Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
After I dropped the older kids off for their art class on Wednesday, ED and I headed home. On the way, we were traveling on a bustling 4 lane road. As I drove down the road I noticed an older gentleman (mid-to-late 70s) who was slowly sitting down on the curb next to his lawn mower. He reached down with one hand to help himself get down onto the grass....
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 13, 2013
Today I listened to an interview with Peter Gray, a psychologist who examines the importance of play over at the (free online) unschooling summit. Despite yesterday’s post, Summer Learning, where I talked about the academic focus of our homeschool, the truth is my children play a lot especially compared to their public school friends. After listening to his interview and cruising some of the articles he posted on his website, Freedom...
My friend recommended a movie called the Queen of Versailles to me. It’s the true story/documentary film of a wealthy American family who are building the largest and most extravagant family home in the world. I watched it and can’t wait to have a coffee and long chat with my friend! I don’t want to spoil it for those who might watch it (it’s on Netflix)… but I came away...
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: Random Thoughts / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 6, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
Would you agree with the TodayMoms.com survey that three is the most stressful number of kids to have? I remember when I announced to my best friend that I was pregnant with my third, she was happy for me, but at the same time she said it was really, really hard. Our kids are all a year apart so when I had a 1 and 3 year old, my friend...
Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read / Recipes
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 28, 2013
I just read about the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and wanted to spread the word! Does your child like to cook? Kids ages 8-12 can submit original recipes to win tickets to a state dinner at the White House to eat some of these winning dishes with first lady, Michelle Obama. The challenge is to create healthy recipes that include the five food groups either in one dish or in one...
About a month ago on the way to LD’s allergy shots, the kids and I saw something really sad. Just a few moments before we drove through an intersection, a cat was struck by a car. As we drove by, we could see that the cat was still alive. It’s head was up and it was looking all around. It was a busy intersection and cars were racing by it on both...
A few nights ago as I watched the evening news, I heard a statistic that really startled me. The story was about the teen activist who was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan for arguing for girls’ education. At the end of the segment ABC World News said that 32 million girls don’t go to school. Wow! The World Bank Education Statistics Newsletter confirmed that and even had an interesting graphic: It looks...
Health / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read / Outdoor Fun / Science / Science: The 5 Senses
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 29, 2013 · Last modified December 31, 2014
We’ve all heard the experts tell us that time outside has huge benefits for kids. It helps them concentrate and focus in school, boosts learning, helps fight obesity, and is even beneficial for social development. Research has proven that recess is good for kids: “A recent multicenter study of more than 11,000 eight- and nine-year-olds, led by pediatric researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York, showed...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschooling in the News / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 12, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
Because of the holidays I missed this article about homeschooling in The Economist until today. The article explains that homeschooling has increased dramatically over the past thirty years. One thing I didn’t realize is that there are about as many homeschooled students now (estimated to be about 2 million) as there are students who attend charter schools. Another interesting statistic I hadn’t heard was, ” In 2007 a report found that...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 3, 2013
I was touched by a Random Act of Kindness today!! With Grams and Gramps still visiting, I wanted to have a special “date” with each of the kids on their own. ED and I went out for breakfast. We giggled and played tic-tac-toe and talked… and when it came time to pay, someone had already paid for our meal!! Isn’t that just the loveliest thing?!! Thank you, kind stranger! It...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Mom Stories / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 3, 2013
Honestly, I will start posting about our homeschooling stuff again. In fact, I have all kinds of materials I’ve made for the kids and have a heap of new things to share with you all, but since I was on the topic of health and well-being (with yesterday’s post about LD’s horrible allergies) I thought I’d share with you some of the struggles I’ve personally had the past eight to ten...
Holiday: New Years / Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 31, 2012 · Last modified July 19, 2018
Do you ever find yourself saying to yourself (or to others for that matter) “there’s not enough time in my day.” I’ve been thinking about that a lot and how my attitudes about time affect the relationships I have with my loved ones. There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.” –Brian Tracy One of my New Years...
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.
