The Hare and the Tortoise...

On Monday our Mother Goose lesson was on "The Hare and the Tortoise..."  This is a story that teaches us that slow and steady wins the race.

 These were the GENIUS responses I got from some of the kids during circle time when I asked the difficult question, "What should you do if something seems hard?"  This goes to show even grown-ups can learn from kids!  I love this...

 I played "The Hare and the Tortoise" on CD from our book of the month (provided from Mother Goose Time).

 The kids practiced speaking to each other slowly and then fast.  They mixed up the words "fast" with "loud," and needed to be reminded that we didn't need to shout.  Hee-hee!

 Then the kids acted out the song "If You're a Hare/Tortoise." (Sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It.")
If you're a hare and you know it quickly run...
If you're a tortoise and you know it slowly walk...

 For our next activity we discussed what animals we think move slowly and what animals move more quickly.  Then we played a game new board game together!  This was left out for the remainder of the day for everyone to have a turn with.  The object of the game was to get your story character from one side of the board to the other.  The kids rolled a cube that had plus and minus signs on it.

 Next, the kids colored a picture of their house and family slowly and steadily as we listened to slow classical music.  After this they turned their paper over, and drew the same thing very fast as we listened to a fast dance song.

 The kids shared their drawings with one another and quickly realized that slow and steady work (Tortoise) is so much better than quick and fast (Hare).

 Mother Goose supplied each child with new monthly journals.  I asked the kids to draw a picture on the cover of their journal and write their name.  They also traced the paths on the back of the journal (Hare and Tortoise race).

 We reviewed our shapes as the kids completed this page in their math workbook...

 I love when I catch friends helping friends!  Such sweetness!

 The kids also worked on beginning sounds in their literacy workbook...

 This was our story for the day.  It was an encouraging story about our journey in life!

In the afternoon I encouraged the kids to explore kicking balls around an oval shaped track we made with our cones and white rope.  I challenged the kids to kick the ball carefully around the path and try not to get it to knock over a cone or go inside the oval.  A few of the kids asked me to time how long it took for them to complete this task and then they did it a second time to try and beat their record.  I reminded the kids that slow and steady, like the Tortoise, can be faster than quick and foolish, like the Hare.