Teacher Guide versus Little Goose...Which Guide to Use?

Okay, I am a teacher at heart.

When I taught public school, my bedside table was filled with curriculum books... that I LOVED reading (it's okay...I know I am a total nerd).  I just like to see what the ideas are, where we are going, and how it all builds together. So for me...the teacher... looking into these 2 guides from 

Mother Goose Time was fun and interesting! 

Should I buy the Little Goose supplement for my tot? What really is in it?  Are the activities that different from the Teacher Guide?  What makes it specific for my tot?

These are all questions that ran through my head on whether or not I should go with the

 Little Goose Toddler supplement book.

I thought it would be informative to write a post comparing the 2 guides and you can see if 

Little Goose is right for your toddler. 

The above picture is the Teacher Guide that comes automatically with the curriculum.  You will see that on the far left are the Circle Time activities and on the right are the Closing activities.  These are not written out in the Little Goose Guide, but these can be done by your toddler.  If you do not refer back to this guide your Circle Time Key Chain may end up going to the wayside (which happened to me for 2 months), so make sure you look at this guide if Circle Time is something you want to do with your little one.

If I didn't look at my Teacher Guide, I would have missed out on this awesome opportunity with Sweet Pea on our Doctor Day!

Little Goose does Wiggle and Giggle and Cuddle and Snuggle time which you can do instead of the Circle Time activities.  My only suggestion to you though is to not forget about the Circle Time activities and to still read them and when you think your tot is ready to try one out, do it! 

The Teacher Guide also includes a STEAM Station idea while the Little Goose Guide includes a Toddler Tray Play idea instead.  The toddler tray is a great way to work on some fine motor skills, and the STEAM area is a rotation that reinforces science, technology, engineering, art, or math. 

You could definitely do both if you think that is applicable for you.  For us, I read through both activities and pick which one is best for us... or what do I actually have on hand.  Let's keep it real friends :)  You'll see in the example below, that the both the Teacher Guide and Little Goose Guide have the kids working with Play dough. The question comes down to what activity do you think your tot can do?

The Teacher Guide STEAM station

The Tray Play idea in the Little Goose Guide

Each day there is a suggested story which is only included in the Teacher Guide as you can see in the picture below.  I love to look for these books at our local library, which we go to every Wednesday of Preschool Story time!  (Definitely check what your local library does)  In fact, when I talked to my local librarian about doing Mother Goose Time and that I look for the books suggested, she told me that if the library didn't have the book, I could request that they buy it!  I just have to fill out a form at the front desk.  

So those are some of the key features of both guides.  But the main difference is what both guides are trying to accomplish and aim to teach.  Mother Goose Time does build upon skills year after year from birth through age 8. They even have a "Developmental Continuum of Skills" and you can download PDF's to see which one is right for your child.

The Little Goose Guide focuses on Benchmark B and C skills, while 

the Teacher Guide is really focused at the level D.

You could download the 2 PDF's and look and ask "Which column is my child in or about to be in?" or better yet, go to this link, scroll to the bottom, and take the little quiz on the bottom left column to see if Little Goose is right for you!

If you do decide to get the Little Goose Guide, which I definitely recommend and love, I truly encourage you not to forget to also look at the Teacher Guide daily as well...even if you might not do those activities exactly. That's what I did... stopped looking at that guide, and I know we missed out on some amazing things...but we will go back one day :) 

Whatever you choose, I hope you have an amazing time with it learning and having fun adventures with your kids!