Preparing for a new month of Mother Goose Time

This month our Mother Goose Time blogger community is focusing on how we prepare for our day with Mother Goose Time. For me preparing for the new month of Mother Goose Time starts well before the beginning of the month. When I receive the school bus box I open it almost immediately. I actually cut off the top of the box and stand all the bags up. I feel like it is easier to look through if they are all standing up. 

I then start sorting through the box. I start by cutting the top off each bag. When I am going through the box I am doing a number of things. First of all, I use the Teacher Guide and Planning Journal to figure out which parts of the curriculum we are going to use for the month. My kids are three and one and a half therefore we do not do "preschool" every day. I shoot for two to three days a week. So while I am looking through the book I plan out my days. I read through the activities in the Teacher Guide and then write down the days we are going to do on the calendar in the front of the Planning Journal. I also write down any prep or supplies I may need for the days I have selected.

On the left hand side I also write other activities I would like to do that are not included in the days I selected. We will do these activities when we have free time at home on a "non preschool day". While going through the box I also cut out anything that needs to be cut and punch out anything that needs to be punched out. I do this even for the days we are not planning to do, just in case.

 Another thing I do to prepare for the next month is check out books from the book list from the library. We have a library corner that has themed books on a shelf so I put the books that go with the curriculum over there. 

At the beginning of the month I take down everything from the month before. I save the letter cards and am collecting them for the kids to see at the top of our playroom. I also save at least one of the kids' activities they completed and put it in their "box" of all the things I want to save for them. I then put up the new month's calendar and web of the curriculum. 

It is a lot of work to go through the box before the month but I am thankful I did all the prep ahead of time when the kids are running around. It is also exciting to see what is coming up next.