Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 11, 2009
We had a wonderful weekend camping and I’ll share more about that soon. Today is DD’s birthday, though, so I won’t spend much time on the computer today. Last night I needed a few more ideas for ED and checked out a website I really enjoy. It’s truly a wonderful resource if you have a toddler or young preschooler. This Mom shares a wonderful assortment of activities for her son...
This afternoon DD and I sat down together to put togethera new felt board scene. This is based on Five Little Pumpkins .DD and ED had fun making and remaking the jack-o-lanterns’faces. I read the story several times while DD acted itout on the felt board. I took the picture in the book display area I was mentioningin the post I wrote yesterday about reading (scroll down below). By the...
Arts and Crafts / Holiday: Halloween / Outdoor Fun
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 6, 2009
A while back I read about a family who put paint inziploc bags and had the kids jump on them. Nowthat the weather is warming up, we decided to giveit a try. Some of the bags we filled with paint andair; some of them we had paint, vinegar and bakingsoda (to expand the bag). LD was able to pop allthe bags (and the ones without vinegar/bs “lookednicer”), but DD and...
It’s obviously most interesting to post about the livelier things we do at the Homeschool Den. But to be honest, I really enjoy the quieter things we do as well. We read lots and lots of books together. I have a wooden napkin holder where I display 3-5 new picture books on the dining room table. I change this several times a week (as needed). Whenever we sit together at...
On Tuesdays, I volunteer to help with Kindergym. Wehelp set up. Even LD (who is technically too old for it) hasa good time because his buddy often stays home fromschool so they can play together. ED (20months) lovesall the equipment. Here are a few things that were in our workboxes for theafternoon — tangrams, the hundred’s board puzzle andskip counting 2 to 200 maze (which I laminated). I found the...
Here’s another number line recognition game I playedwith DD. We put the numbers in order from 0 to 13. Thenshe had to close her eyes while I switched two cards. Shehad to find and correct the switch. Then it was her turnto switch the cards while I closed my eyes. In the end,we switched lots of numbers and put them back in theright order. With the same set-up, we also...
LD is learning to skip count by 3s. He set up the wagonsand then put groups of three mini-erasers above eachwagon. To get him familiar with the general concept ofmultiplication I talk about groups of 3 (1X3 is one group ofthree; 2X3 is two groups of three, and so forth) and had him putthe seals under the appropriate wagon wheel. wagons and seals are available at filefolderfun.com
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 6, 2009 · Last modified March 7, 2016
When the kids brush their teeth at night, they always get a big kick out of watching these geckos catch moths on the bathroom window!
I saw this idea on the Crafty Crow and thought it wouldbe pretty straight forward for the kids. It turned out reallywell! We used 6 1/2 cups fruit (2 1/2 raspberries, 4 cups blueberry)and 3 teaspoons of sugar. We cooked the berries on the stove for 45 minutes.Next we pureed it in the blender.Finally we baked it in the oven on low for 6 hours or so. Here’s the website...
Yesterday we had a nice day out and about. UnfortunatelyI lost a lot of pictures. The area we went to is a giant, flatarea of hard packed clay. It’s perfect for the kids to ridetheir bikes and for our dog to get some exercise.
Over the weekend, we enjoyed some time outbush withour friends. We got a chance to ride our friends’ quad onsome of the dirt roads and had a campfire in the dryriver bed.
My sister is amazing! She homeschools three kids (8, 10, 13), is a professor and works full time (though she can work from home for some of that), is writing a book, and her husband is currently deployed to Iraq until June. She loves meals that fix themselves and I said I’d share this with her (and with all the busy people out there!) This is currently one of my...
Do you believe education can be exciting, inspiring, and full of joy? We do too!
I love the quote by William Butler Yeats, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." It's about getting the kids involved, engaged, and fired up about learning (while juggling the rest of life too!)
A bit about me: I have my Master's from Brown University. I have more than 20 years of teaching experience. I was a high school teacher for many years both in the U.S. and internationally and also taught for the University of Maryland before leaving to homeschool my 3 wonderful kids.
To read more about us CLICK HERE.
Click on the image to find out more about the units and packets we have available.
This post has links to dozens of posts and resources both for new and veteran homeschoolers for everything from finding homeschool curriculum to general homeschool advice and encouragement.
Click on the image above to see the History Units we covered in our homeschool.
What science topics could I teach my 5-7 year old - Homeschool Science Curriculum
Click on the image above to see the Science Units we covered in our homeschool from elementary through middle school (and beyond!).
A list of the books we've used most in history, science, math, language arts, etc.
Click the image to check out our packets on Earth Science, Rocks and Minerals, the Atmosphere, Weather, Energy and More!
Units are also sold separately.
This is one of our most popular units. It covers the Layers of the Earth, Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes and More! It is included in the Earth Science Bundle (see the picture/link above).
Click the image to see our Biology Units on Animal and Plant Cells; the Biology Unit on Biomes, Food Chains, Symbiosis; Scientific Classification & Taxonomy (Domain/Kingdom/Phylum/Class, etc.); Botany - Plant Kingdom and Oceans and Oceanography.
Click on the image to see our Animal Bundle - including the Animal Unit, Life Cycles, the Rainforest, Winter (Polar Animals) & Hibernation, Chameleons, Wolves, Cicadas and more!
The Human Body Systems, Skeletal, Digestive, Circulatory, Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine Systems and More (with lots of hands-on activity ideas)! We usually study a different body system each year.
Click on the image to see our units on the States of matter, Properties of Matter, Electricity & Circuits, and the Chemistry Unit (Get to know the Periodic Table in a fun way!)
This is a free checklist I put together of the various science units I hope to cover in the elementary and middle school years.
Do your kids know the 4 largest countries? Which countries have the most people? The longest river? This packet covers basic world and U.S. facts and also covers geographic features and land forms.
Click on the image to check out our 100-page unit on World War I.
We have used AAS for 6 years! AAS is an affiliate link.
Dozens of posts about how to create a homeschool writing workshop.
Click on the image to check out all of our fun K-2 Math Packets.
This is one of the best values we have... more than 20 PDFs with games, activities and worksheets to learn/practice the multiplication facts ($7.00).
Click on the image to discover some of the pages, posts and homeschool resources within our blog that might be the most useful for you including a long list of our freebies!
Click on the image to check out our 100+page Rocks and Minerals Unit.
This is a fun, hands-on unit for early elementary students!
How the body is organized from cells to tissues... organs to body systems
Click on the image to check out some of the Spanish worksheet bundles we have available!
Click on the image above to check out our German worksheets.
Click on the image to find out more about our units and packets.
