Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 12, 2013
One question homeschoolers often ask each other is, “Will you do school during the summer?” For us, the answer is… some of the time. We take vacations when it suits us even when (or maybe especially when!) public school kids are in school. We also take vacation trips in the summer since some of our the kids’ cousins don’t homeschool and we try to catch up with them once a...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 3, 2013 · Last modified May 16, 2016
I saw this question somewhere on the internet while I was on holiday a week or so ago and it really got me to thinking… what has taken me most by surprise in our homeschooling adventure? I knew “from the start” that we would homeschool. It was on our radar because my sister’s family homeschools their kids and my cousin homeschooled her three kids. It sounded like a good fit...
Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 31, 2013 · Last modified March 26, 2016
The weather feels like summer and we had a week away, but we actually haven’t quite brought our school year to a close. We have a couple of weeks left partly because we haven’t done our end-of-year testing yet. As part of the requirements for our state, the kids have to take a national exam (there are several to choose from). The tests are graded elsewhere, we receive the results...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Must Read / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 2, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
Dear Friends, I thought I’d spend a post just talking about our homeschool life in general. I find it therapeutic to write about how things are really going since single-themed posts (you know, about commas or slavery) don’t really give a thorough picture of life on the home front. It’s 10 pm on Wednesday evening. I’ve finally left LD’s room and the kids are in bed. Whew! Hubby is currently in Australia and...
Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 13, 2013 · Last modified August 19, 2018
Someone had a great question for me yesterday. Since I usually just post about one topic at a time on the blog she wondered what else we cover each day. I thought I’d stick my answer into its own post since other’s might be scratching their heads wondering if we have regular stuff we cover. Here was my answer… We usually have one or two units going on… right now...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 4, 2013
I spent a lot of time over our winter break thinking about what we will cover this spring. Our kids are in grades 4, 2 and preschool although as homeschoolers this doesn’t mean much as they cover what they are ready for and go at their own individual paces. I wrote up a general set of plans and you can take a glimpse at what is in store for our family....
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 30, 2012
Wow, it’s the end of 2012… a great time to reflect on the year we’ve had. Here are some of the highlights from this year: our favorite homeschool activities: It’s hard to choose just two, but I guess these are the ones that really stand out for me at the moment… the Black Plague simulation we did. None of us ever made it to our destination!! The kids really loved...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Nature / Outdoor Fun
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 20, 2012 · Last modified March 16, 2016
After a busy semester, there are three things I need: a complete break from our school schedule and routine time for self-reflection time to plan We’re currently on stage 1!! We definitely need time to revitalize and become re-inspired by our studies. I’ve been fortunate to have some good quality time by myself without kids while my in-laws were here to babysit. I spent lots of time at the library...
Holiday: Christmas Activities / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 19, 2012 · Last modified March 16, 2016
We are officially on school break! What fun! I can say that we all needed the break because it has been so busy these past few weeks. And while we had some fun projects we were finishing up, I can definitely say that I was beginning to feel flat and stale. Time to step back shake things up and re-energize a bit. While my in-laws were here for a few...
History: Africa Unit / History: Ancient Egypt / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 12, 2012 · Last modified March 16, 2016
Every now and then I like to write up these posts. The first one I did was when the kids were 3 and 1 (and ED wasn’t born yet!)…I’ve done them periodically since then. This is a glimpse of what goes on when we’re actually home all day. It’s not a “typical” day because as homeschoolers each day is different than the day before–at least in our family. That’s what...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 13, 2012
Every now and then I feel compelled to point out that our blog shows just the smallest snippet of our life. Sometimes we have great things going on, sometimes we’re just doing run-of-the-mill stuff and sometimes we’re overloaded with social commitments and activities. Life has been pretty hectic and crazy the past couple of weeks, especially with Hubby out of town. I’ve/we’ve been going full speed between school, activities, and...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Must Read / Nature
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 31, 2012
We had two days without power (heat, water or septic), but with all the preparations we had made (four huge storage tubs filled with water, two huge bags of ice in an ice chest to keep milk and stuff cold), we were able to treat it more like a camping trip and adventure for the kids. We pulled out the camping stove for coffee and heating up our meals (out...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 29, 2012
Like almost everyone on the East coast, we are getting ready for Sandy. My folks who live in central New Jersey got a call from their township that said, “be prepared to live without electricity for two weeks…” The center of the storm looks like it will pass right over their house! We live nestled down in the woods so the most minor storm almost always causes our power to...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Freebies / Holiday: Halloween / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Math General Posts / Math: Preschool Math / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 22, 2012 · Last modified October 19, 2015
Because we’re so busy, I often blog a week or so in advance — then shuffle things around as seems appropriate. But in a way that’s bad because then I feel like I can’t just chit-chat about our homeschooling because there’s a post with a particular theme… hardly fitting for bantering about bad homeschool days or the house-stuff that hasn’t gotten done. So… I’m going to interrupt my own post...
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.
