Goodnight Moon {Before FI♥AR}

This is a lovable bedtime story that I have been reading with my children since I can remember. Saying good night to all the familiar things in our room as we prepare for bed, just like the bunny in Goodnight Moon, has become a fond bedtime memory. In fact, as we rowed the book this week, we read it each day and again at night before bedtime. And as much as I have read this book, I was impressed with details mentioned in the B4FIAR manual that I had never noticed! I enjoyed pointing these out to Mali and Elli and talking about them. My little one's also noticed the picture of the mother bunny fishing for her Runaway Bunny with a carrot. It was neat to see the two stories tied together.

We also read My World: A Companion to Goodnight Moon. A few days into our unit, Malachi came down with the flu. He had a fever for 3 days with an ill tummy, so we also had some down time with a great video collection: Goodnight Gorilla... and More Great Sleepytime Stories .

Along with the activities in the manual, here is what we did this week:

Create a Memory

One of the things I will try to do with each story we row, is create a memory that is just for fun. And since there is a red balloon in the story, I bought the little ones each a red balloon. . . along with a bouquet of colored balloons. I put them on the table with the books to surprise them.
Then I served them a bowlful of mush (cornmeal mush) just like in the story.
After eating their mush, they had fun playing with the balloons. . . . which lasted for several days.
Lapbooking Activities:

Another day, we worked on lapbooking activities. One of the things that I love about this element of our week is that it gives us a visual memory of our time together. And now, that I discovered how easy it is to order prints online and pick them up locally in just one hour, I will be printing our learning photos regularly to stick in their journal.
The next two photos won't mean much to my readers, but they make me smile each time I read them. I printed one copy of the Letter M Do-A-Dot from Confessions of a Homeschooler, thinking that only Elli would want to do it. . . and well, they both wanted to. So, in these pictures we were dialoguing about what to do about our problem.
Eliana had already started on the uppercase M, but decided she would rather do the lower case m, and Malachi could finish the upper case M. They were both happy with the arrangement. I could have printed another one, but it was good to see them work through their problem.
Painting Moon Shapes:



Painting a Night Sky:
This was a self-initiated activity that I thought was a great idea to go along with the book.

Same or Different - Shapes Match-Up:



Lap Journal:
Malachi's Narration:


Good Night Moon Story Sequencing:
This was a favorite activity by both my children and we played it several times. As I read the story and said goodnight to all the objects in the story, Mali and Elli found the picture card and put them in order.


Moon Cheese Snack:
(swiss cheese on round crackers)
Hanging Mittens Up:

Since there are a pair of mittens to say good night to in the story, I had Elli hang some mittens, that I cut out of felt using her hand print for a template, with some clothespins. This was just the right amount of challenge for her.
Delightful Links:

4 comments

  1. LOVE all the stuff you did with this to make it so much fun!!

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  2. Hi Michelle,
    We are rowing Goodnight Moon this week and I am once again looking at your blog for inspiration. Thank you so much for posting the Delightful Links that you reference for each lesson. They are a blessing to me.
    Andrea

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  3. Andrea,

    I am so blessed to hear that! I sometimes wonder if it is worth the
    extra work. Thanks for letting me know. =)

    ~Michelle

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  4. So glad I came across this delightful homeschool site. (Link was from livingmontessorinow.) I am very encouraged and inspired; excited to try BFIAR and FIAR soon. Hope you will keep the site open.

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