This week we learnt about Little Miss Bossy in our Mr Men School. The children have really got on board with this and I am enjoying planning and executing my plans for the littles’ learning. Each book triggers off loads of ideas, and the characters are so different that each week will feel very varied I think.

Literature

Each day I read them the following books:

The Little Miss Bossy and the Magic Word book was perfect for asking the girls what they thought might happen next in the story. There was an opportunity for this type of questioning on every page, and whilst A5 struggled to begin with after a few pages she really understood and thoroughly enjoyed guessing. I shall look out for opportunities to do the same with other books.
A5 practiced writing her name a couple of times each day using this writing program

Both girls did some activities from the Alphabet Tool Box I had made a few days before. One of the activities is a bit of spelling and reading fun. Here I have written the name of the characters I have taught them about so far, in this case it is only Miss Bossy and Mr Tickle. A5 then chooses the capital letters which match the small letters the name is written in:

A5 did the Mr Tickle reading page out of her Mr Men Start to Read book

Both girls are also doing a Bible Explorers course, All about Reading – Preschool and Level One in addition to poetry reading each day.

Maths

Maths Number box. A5 threw two dice at the time, found the numbers, wrote in the sign, added the counters, counted them up and found the answer. She then wrote the answer, having found the magnetic version:

She also did the Mr Tickle Pages from her Mr Men Start to Add book:

Reading the Mr Men clock book has been good for consolidating A5’s concept of time. I had her set the time on each page on the clock provided and we all the did the actions that the Mr Men were doing each hour.

Colour Science

We did an investigation into the colour blue, trying out various combinations of the other primary colours to see if anyone could make a blue.

I had to laugh, as L11, who I would have thought knew about primary colours, tried her level best to make blue! She was most put out that she couldn’t manage it! A5 gave it her best shot…’but mummy, no matter how hard I try I just can’t do it’. So we had a chat about primary colours and how every other colour is made from those; I also taught them that the primary colours can not be made themselves from any other combination of colours. It was a great colour lesson, although if L11 is anything to go by, I’m not too hopeful they will actually remember it!

Art

I had planned to make a stamp of each character like I did with the Thomas Tank stamps, using wood blocks and sponges. But when Myriam (one of my lovely readers from Switzerland) sent me a link to a blogger who made stamps from foam, I couldn’t resist trying them out! (for the link click here). I only made one last night so the children haven’t had a chance to try them out, but I think I may make a whole set in time for the children to use them next week. I love the simplicity of them and I am sure the children will love using them:

I made a generic Mr Man/Little Miss and then made a Little Miss Bossy hat and flower stamp. I thought the children could them not only make the stamp of a particular Mr Man/Little Miss but also make up some completely new ones! Each time we do a new character I will add whatever is specific to him or her. Characters such as Mr Tickle and Mr Greedy, who are different shapes, I will make up a separate body stamp — I made a generic Mr Man/Little Miss and then made a Little Miss Bossy hat and flower stamp. I thought the children could then not only make the stamp of a particular Mr Man/Little Miss but also make up some completely new ones! Each time we do a new character I will add whatever is specific to him or her. Characters such as Mr Tickle and Mr Greedy, who are different shapes, I will make up a separate body stamp

It is quite effective, but I think I might prefer a stamp made of the actual shape of the character. I LOVE the idea of using foam rather than sponge as it won't shrink when it dries out. — It is quite effective, but I made the mistake of not cutting around the character before sticking it onto the blocks, which I will definitely do next time. I LOVE the idea of using foam rather than sponge as it won’t shrink when it dries out and it will be wipe cleanable.

Thanks Myriam! They will be a great addition to our Mr Men School!

Textiles

I free hand cut and added all the bits to make up a Little Miss Bossy to our felt characters in the Make a Mr Men Box. I also rolled up a sheet of felt for each of the girls to give them a larger area to build their Mr Men:

Little Miss Bossy Activity

We played ‘follow my little miss bossy’:

A Mr Men alternative to 'follow my leader'! — A Mr Men alternative to ‘follow my leader’!

and Little Miss Bossy says:

And a Mr Men version of 'Simon says' — And a Mr Men version of ‘Simon says’

Miscellaneous Mr Men activities

The older girls, as part of their own school, take it in turns each day to help me for 1/2 an hour. This is such a blessing to me and is a fabulous opportunity for them to build their teaching and child care skills, as well as encouraging close and loving sibling relations. T11 also has 1/2 an hour each day, when he plays with both girls with Lego, train sets or Play Mobil.

The girls played Mr Men snap:

As well as pairs:

And go fishing:

In addition to Mr Men Dominoes:

L10 played a game of Mr Men dominoes. As they are just pictures, I think this is a game I can teach A5 and B2 to play together.

I had bought a ‘Make a Face’ Mr Men sticker book, which I gave them the Mr Tickle page and the Little Miss Bossy page to make up their own faces. Whilst B2 kept ripping the stickers and was probably a bit young for the activity, A5 thoroughly enjoyed it, completely going to town making up elaborate stories to go with all the millions of stickers she managed to squeeze onto her Miss Bossy outline!

Mr Men Puzzle:

Life skills

The two Miss Bossy books emphasise the importance of saying please and thank you. Whilst the girls have been encouraged to say these words from the time they could talk, if not before, it is always good to find literature which reinforces the idea. We talked about the importance of good manners and how much more likable someone is if they show good manners.
Easypeasy recipe – Each week I intend to do a simple recipe to teach the girls a particular skill. This week B2 learnt to spread butter and Marmite on her toast for a snack:

I thought that being a Little Miss Bossy week, it was the perfect time to remake some of the chore cards we made during our BFIAR adventures. Chores are an important part of the children’s education. My older ones, if I were away or ill, would have sufficient skills to run the home. I didn’t have those skills at 22 when I got married and I have been playing catch up ever since (This is the main reason they have such a high priority in our home). The children start chores at 3 with simple bed making and over the years are trained in everything, from pet care to laundry to cooking a roast. It happens gradually though and for now I have chosen seven chores for A5 to do in the coming few months. Some are old ones (making the bed remains no matter the age), whilst some are new. For example, this year she will be collecting the eggs, picking greens for the rabbits and changing the hand towels in the bath room and kitchen each day. I made the chore cards by cutting card, decorating them with Mr Men stickers and writing simple words to describe the chores. A5 is a beginner reader and well able to decipher these cards. The cards will be placed into her chore card holder and clipped onto her clothes as before:

Revisiting Past Characters

We had done a reversible puzzle last week which had Mr Tickle in it. On the other side of it was the same picture but not coloured in. It came with a pack of crayons and this week the girls built it up again (upside down and inside out, mummy!) and started to colour the Mr Tickle character. Each week we cover one of the characters in the puzzle the girls will be encouraged to colour it in:

C11 played with the Mr Men puppets we made, telling elaborate Mr Men stories. A5 was Mr Tickle the whole time:

Lots of lovely activities, which we completed during their one hour Mr Men school each day, first thing. The Mr Men and Little Miss Books have been such a good topic to work with because there are so many activities to buy and to make which keeps the variety and therefore their interest at a high level. It is also considerably less work for me compared with BFIAR. It is also proving to be a good choice for schooling the littles together (reception year for A5 and preschool for B2) because it is so adaptable for this range of ages.

Next week we will be covering Mr Greedy, very possibly my favourite character!