Circle Time

I have been working on coming up with a simple, fun, non-academic Circle Time to use with Caroline and Cecilia (mostly Caroline, since Cecilia participates only briefly before she decides to wander off or that she wants to nurse, although she starts excited shouting, "Time! Time!" when we return from our walk). Next year we will begin Kindergarten with Caroline, and I wanted Circle Time to become an enjoyable part of the day before then. I already established a daily routine about six months ago, and I added Circle Time in after our morning walk so we'd have a settling activity together after coming inside.

Here is a peek at what we are doing this month:

*** Circle Time Plans ~ September ***

Gathering Song(s): Mr. Sun

Skidamarinkadinkadink (one of Cecilia's faves)

Finger Plays:

• Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree
• Apples
• ‘Round the Apple Tree
  
  

Calendar:

• Days of the Week/Months of the Year song
• Vestments on priest in daily liturgical color
  
• Saint of the Day magnet (once I get my saint stickers in the mail and make the magnets, that is!)
  
  

Seasonal Hymn:

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Lift High the Cross (around the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross)

Puppet or Felt Board Story:

The Gigantic Turnip

I also thought it'd be nice to start using our library and checking out some seasonal books each month. I focused on apples this month. We will be taking a trip to an apple orchard in a couple weeks, too. Pulling out books on saints for the month is part of the plan as well. The books in the list below are some ideas... our library doesn't have all of them, and neither do I!

Books:

• Apple Cider Making Days
• How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World
• Ten Apples Up on Top!
• Apple Farmer Annie
  
• St. Jerome and the Lion
• Mother Theresa
  
  

Here are a couple of cute apple poems/songs that I found online to sing during Circle Time...

APPLES

Apples here (point to yourself)
Apples there (point away)
Apples are growing everywhere (hands form a circle...the world)
Some are high (point up)
Some are low (point down)
You will see apples wherever you go (point to eyes)
Apples on the left (extend left arm)
Apples on the right (extend right arm)
You will see (point to eyes again)
Both day and night (Hands together and head

down on them)

ROUND THE APPLE TREE

Play a singing circle game to the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush." Children skip in a circle, holding hands, while singing the first verse.

Verse 1:
Here we go round the apple tree,
The apple tree, the apple tree.
Here we go round the apple tree,
So early in the morning.

Verse 2: This is the way we plant the seeds
Verse 3: This is the way the little seed sprouts
Verse 4: This is the way it grows to a tree
Verse 5: This is the way the flowers blossom
Verse 6: This is the way the apples grow
Verse 7: This is the way the apples are picked

I also plan to continue doing seasonal crafts regarding the liturgical year or something seasonal, like apples this month. We did some apple prints last week. We'll try to have a weekly baking day as we have been doing in the past - this week, it will be a birthday cake for Mary. We'll make some apple bread and/or muffins with our freshly-picked Elijay apples in a couple weeks.

My hope is to be structured yet informal...