Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans!

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Animation Studios.  Look for Winnie the Pooh's return to theaters on July 15th.

Nursery Rhyme Singing Time with Mother Goose Club: DVD, CD, & Coloring Book Review

Rhyming is such an important part of literacy development, it's one of the first ways children demonstrate phonological awareness.  When kids can hear the similarities in words they begin to associate sounds with  letter sequences, enabling them to begin spelling.  For example, master the -at word family and not only can you read and spell cat you also can do mat, sat, rat, etc.  Since it's an essential skill, it's nice that parents and teachers have long had Mother Goose rhymes to turn to.  Not only are they fun and sometimes silly, they can easily be put to music and become catchy little tunes kids love singing.

Reading together is always a great way to introduce nursery rhymes, but it's also nice to also have a multi-sensory approach.  The Mother Goose Club Super Pack we received with a DVD, 2 CDs, and coloring book enables us to hear, sing, and see the rhymes.  The cute clips featuring live action characters are full of music, singing, and fun - check out the example below!  It gives us a new way to get rhyming together!

The Nursery Rhyme Singing Time with Mother Goose Club DVD, features 40 minutes of nursery rhyme fun that has several 1-minute clips with the six Mother Goose world characters using song, dance, and dramatic play to get two-year-olds and up moving while getting a feel for the sounds and structures of language.   Having fun while learning, well you don't need this former Kindergarten teacher to remind you that, that's the best way to learn!  See some of the videos included on the Mother Goose Club website.

Besides the DVD we also got two CDs to help reinforce the nursery rhymes, great for the car and impromptu sing alongs.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them.  I was kind of bracing myself for some overly synthesizer enthused songs.  Instead, it's real music with real voices that don't sound overly produced, for the most part.  There are several performers, each contributing several nursery rhymes set to music, and overall the CD's have a folksy feel.

For $10 a CD they are an inexpensive way to add a CD of nursery rhymes to your collection, something I think every family should have.  On the product listing you can listen to samples.   More songs to listen to, can be found on the Mother Goose Song page.

The third component of the set is a coloring book with illustrations similar to the show.  The coloring pages are a good way to reinforce the show clips.  You can watch the rhyme on the video, then find the corresponding page in the coloring book.  Using the text you can "read" the rhyme together, pointing to each word as you say it.  Model "reading" the poem several times and soon you'll find your child "reading" it on his or her own.  You can also look for things in the rhyme like a particular letter or point out the rhyming words and how they are similar.  Some printable are also available on the Mother Goose Website.

The Mother Goose Club has been nominated for14 Midsouth Emmy awards and is featured on PBS stations.  You can learn more about the program on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  Learn more about the products reviewed on their website.

Disclosure: A complimentary sample of the review products was provided via Team Mom from Mother Goose Club.  Opinions and experiences related are personal and unbiased.  No other compensation was received.

35 Weeks and Handmade for Baby: Gifts from our Family & Friends

We're 35 weeks pregnant today!  It's another important milestone for us, because I was hospitalized for the weekend when pregnant with ER at 35.  We almost had her, but the doctors were able to lower my blood pressure while I was admitted and I held on for another two weeks. Thankfully, my blood pressure hasn't been a concern for most of this pregnancy.  However, it has begun to creep up a bit so now it's being a little more closely monitored.  My medication has been adjusted for the first time this pregnancy and they're doing some more testing.  Please keep your finger's crossed that it stabilizes.

Our family and friends have been very busy preparing for our baby and I wanted to share some of their projects with you.  My mom made him two little sweaters, one with a matching hat.  Making baby hats and sweater is kind of being a tradition for her.  You can see some of the other things she's knitted in my previous post: A Hat Parade with some Sweaters Thrown In.

Here is the second one, it's a baby kimono style and she got the pattern from Kraemer Yarns, look in the third row.  It knitted with a cotton/acrylic blend so it could be worn early-on, even if the weather is not cold.  My favorite part are the cute car buttons, they are squealicious!

My Godmother Annemarie knitted him a warm blue and white blanket with a tight weave, good for keeping cold wind out.

We also got a sweet little baby set from my friend Margaret's mom Mary Kay with a blue and green blanket.  This one is a little lighter then the one from my Godmother, it's great to have different weights for fall and spring when it might, just might be a little warmer.  Those of you also in Michigan, know that it's entirely possible for there to be snow on the ground in spring!  Aren't the matching hat and booties so stinkin' cute! 

My bloggy friends are even joining in, Sharon from Mama's a Mess and Happy Hapa on Etsy sent me three burp cloths, using the coolest Kawaii fabric.  The other side is super soft too! 

Actually, baby will only get to enjoy two out of the three because as ER found out, the burp cloths are also the perfect size to use as a comforter on her Barbie bed and we haven't seen it since! 

Thank you to everyone, your talents are making the best baby layette ever!  We love all of you!