look at what is often deemed outrageous. I'll have to write more about that in the next post.