Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Each week, I’ve been trying to share some of the packets I’ve made for the kids in the past couple of years. Here are some pages I made for our Rocks and Minerals Unit that you might find of use. Rocks and Minerals Post: We wrapped our chemistry unit and spent a few weeks on vertebrates and invertebrates. It was time to tackle a new unit on rocks and minerals. I’m using a...
History: Geography Activities / Homeschool Den / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 13, 2014 · Last modified July 19, 2018
A few days ago, I shared the hands-on activity we did to learn about the layers of the Earth. We’ve also been learning about how we show and locate the exact positions of the land and water. I explained that most maps and globes are marked with lines that help us pinpoint an exact location on the Earth. These lines form an imaginary grid. The equator is just one of...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 12, 2014 · Last modified September 6, 2018
Layers of the Atmosphere (Now Updated!) Worksheets, Notebook Pages and Hands-On Activities! Our Layers of the Atmosphere Packet introduced the kids to some of the basics about Earth’s atmosphere. We started with a review of Earth’s systems: the geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere and then spent quite a bit of time talking about the different layers of the atmosphere (the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere). Our Layers of the...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 11, 2014 · Last modified October 6, 2018
Each year, I organize a huge Halloween party. We have lots and lots of games for the kids. The kids all have lots of fun!! Today I wanted to share some of the games that we play at our party… Each year I try to change things up a bit, but here are some games that we’ve done in the past. I wanted to share this early enough this year...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Science: Astronomy Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 10, 2014
Did you wake your kids up to see the total lunar eclipse the other day? Hubby (my hero!) drove the kids to an open area to see the eclipse. (We live down in the woods and are completely surrounded by trees). The kids were absolutely amazed! They thought it was spectacular! On the other hand, doing something amazing like well before 5am wasn’t without its consequences… tired kids… And then...
History: Native American Indians Unit / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 9, 2014 · Last modified May 16, 2016
This fall we are learning about different Native American groups. The past few weeks we learned about the two language groups of the Northeast — the Algonquian Indians and the Iroquois and some of the tribes that make up these groups. A few weeks ago, we went to Williamsburg, VA for homeschool week. That was truly wonderful and is the topic of another post! We went with some friends who...
This semester the kids are using the free online Book Box stories in German. The kids are spending about 5-6 days per story (and since we don’t always get to it, this really means close to two weeks), listening to the story twice at some point during the day. The first story we listened to is called Vier Freunde, The Four Friends. The first time through I stopped along the...
Holiday: Earth Day / Homeschool Den / Science / Science Experiments / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 7, 2014 · Last modified July 21, 2018
Last week, I mentioned that we learned a bit about the Solar System in general. This week we’ve been looking more closely at Earth’s long history. We’ve been going over the four major eons and looking more closely at what happened in each (Hadean Eon, Archean Eon, Proterozoic Eon, Phanerozoic Eon). At first 4.6-4 billion years ago, the Earth would have been molten. Then as the Earth cooled it went from liquid...
Ages 2-6: Fall Theme / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 6, 2014 · Last modified October 29, 2020
This post has links to more than 15 free Fall Activity Packs! Get your 3-6 year old into the fall spirit with some fall-themed activities from fall leaves and apples to scarecrows and pumpkins! There’s a huge selection of free packets to choose from… First here are some of our free Fall-Themed Packets: Free Preschool Printable – Words That Start with F Thanksgiving Preschool Printables (free) FREE CVC Words -at...
Homeschool Den / Science: Chemistry Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 5, 2014 · Last modified March 19, 2023
Are you working on chemistry this year? I thought I’d share some of the activities we did when we learned about the States of Matter. I also link to a number of other posts from our chemistry unit. We’ve been having a blast with chemistry — well not literally, but sure have been learning a lot! Today we did most of the hands on activities suggested by the wonderful, wonderful...
This year ED is moving beyond colors and numbers in German. I’m trying to build her vocabulary while giving her plenty of time to practice these new words. I’ve created some packets where she also learns some basic new grammar skills. The first packet is on animals – introducing just six animals. On the first page we go over over the vocabulary – das Pferd (the horse). On the second...
Homeschool Den / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 2, 2014 · Last modified July 19, 2018
For those of you who know much about Montessori, you’ll recognize “The Black Strip.” This is an impressionistic activity that is meant to impress kids with the enormity of time on Earth. Our version was the purple ribbon strip — and it is only 21 feet (as my ribbon ream was 7 yards!). But it still shows how very little time we humans have been on Earth relatively speaking. I’m...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Astronomy Unit / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 1, 2014 · Last modified October 1, 2021
I have been really looking forward to our Earth Science unit this fall. It has taken a while to start in on all our activities, but now that we’ve started we are learning TONS and having lots of fun! To start of the unit, I felt like we really need to cover some basics about the Solar System again. We got a hands-on kit called the 4M Solar System Planetarium (affiliate link)...
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.
