Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 8, 2012 · Last modified August 22, 2018
My older two kids are 7 and 9. They don’t yet know how to type, though hubby has been suggesting it for more than a year now. It was just one of those things that was hard to add into our day. About two weeks ago, we finally took the plunge. I started off introducing the keyboard to them in collection (our group time). I didn’t tell them what we...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 7, 2012 · Last modified February 21, 2022
I thought ED and DD (4 and6) would really enjoy doing some activities related to the human body again. As it turned out DD was quite sick so ED and I worked on this ourselves. LD came in only at the end when we looked at the Bio Digital Human online. First I outlined her body. Then she built her skeletal system. We love the book, Look Into Your Body: All About...
Family Meeting / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 4, 2012 · Last modified April 10, 2016
This year we started holding family meetings. It has been a real positive experience for our family. We use this as an opportunity to share good feelings, to talk about what’s going well in our family, to brainstorm ideas that might make our family work better as a team, to talk about things we’d like to be going better and probably most importantly of all, to have fun together. We...
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Montessori (general info) / Must Read / Science / Science Experiments
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 3, 2012 · Last modified March 3, 2016
In honor of last weekend’s science celebration I wanted to put together something to inspire other budding scientists out there! I put together a packet of a dozen science experiments that my kids have loved. These are easy-to-prepare experiments and you should have most items on hand around the house. The download is free! Download the Science Experiment Packet At this post you’ll find three more science experiments and another free...
History: Ancient Greece Unit / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Technology
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 2, 2012
Technology can be integrated into the educational setting (your classroom, your homeschool) as seamlessly and easily as it has made its way into your daily life. Your computer, tablet, reader, iPhone, video machine and CD player all can supplement your teaching with the right tools. Many kids already play educational games at home or on the go. Streaming video brings science and history to life. Slip in a CD of...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 1, 2012 · Last modified July 6, 2016
A couple of years ago I made game-boards to go along with some cute princess-themed sight word cards I found over at Kelly’s Kindergarten. Print out both pages of the sight words “Cinderella’s Ball.” (3rd game down) and/or the sight words under Sight Word Memory: Princess-easy (you’ll need to scroll down to the 15th game). Print out the cards on cardstock. To play, place all the cards face down in...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science Experiments
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 1, 2012 · Last modified March 20, 2018
We were so impressed and inspired by the science festival that the kids begged for science experiments during collection (our group time). Our experiment today was the Fireworks in Water experiment. I saw over on A Bit of This and A Bit of That back a half a year ago or so a twist on the experiment we’ve always done. We took shaving cream, sprayed it on top of...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science Experiments / Science: Physics Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 30, 2012 · Last modified February 4, 2016
Beep, Beep! Class, it’s time for another field trip! We went to participate in the largest science celebration in the U.S.A. The kids got to participate in hundreds of hands-on exhibits! We got up really early and drove down to the 2nd annual USA Science and Engineering Festival last Friday. It was phenomenal! The mission of the festival was “to re-invigorate the interest of our nation’s youth in science, technology, engineering and...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Theme Time (age 2-4) / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 27, 2012 · Last modified March 1, 2017
Last week I put together my huge list of activities to do with my preschooler. One thing I haven’t done in a long time is our “Theme Time” activities. It is such an easy way to incorporate those games that get shoved to the back shelf. Last week we did a lot of insect-themed activities. Here are some of the things we did together: ED did lots of different crafts....
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Language Arts: Spelling
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 26, 2012
It probably comes as no surprise that we’ve been into the shuttle this past week or so! We use All About Spelling and I made a word sort that goes along with volume three (though since it’s a simple sort you can use it with your kids any time even if you don’t use All About Spelling). This is a space-themed word sort for long-o words. Just so you know...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Interviews with other Homeschoolers
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 25, 2012 · Last modified April 16, 2015
This week we’re going across the ocean to talk with April, an Australian homeschooler and author of the blog, Learning Alongside. Welcome! April, I love the title of your blog. Can you explain why you chose “Learning Alongside” as the name of your blog? From the beginning of our homeschooling journey I have been learning. I never realised how much I didn’t know about my children, our family dynamics and myself. ...
Ages 2-6: Clocks - Telling Time / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Math General Posts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 24, 2012
My kids and I have been playing a lot of “Time Bingo” lately. It has kids recognize the time at five minute intervals. I love the fact that all the clock faces on the bingo cards are different. We got this as a Christmas give from Grams and Gramps, but I see on Amazon that it’s pretty reasonable in price (currently $4.00). Just to make sure the kids knew what...
Holiday: Earth Day / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Must Read / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 23, 2012
We learned some really amazing space missions are in development! Last week we watched the Space Shuttle Discovery in awe as it flew close by our house towards its final destination. The Space Shuttle Program has truly come to an end. We went to see the space shuttle is in its new home at the Udvar-Hazy National Air and Space Museum, but we were surprised to learn just how much...
Homeschool Den / Language Arts: Spelling / Language Arts: Writing / Math General Posts / Music / Nature / Outdoor Fun / Science
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 20, 2012
I think we all worry a lot about what our kids need to know right now. What skills should they have? Can they do what they’re supposed to in fill-in-the-blank subject? We’re currently working on lots of stuff — math, spelling, physics, critical thinking, writing skills, music, but ultimately what is important that they remember and know from *this* day or *this* week? What do I want my kids to learn?...
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.
