Monday Night With Mother Goose Time: Dinosaur Dig 1

Hi Mommas! Happy Monday Night to you! 

You We made it! 

I have heard so much feedback from so many of you about Mother Goose Time! I am really excited these reviews and posts are spreading the word about just how wonderful MGT really is. 

When a new MGT box comes in, I usually get to peeping just as soon as the boys (and girl) lay down for naps. 

Each theme will come with lots of great ways to begin setting up your classroom area. Each month you will receive a new calendar, a poster for that month's theme and name tags as well. I love having the name tags on the table (as you have seen I am sure in many pictures). Kohen has already learned how to spell his name aloud, just from having his name tag on the table. Kruz has also began writing his last name, just because of seeing his name tag everyday. And there are no more problems with " ... (insert a brother's name here) is in my seat". Makes this Momma's life a little bit easier.

January's theme is Dinosaur Dig! I can remember when I first told Kruz about MGT. I read to him all of the different themes and Dinosaur Dig was the one he was most looking forward to. Now that it is here and we are right in the middle of it, I would say it is living up to all of his expectations. And mine too! So when Kruz saw his new Dino name tag, he was pretty revved up!

The Dinosaur Dig began with learning about Paleontologists, Excavation Sites, Fossils and Bones. Kruz is learning about what a paleontologist is, the tools he/she uses on a dig, what they do on an excavation site, what fossils are and all about dino bones. 

This was one of our projects when we first started Dinosaur Dig: Excavation Dig

Each art project comes with one of these, a project sheet with different ideas on discussion, exploration, a plan, ideas on creating and ways to play when you are done. 

For this particular project, all we needed to have were scissors and glue. Got it and got it!

So each of the boys cut out their own sets of bones. We were given a small pack of sand and once the pieces were cut out, they all went into the sand where the boys had to 'excavate' the bones. If you noticed in the top picture, MGT provided us with brushes - these were used to brush off the sand and 'clean' the bones once they were found. Once each bone was clean and free of sand, the boys glued their bones on their paper, ultimately figuring out how to piece together the dinosaur skeleton. 

And sorry for no more pictures after this. I'm pretty sure I was refereeing it between, " ... Mommy, (insert a brother's name here) got my bone" and oh, I could just see the wheels a-turning in Kruz' brain on throwing that sand in the air. Geesh! The end results were really cute! Especially since Kollin, Kolt and Kruz figured out they could make cool designs with glue and the sand would stick to it. Fun, fun!

And here is another set of pictures without an end result shot! Ha! Seriously though, Kohen was so stinkin' cute in those Jake undies painting his dino bone! I mean, way too cute not to share!

Everyone painted one of these bones and I had the privilege to paint the dinosaur's skull. Yea, I like to paint sometimes too! We had fun piecing them together to make the shape of our own dinosaur! 

P.S. Yes. Yes, that is my four year old in a Bumbo chair in one of those pictures. Yes, he still fits. Yes, he was stuck. 

TOS Review - Library and Educational Services ...

What is Library and Educational Services?

Library and Educational Services is a small, family owned and operated company based in South Michigan. L.E.S. has been in business for 35 years now! 

L.E.S. is a wholesale distributor, offering their products to libraries, schools (including homeschools, of course), churches, daycares, missionaries and more. All of the material they choose to offer their customers are sure to be biblically based, matching with their own Christian values.

One of the many products they offer is the Go Science DVD set, featuring 7 DVDs. 
The DVDs included in the set are geared toward ages 4-12 and are just $8.97 each. 
The set includes the following titles:

Volume 1: Sound, Gravity and Space

Volume 2: Life Science and Weather

Volume 3: Air

Volume 4: Motion, Friction, Electricity, Light

Volume 5: States of Matter and Water

Volume 6: Chemistry

Volume 7: Engineering, Design and Flight

In this series, Ben Roy, a Professor of Science at the University of Tennessee, teaches science in such a kid-friendly way that your kiddo is sure to love and be inspired by! The DVDs are filled with enthusiastic, energetic experiments pertaining to the subject. 

What We Received and How We Used It:

For this review with Library and Educational Services, we received two of the seven Go Science DVDs. We were able to choose which two DVDs we wanted and I decided to go with the Life Science and Weather Go Science DVD and the Engineering, Design and Flight Go Science DVD. 

Our days here are filled with pool time, squeaky swings, bouncing on the trampoline and free bowling. Other than an occasional cartoon in the morning, my boys do not watch much TV during the day. Bedtime is about the best time for them, and by them I am referring to Kollin (7) and Kolt (5), to calm down long enough to really focus on something. I handed them the DVD cases as I put one of them in and the looks on their faces were priceless. I laughed a little and told them to just wait until they actually watched the DVD before they made crazy faces. We popped in the DVD (they chose Life Science and Weather first), I pulled their door and headed to my room. All I heard for the next hour was, "Whoa!" and "That's so cool!" and "Did you see that?"

