Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Earth Day is April 22nd! The celebration of Earth Day began over 40 years ago. It is a day to celebrate our planet and think about how we can help our environment. Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency was established not long after that first Earth Day in 1970? The Clean Air Act also passed that same year. Now Earth Day is celebrated in more than 175 countries...
Ages 2-6: Clocks - Telling Time / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Kindergarten Math / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 18, 2016 · Last modified December 7, 2020
My kids learned to skip count by 5s roughly at the same time they started working on clocks and telling time in 5 minute intervals. Today I have a free printable that combines both of these. There are two pages that have the kids practice skip-counting by fives and fill out a skip counting maze counting from 5 to 55. Kids count by 5s along the sides and try to...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit / Videos
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 5, 2016 · Last modified September 15, 2020
Enjoy this one minute video about our Simple Machines Unit when we studied the lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw, pulley, and wheel & axle. I showed many of the hands-on activities we did. This unit is great for early elementary kids. 🙂 Below you’ll find links to everything included in the video: links to the hands-on activities and for the Simple Machines Packet. Simple Machines Packet (About 30 pages) –...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Preschool for ED - Fall 2011 (age 3 1/2) / Ages 2-6: Theme Time (age 2-4) / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Freebies
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 23, 2016 · Last modified October 1, 2017
This is a huge, long list of more than 100 different activities that you can do with your 2-5 year olds. I originally compiled this list when ED was three or so. I compiled this list when I was struggling to balance the needs of my preschooler with my older two school-age kids. Here’s what I wrote when I first made this list: I am a list person! I love...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Theme Time (age 2-4) / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 21, 2016
When my kids were little, I made a felt board that we used almost daily for years! The kids used it for creative play. Free play (shapes) We used it for literacy props to tell and have the kids retell stories (I remember we did Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood). Here’s a post where we did The Emperor’s New Clothes. I set out various math activities. We...
Homeschool Den / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 4, 2016 · Last modified July 7, 2021
ED is working on the 8s multiplication facts. I’ve found that the other multiplication packets I made have worked really, really well for her. This lizard-themed worksheet packet wound up being 37 pages. 🙂 There’s a FREE multiplication and division (for the 8s) game board for you later in the post. 🙂 Skip Counting Song for the 8s In our family the kids sang the 8s to the tune of...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 14, 2016 · Last modified November 3, 2016
Recently I came across these multiplication game boards I made for LD years ago. Originally I made it for LD to practice his 7s, but then I made another for the 6s. I thought ED would have fun reviewing her 6s and 7s facts when we start back to school. We’ve been playing these daily since the holidays! I’m going to share this game again for those who might be...
Math--Division / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 8, 2016 · Last modified January 5, 2020
ED is working hard on division. She has now learned almost all of the multiplication tables (except for the 8s). These winter-themed worksheets are mostly for division practice, but there are a few pages of general multiplication worksheets too. There are 9 pages total. These are free to download. 🙂 Hope someone can use these! If you use them we’d love to hear from you. ED always loves when she...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 30, 2015 · Last modified July 7, 2021
Multiplication Facts for the 4s and 9s (and more!)! As my daughter moved into learning her multiplication facts I looked around for the kind of multiplication practice that would help her. The math book she was using went through the math facts a bit too quickly for her. She needed quite a bit of repetition and wanted bright, colorful worksheets. I wound up making my own sets of practice pages...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 19, 2015 · Last modified November 17, 2015
This week I’m changing our “Thoughts on Teaching” series up a bit to write about how our homeschool days flow in general. Each day is pretty different from the one before and is usually a result of what we didn’t get to (or got to only minimally) the day before. But I keep a general running tab (mentally if not by checklist!) of what we’re doing in each subject. So...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Freebies / Holiday: Thanksgiving / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 16, 2015 · Last modified October 12, 2022
This packet has various Thanksgiving printables for preschoolers including clothes pin letter matching and counting cards. It also has a 2-letter word file folder game for kids who are a little older. For the counting cards and upper and lower case letter matching, be sure to print the pages out on card stock. Have your child place a clothes pin on the correct answer. (This is also really good for...
Holiday: Thanksgiving / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 16, 2015 · Last modified November 7, 2016
This weekend I made some new addition and subtraction worksheets. There are two sets. One set has addition with carrying and subtraction with borrowing. The other set has simpler addition problems. Hope you can use these! They are free to download. 🙂 ~Liesl Thanksgiving Addition-Subtraction Worksheets And here is the other set of Thanksgiving math worksheets. These are also free to download: Thanksgiving Addition and Subtraction Practice You might be...
About this time of year, I always seem to make lots of batches of Pumpkin Muffins. And, with so many new readers I always feel inclined to share our recipe again! This is a recipe I got from my friend, Michelle, about fifteen years ago. I’ve been making them ever since!! This year the girls staged a photo shoot featuring our muffins for you!! You need a very, very large...
Holiday: Halloween / Homeschool Den / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 25, 2015
Today I would like to share another free Halloween packet of math worksheets and games. This contains free addition and subtraction worksheets. Since everyone’s kids are at different levels, I included some very basic/beginning addition worksheets that cover +2 facts as well as doubling (2+2, 3+3, 4+4…) as well as sheets that go into carrying or borrowing. There are about twenty pages, so hopefully there are a few sheets your...
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.
