A while back, Mama Bear found an opportunity to check out a cool "Preschool in a Box" program, called M is for Monster (
www.misformonster.com)! Mama applied, and was chosen to review the educational themes for the month of January 2016. A great big box came in the mail, with 5 themes inside, and most of the supplies we needed to complete the lessons.
Our family is doing a hybrid Preschool/Homeschool for the next couple of years, so that our kids can get a taste of "public" school, in an environment we trust. After Little Jack Horner finishes 3-day Preschool, we will be strictly Homeschooling, until probably High School, when the kids will have the choice of if they want to go to (probably a) Charter School, or finish out at home.
Little Miss Muffet started this week with the Letter B at Preschool - so we chose to use the Polar Bear unit today! We did complete all 5 of the activities in one day, where you really could spread them out over a week, or one activity a week, if you wanted to. We have Tuesdays as our 100% home day, so we chose to just do them all!
 |
| Here is a peek at the contents of the Polar Bear Activities |
 |
| Description of the 5 Polar Bear Activities |
 |
| Reading the Polar Bear Book |
Little Miss Muffet (age 4 1/2) and I began our unit by reading the book! The books do cost extra, if you want them included in the kit, but from what we've done so far, I would definitely like to have the books included when ordering a unit! They kind of pull it all together! The book is listed as activity 5, and optional, of course, but we did it first, just to set the stage for our unit!
 |
| Counting Polar Bears |
The second activity we chose to do was the "Count the Bears" activity. For that activity, we received 10 Polar Bear erasers & 4 number cards (1, 2, 3, 4). The purpose of the activity being to recognize numbers & count the bears as you place them on the cards. I mixed up the cards a couple of times, but Little Miss Muffet was an ace on this activity! Little Jack Horner was still busy playing with remote controlled car!
 |
| Making Sculpt-It Polar Bears |
 |
| Little Miss Muffet's Game |
 |
| Little Jack Horner's Game |
As soon as I mentioned "Play-Doh," Little Jack Horner came running! Our next chosen activity was #4 - The Polar Bear Race! We received 3 packets of white Sculpt-It "dough" and a game board, with instructions to build a polar bear, and race to the Mama Polar Bear. I only ended up using one packet of Sculpt-It, and a tiny bit of the second. I divided it up for the kids, and they made heads, feet, bodies & tails for their bears. They each played a couple of rounds -- rolling the dice & getting their Polar Bear Cubs to the Mama Polar Bear! Little Jack Horner (age 2 1/2) was very involved, even though Little Miss Muffet wanted to do it all for him!
 |
| Feed the Bear |
 |
| Little Jack Horner feeding the Bear |
 |
| Little Miss Muffet feeding the Bear |
"Feed the Bear" was the next activity we chose! We received a box, and several die-cut fish. The instructions mention some "cards" to cut apart (I'm assuming number cards), but I couldn't locate those amongst our supplies, so I wrote numbers on the fish & we changed the game a little. In stead of picking a card & then feeding the bear that number of fish, I had my kids do number recognition & matching, using the dice. Especially with Little Jack Horner, this reinforced the numbers idea. By the end of the game, he was matching on his own!
 |
| Writing our Names |
 |
| Lots of Glue |
 |
| And fuzzy stuff |
 |
| Little Miss Muffet's Textured Bear |
 |
| Making a good mess |
 |
| Little Jack Horner's Textured Bear |
Our final activity was the messiest, and Mama Bear planned it that way to preserve her sanity! For this activity, we received a Polar Bear cardstock, a bottle of glue & a bunch of craft paper shreds (I don't know what else to call it). Little Jack Horner really wanted to participate in this activity, so I copied him the Polar Bear! Both kids got good & messy putting glue all over their Polar Bears & then covering them in Paper shreds.
*********
As a parent-educator, if I was planning all of these units to fit what we were already studying, I'd definitely space the activities out more, and stretch the value of the units! As it stands, we'll be doing the remaining units on our 100% free days for the month, and taking them into February. Being super budget-conscious, I would definitely say that I would take the ability to pick & choose the units that I thought would apply to my curriculum! Also, if there was an option to de-select certain supplies -- for example, I had 4 bottles of glue already, so I didn't need another -- that would be an awesome option.
Overall, I really think that the Preschool in a Box idea is pretty amazing! I love the pre-prepared units, that I don't have to think about & my kids have really enjoyed so far! I also enjoy following the
M is for Monster blog -- lots of printables & activities that I can do on my own, as well as a new
Morning Circle Time that is being broadcast on Periscope (and later YouTube), on Wednesday & Friday Mornings!
The price for this particular unit is $15.00 + shipping, and you can purchase it at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/261319473/polar-bear-level-1-with-book-toddler-and?ref=shop_home_active_10
I asked what the overall value of this box was, and was quoted $88.50 for everything inside (which you'll see in 5 separate blog posts). (There is an option to purchase the units without the books, and that would take the value to $64.50) The unit costs vary, but on average around $17.70). There is also an option to purchase a "sibling" add-on, which varies in price as well.
The Units that were included in our box, for this month are: Polar Bears, Mittens, All About Me, Winter, & Snowman. Stay tuned for the rest of the unit reviews!
*********
Disclaimer: I did receive these products, at no cost, in order to review. The opinions are solely my own.
Comments
Post a Comment