Pretty much, it was pure bliss for this Momma. 

What I Thought About It All:

Of course, if it is something my boys rave about and they ask to watch it again - I am going to love it too. 

Although the DVDs are obviously based in the 80s, they were pumped full of fun, education-filled experiments. I loved that with each experiment, God is given credit. I just love that! Another thing I loved was how fast paced it was, this really kept their attention and they didn't get bored or sidetracked at all, even in a room full of Legos and HotWheels. That has got to say something!

I asked Kollin and Kolt what was their favorite part of watching the videos and here is what I got:

Kollin (7): "My favorite part was the experiment where they mixed really, really hot water with really, really icy water and it started steaming and blowing up smoke!"
(From Life Science and Weather)

Kolt (5): "My favorite part is how in all of the experiments a different kid gets to help."
(From Life Science and Weather)  

Overall, I am loving having these DVDs in our collection for our home school. These are going to be great "extras" when we start digging into science in the upcoming school year. The prices are very reasonable and I definitely see us ordering more of these and attempting some of the experiments together at home. 

Important Information:

Website: www.libraryanded.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/libraryanded
Price: $8.97 (Price listed is per DVD)

TOS Review - Science4Us.com

What is Science4Us.com?

Science4Us.com is a complete, digital science curriculum. This complete curriculum is geared for the grade levels Kindergarten through Second Grade, can also be used as a great review for Third Grade through Fifth Grade and is based on State Standards. Science4Us.com is offered at $7.95/Per Month/Per Child. The team at Science4Us.com not only want your child to learn science, but to like it as well.

 There are four main sections to choose from: Earth and Space, Physical Science, Inquiry and Life Science. Within these titles, there are over 350 online lessons to explore. 


Science4Us.com offers the opportunity for your child to learn science at its finest. When first beginning, the parent/teacher may access a Teacher's Resources Guide that will lead you through the lesson at it's entirety and in doing so will boost self confidence in teaching the lesson. All of the modules are based on a Five "E" motive: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. The first three, Engage, Explore and Explain, are all implemented through online and offline activities. Some of the online activities include videos, games and other interactive lessons. The Elaborate portion of the unit does just that, it allows the student to elaborate and investigate further into what they are learning about. When all is said and done, your child will be evaluated to see just what they learned during their studies. And no worries to parents and teachers, you are able to see exactly what their process has been in the Student Report section. 
Each child has their own Log In information and Lab to complete their sessions in. 

What We Received and How We Used It:

Our family received a Six Month Membership to the Science4Us.com Online Subscription (for up to four students). With this membership we were given full access to the website, including all of the activities, videos, digital notebooks and teaching resources. 

Because this curriculum is based for both Kollin (age 7) and Kolt (age 5), I used Science4Us.com as our leading science curriculum over the course of our review period. We started on Earth and Space, jumping into the History of Earth and following with the Materials Unit and Features Unit. 

The weather just happened to be super nice this particular day and any opportunity we can accomplish school outside, we do! We set up a blanket, our small box of basic materials (construction paper, glue, scissors and colored pencils) and got to work. In these photos above, Kollin and Kolt are working on sorting their pictures of fossils and living things. 

What We Thought About It All:

I have been very much impressed with Science4Us.com. Once I was able to maneuver through the Teaching Tools, I was able to quickly prepare their science studies. And with confidence, I might add. Science was never my most sought after subject in school and to be honest, I have always felt inadequate in this department. After using Science4Us.com, I felt an urge for science to start that day. I know the boys fed off of my own enthusiasm and with much more ease than most days, we breezed through science. 

I would say my biggest rave, other than the abundant resources given with this website, is the balance of the student working alone and also being given the opportunity to have great discussions with the parent/teacher and/or other students. Kollin and Kolt both love their independence while learning and this Momma loves being able to engage in what her kiddos are learning. There was such a blissful happy-medium to this. They had several opportunities to learn alone online and then we were able to sit together and do projects and discussions. Pure bliss. 

The only hiccup we ran into, which I totally expect to in science, is the teaching of Evolution as opposed to Creation. Because we choose to teach our children based on God's Word, I did add that into our study on the History of Earth and therefore had to skip over a few of the videos and activities in the History of Earth module. I do not want my children to be ignorant in only knowing Creation, so I did choose to teach them how some other's believe in Evolution. In order to make up for the few activities we decided to skip, we read out of the books of Genesis and Job. 

Important Information:

Website: www.Science4Us.com
Price: $7.95/Per Child/Per Month
Check Science4Us.com out on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and on G+.