Last night my husband asked me if I thought that Mother Goose Time was worth the money if I didn't get it for free. I think this is an excellent question, and one that people probably want to know.
How Much Does It Cost?:
Mother Goose Time costs $75 a month for one child, including shipping if you buy it month to month. If you can order and pre-pay ahead of time, you can save up to 15%, depending on how far ahead you pre-pay. If you have more than one child using the curriculum it is only about $5 a month to add a child. Many of the products provided cover the entire class, including manipulatives and story books. The things that each child needs come packaged in their own bag for each child.
What I Think of the Curriculum:
The curriculum is great. It is thorough and engaging. It provides me with ideas and supplies to teach my son things I never would have thought to teach him, but will make him a very well rounded person. He now talks about things he never would have talked about, like the names of winter birds and instruments. I don't have any complaints about what he is learning, and although I have only had two months of supplies to look at, so far I consider them to be consistently high quality.
Would I Pay For It?:
I think its wonderful curriculum. For someone like me it is worth the money. By someone like me I mean someone that is not very motivated, completely non-creative, and easily overwhelmed. Someone that likes routine and craves specific directions. When I have tried to do pre-school activities with my kids before it has always been very hit and miss. Some days we do stuff, most days we don't. The activities are incredibly repetitive and not very entertaining.
Mother Goose Time takes care of these roadblocks for me. By having daily bags I keep (relatively) on track. I don't want to be 7 days behind, so I try to do at least one or two activities a day even if its not a regular day (as in we skip circle time and do things randomly through the day rather than in one or two blocks). The activities are varied, and include so many things I never would have done. They engage Little Guy rather than bore him.
If you are creative and self-motivated, then you might not find it as much of a worthwhile investment, and some people might feel a little "boxed in" (pun intended, since your curriculum comes in a new box every month) with the daily plans. Most people who use Mother Goose Time seem to adapt the days to fit their schedule and interests though.
I would be happy to pay for Mother Goose Time if I were not given the opportunity to use it free every month. I might not order every month, and would probably pick and choose the themes that were most interesting to me (which I might regret later) and space out the activities to save a little money, because I am cheap.
A Student Opinion:
Little Guy is to little for me to interview him about the topic, but I KNOW he loves Mother Goose Time. He was so stoked when the new curriculum came in the mail. The next time he saw I got a package he asked "My Mother Goose Time?!?". Every day I bring out the Circle Time display he gets excited about "My Mother Goose Time". I have reviewed things from last month with him and he remembers everything he learned.
Value for Money:
You can look at all of my MGT posts to see what sort of fun things we do each month (or DAY) with Mother Goose Time. But just for fun, I took some pictures of all the things from the Sights and Sounds of Winter curriculum box that I am keeping for future use. Despite the daily bags, this isn't a one time use kit. For some reason the picture I took of the books and literacy stuff by itself didn't actually take, but they are in the big picture of everything. Now to find a better storage system...
How Much Does It Cost?:
Mother Goose Time costs $75 a month for one child, including shipping if you buy it month to month. If you can order and pre-pay ahead of time, you can save up to 15%, depending on how far ahead you pre-pay. If you have more than one child using the curriculum it is only about $5 a month to add a child. Many of the products provided cover the entire class, including manipulatives and story books. The things that each child needs come packaged in their own bag for each child.
What I Think of the Curriculum:
The curriculum is great. It is thorough and engaging. It provides me with ideas and supplies to teach my son things I never would have thought to teach him, but will make him a very well rounded person. He now talks about things he never would have talked about, like the names of winter birds and instruments. I don't have any complaints about what he is learning, and although I have only had two months of supplies to look at, so far I consider them to be consistently high quality.
Would I Pay For It?:
I think its wonderful curriculum. For someone like me it is worth the money. By someone like me I mean someone that is not very motivated, completely non-creative, and easily overwhelmed. Someone that likes routine and craves specific directions. When I have tried to do pre-school activities with my kids before it has always been very hit and miss. Some days we do stuff, most days we don't. The activities are incredibly repetitive and not very entertaining.
Mother Goose Time takes care of these roadblocks for me. By having daily bags I keep (relatively) on track. I don't want to be 7 days behind, so I try to do at least one or two activities a day even if its not a regular day (as in we skip circle time and do things randomly through the day rather than in one or two blocks). The activities are varied, and include so many things I never would have done. They engage Little Guy rather than bore him.
If you are creative and self-motivated, then you might not find it as much of a worthwhile investment, and some people might feel a little "boxed in" (pun intended, since your curriculum comes in a new box every month) with the daily plans. Most people who use Mother Goose Time seem to adapt the days to fit their schedule and interests though.
I would be happy to pay for Mother Goose Time if I were not given the opportunity to use it free every month. I might not order every month, and would probably pick and choose the themes that were most interesting to me (which I might regret later) and space out the activities to save a little money, because I am cheap.
A Student Opinion:
Little Guy is to little for me to interview him about the topic, but I KNOW he loves Mother Goose Time. He was so stoked when the new curriculum came in the mail. The next time he saw I got a package he asked "My Mother Goose Time?!?". Every day I bring out the Circle Time display he gets excited about "My Mother Goose Time". I have reviewed things from last month with him and he remembers everything he learned.
Value for Money:
You can look at all of my MGT posts to see what sort of fun things we do each month (or DAY) with Mother Goose Time. But just for fun, I took some pictures of all the things from the Sights and Sounds of Winter curriculum box that I am keeping for future use. Despite the daily bags, this isn't a one time use kit. For some reason the picture I took of the books and literacy stuff by itself didn't actually take, but they are in the big picture of everything. Now to find a better storage system...
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