This Traffic Signs Preschool Pack was meant to go along with a Curious George episode - Signs Up and further reinforce what traffic signs mean in the community. These will be hugely educational and beneficial to toddler, preschool, and kindergarten kids. Teach Preschoolers about Traffic Signs I created this preschool pack as on add-on to our week using the Curious George Preschool Pack. We plan to use the Curious George episode Signs Up (Season 2, Episode 6) where George learns that traffic…

Embracing the Independent & Authentic Nature of Homeschooling

Do you ever have moments when you are overwhelmed with gratitude? I had one earlier as I watched baby Q take a few crawls forward. I am blessed to be able to stay home and be here for all the lit…

A blog about homeschooling and family life. I also write curriculum and book reviews.

This week we read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. Here are some of the fun activities we did: Went to a construction site and watched houses being built. Made a chocolate cake with Mike Mulligan (a teddy graham), Mary Ann (a small red digger toy, closest I could find to looking like a steam shovel), crumbled Oreos for dirt and more teddy grahams for the people watching Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann dig the cellar for the new town hall. (Found this idea here.) Used a…

...how a former teacher and her little ones do preschool at home!

In celebration of Virginia Lee Burton's classic story, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Houghton Mifflin has prepared a series of reproducible worksheets for use in or out of the classroom.

Choosing Our Own Adventures is a secular blog about homeschooling in California.

FIAR Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel For two weeks we rowed the book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton, this book is part of the Five in a Row Vol. 1 unit study. The book is about a man named Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne. They have […]

For our third FIAR book study, I chose Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. (We had just finished reading her acclaimed The Little House and I thought Maggie could make some comparisons with the two books with our recent reading fresh on her mind.) This will wrap up our Summer FIAR studies, until we start our first grade year, after Labor Day. The book is really cute, about a man and his beloved steam shovel, at the time that steam power is becoming extinct. He finds…

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel This is the first post in a weekly series that will cover our school activities including books we ...

Finally, a story Josiah can really sink his teeth into! We already own this book and it’s a fun classic, along with many of the other Virginia Lee Burton books. Of course, it’s more t…

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel FIAR ideas

I have been so bad at one not posting about our studies, two I've been bad at not following through with them and providing them like I use to, three not using lapbooks or unit studies. I understand by now I should be over the whole adjustment period of moving but hey lets just get over it already... Its been hard on me... Zachary needed to have lapbooks or unit studies weekly the way we used to. Starting back this week with a unit I wanted to make sure of a few thing: We could have fun. It…

December 4th ~ 9th A modern classic that no child should miss. Since it was first published in 1939, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel has delighted generations of children. Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne, dig deep canals for boats to travel through, cut mountain passes for trains, and hollow out cellars for city skyscrapers -- the very symbol of industrial America. But with progress come new machines, and soon the inseparable duo are out of work. Mike believes that Mary Anne…

Learn about steam power with these family-friendly activities and resources. Great add-on when reading Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel!