Bird month flew by! All month long the kids at Adventure Academy were learning about birds, eggs, nests … so Mi Families other programs hosted related themes for parents and providers. From spring bird watching hikes to watching birds hatching out of eggs … and Easter egg painting and egg hunts … and best nest competitions … April showers didn’t stop our spring celebrations. As April showers turn to May flowers we’ll continue celebrating spring with learning about flowers, bees, butterflies, bugs and other creepy crawlers. Mi Families has fun programs for all families and those who work with families. “Adventure Academy” is Mi Families program designed for our youngest family members.
Adventure Academy will continue learning about spring growth, while planning for our summer youth programs. Infants thru elementary stage students are invited to join us for year round adventures in learning in our home-based-center. Each day we learn and play through theme related topics. This months bird lessons brought us to this weeks transition theme of birds to nests to bird homes to other animal habitats to people homes to homes around the world. Parts of Michigan still got hit with snow this week so while they are still in igloo mode – we were building shelters and planning campouts.
Pretending we’re camping or building shelters … pretending we’re birds or coloring eggs … Adventure Academy learns through hands on experiences and integrates the arts into our daily curriculum. From pretending and using dramatic play skills, to creating crafts and singing songs – students strengthen motor development and learn basic skills through “art smart” techniques. Simply cutting out shapes from different colors of paper to create house pictures created opportunities for authentic observation of what basic skills the students had. One curriculum that helps provide opportunities for such observation is Mother Goose Time.
Mother Goose Time offers more open ended art experiences then other pre-packaged curriculums. One activity that recently encouraged students to make choices through artistic processes was creating bird masks. Children expressed ideas throughout the project, such as how to overcome challenges of sticking the straws to the paper to hold it up for play. Older students helped problem solve when glue did not work. Art is beneficial to learning in so many ways, but especially when open ended. Open ended moments help children conquer new skills and showcase their unique personalities and creative genius.
From fine motor skills like cutting and pasting to large motor skills like dancing to bird calls, there are ways to integrate all themes into an art rich curriculum. Mother Goose Time makes this easy by providing crafts and music, etc in their monthly kits. Each day we transition to a new topic through discussion of the last days activities. As we transition from birds to bugs we’ll discuss habitats and observe the world around us. If you know a child near Kingsley, Michigan who’d like to join in our learning adventures email Christi@MiFamilies.com. We are FULL for our spring semester, but have a couple PART TIME spaces remaining for summer camp and tutor time sessions.
If you’d like to learn more about Adventure Academy or other programs facilitated by Mi Families LLC, feel free to email Christi or visit www.MiFamilies.com. Also feel free to network with our team or members on Linked IN, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, etc… We are reaching out with resources on line and in person across Michigan. If you’d like programs to be facilitated in your area reach out to us and we’ll see what we can do! If you’d like to see what we’re up to next – subscribe above! Thanks for reading this article 🙂 If you have any comments, such as topics you’d like us to cover in future articles – let us know below
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