Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
All About Homeschooling! / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 11, 2020 · Last modified July 25, 2021
Finding materials on the Homeschool Den! I wrote this post to help you find some of the pages, posts and homeschool resources within our blog that might be the most useful for you. Over the years, I have made homeschool packets on everything from history and science to spelling, math, spelling and foreign languages (German & Spanish). And, many of those are free! We have materials from preschool through high...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 6, 2020
What supplies do you need to have on hand to homeschool? This post includes a free printable list of basic homeschooling supplies and science materials that you might want to have on hand. This list covers everything from office supplies & art materials to math manipulatives and science materials we have used in our homeschool through the years. Obviously, the first starting point is access to books and curriculum. No...
Free Homeschool Planner / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 24, 2019 · Last modified July 3, 2021
New! Homeschool Planner Printable Booklet We now have two FREE Homeschool Planners. One version is a 1/2 sized printable Homeschool Planner booklet, the other has full-sized pages. Grab them both with the links below! With the holidays coming up, family coming into town, and more on our plate than ever before, I needed to get everything down on paper. I wanted something slightly smaller than the normal homeschool planners I...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 30, 2019 · Last modified July 7, 2020
It’s mid-summer. For some of us, school is still a few weeks away. Others have started homeschooling or never stopped! Regardless, we all would like to head into the new year more organized and ready to go, right?! Here are a few tips for getting off on the right foot: 1. Relax It is SO important to get recharged. Make sure both you and the kids have stepped away from...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 3, 2019 · Last modified May 29, 2019
As homeschoolers we wrestle with a lot of questions, issues, and challenges: planning, preparing, organizing, scheduling, juggling, managing (moods/squabbles) AND getting things done. Plus, we have the added challenge of having our kids watching us and learning from us every moment of the day! “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” ~John Cotton Dana As we look at a new year (or even when we look at the...
Free Homeschool Planner / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 18, 2019 · Last modified April 19, 2019
I am excited to share with you some bran-new spring planning pages. They’ve been add to our free 150+page Homeschool Planner! Over spring break, I’ve been doing a bit of homeschool organization. Not only have I gone through out books and pulled out things to donate, but also I printed out new pages for my homeschool planner and have been spending time planning out the last 6 or 7 weeks...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 22, 2019 · Last modified January 25, 2019
I like having a clean and tidy house… or rather, I dream of having a clean and tidy house, but I have always found that to be a challenge. My friends will lovingly tell me that the house has a normal “lived in” look. But, to be honest, it’s been a struggle over the years… Just check out this picture of our dining room table… not exactly tidy, is it?...
Free Homeschool Planner / Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 24, 2018
Free Mid-Year Homeschool Assessment Packet About this time of year, I get itchy. I know that the holidays are coming up and we will take a well-deserved break! Right around the holidays, I also take the time to think about how things are going. Today, I wanted to share this Free Homeschool Assessment Packet with you (I updated and expanded it a bit this year.). This packet has several pages...
Holiday: Christmas Activities / Holiday: Thanksgiving / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 20, 2018
Homeschooling during the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be particularly trying/demanding. There are more events on as the semester comes to an end. On the homeschool front, we are often finishing up big projects and wrapping up units before taking an extended break. But there are a lot of other things going on too! There are holiday-themed parties and get-togethers. There are concerts. There also more demands on our...
Free Homeschool Planner / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 14, 2018 · Last modified September 14, 2021
This is a checklist of things you can do now, to get ready for the new school year! Is part of your end-of-summer vision to feel prepared for back-to-school? This checklist will help you slowly and steadily get ready for the new school year! It is mid-summer, but lingering in the back of our minds is that school will be here before we know it. We want to take advantage...
Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 2, 2018 · Last modified April 30, 2018
Have you ever been rendered immobile by the thought of everything that needs to be done? Overwhelmed with a list of things that you need to do for the day, let alone thinking about the week or month ahead? I think we all are from time to time… the trick is to keep chipping away at things little by little, one step at a time! Have you ever stayed with...
Free Homeschool Planner / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Trips We've Taken / Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 15, 2018
We had a really long, really lovely spring break. One of the really fun things was visiting a zoo where we could all feed the kangaroo, camel and other animals. That brought us fond memories of living in the Outback. Down below I will share some old photos of the kids from our days in Australia (we lived their for 12 years and the kids were all born there)… but...
Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 26, 2017
I have a new (free!) Mid-Year Homeschool Assessment Packet to share with you today! You might be doing this kind of evaluation and planning over the winter break, but I wanted to share this packet with you sooner than later. This Thanksgiving break, I took the opportunity to really reflect on our homeschool year so far and assess how things are going. This was a natural time for me to...
Free Calendar Planning Pages / Freebies / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 18, 2017 · Last modified August 19, 2017
Hi everyone! As the school year begins again for many of us, we’re all trying to keep ourselves organized. I use google (online) calendar for many of our activities, but I still keep a traditional paper calendar as well in my homeschool planner. I wanted to share the updated printable calendar with you all. This is FREE to download and print out, just click to link or picture below! This...
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.
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.
