Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den / Science / Science Experiments
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 13, 2017
In the third week of our science club, we spent quite a bit of time talking about Taxonomy and Scientific Classification. We had touched on it the previous week, but this time we went into much more detail. We had already talked about Linnaeus and his role in developing the classification system. We also talked about how much it has changed – especially in just the last 15 or 20...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den / Science: Electricity and Circuits Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 14, 2016 · Last modified January 11, 2020
Our study of electricity and circuits was electrifying!! Seriously, we all learned SO much in this unit and did over a dozen hands-on projects! If your kids love STEM projects, you may enjoy our 30-page Electricity and Circuits Packet. My kids are currently 8, 11 and 13 and they couldn’t wait to dive into science each day while we were doing this unit! Some of the topics and terms we...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 15, 2016 · Last modified January 14, 2016
You know how we often like to start back into homeschooling with some engaging, out-of-the-box activities? Sometimes we’ve done engineering challenges, other times we’ve done some fun critical thinking activities. Last week, I challenged the kids to make their own marble maze. They each took a big piece of cardboard, sticks (or whatever) and a glue-gun and went to work! They had fun trying to complete each other’s maze courses! ...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 6, 2015 · Last modified March 5, 2019
My kids love hands-on projects and engineering activities are always a hit! Here are some quick activities you could suggest to the kids with materials you probably have on hand. Last January we started our Earth Science Unit off with some engineering activities. We talked a lot about building structure, stability, and things like that. These activities were so fun, they really don’t need to be connected to a study...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 5, 2015 · Last modified March 30, 2015
In this post, I’m going to talk first about some engineering activities my kids did over the break… and then in the second part of this post I’m going to share an amazing free engineering resource for kids. So, first the activities! As many of you know, I found out that I would have to move our blog from our Parents.com location to this new website. That was an enormous...
Critical Thinking Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den / Math General Posts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 21, 2012 · Last modified April 28, 2016
Earlier this semester my friend and I were chatting about math. She said that every Friday they include some critical thinking activities. I thought that was a terrific idea and back in late February I ordered some materials. We added some of these activities into our schedule as well. We generally include critical thinking once a week, but sometimes we skip a week depending on our schedule. Sudoku: The kids...
Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 30, 2012 · Last modified April 7, 2015
Think Challenge: Week 6 We’re loving the spring weather here where we are, so it was time for another outdoor challenge. This is similar to the traditional nature scavenger hunt, this time using a camera. Here is the link to our Photo Hunt check list (pictured below). You can print out copies for your kids. And if you do, I’d love to hear a comment from you! 🙂 Here is...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den / Outdoor Fun
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 23, 2012 · Last modified May 6, 2016
The Parachute Challenge! I supplied the kids with cups, yarn, tape, plastic bags, scissors, and a hole puncher. Their challenge was build a parachute that could safely transport objects down from a 12 foot drop. They got busy building and testing their parachutes out with coins. Then they were ready for the big test — a long drop with raw eggs. Our Results? I’m happy to report all...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 16, 2012 · Last modified May 6, 2016
Challenge your kids to think creatively with this quick activity. This week we had to do our Think Challenge on Monday since I knew I’d be out of commission. The kids were thrilled; they really love these activities! Their challenge was to build as tall a tower as they could with marshmallows and straws. I let ED use wooden skewers because the straws were challenging to work with. Here are...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 3, 2012 · Last modified March 5, 2019
Engineering Challenge – Week 2 The kids did their second Engineering Challenge this week. Each day I spend time reading a book aloud to the kids. Right now we’re reading a wonderful book about the Oregon Trail. On Thursday I had them try this challenge while I read. The Goal: Build a tower with post-it notes. Make it as sturdy and high as you can. Here are some of the solutions...
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.
