Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science: Human Body Unit / Science: The 5 Senses
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 9, 2012 · Last modified June 26, 2020
Five Senses Unit – The Sense of Taste All week the kids have been waiting impatiently for the taste activities! LD remembered doing this three or four years ago and couldn’t wait! We first talked about the tongue and where you sense different tastes. We made a cute tongue model and labeled the different areas. I’ll show you how we put it together with a quick picture collage: How we made a...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: The 5 Senses
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 8, 2012 · Last modified March 7, 2016
On Friday we revisited an activity that we’ve done a number of times before, making pairs of scents and trying to find the match. To set up for this activity, I taped a piece of paper with matching symbols on sets of 2 Q-tips. Then I dipped the Q-tips into various liquids (vinegar, vanilla, fish sauce, almond extract, and lemon juice). You can also do this with a cotton ball...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Science: Human Body Unit / Science: The 5 Senses
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 19, 2020 · Last modified February 6, 2022
Five Senses Packet This 100+ page Five Senses Unit has dozens of hands-on activities and detailed, colorful worksheets for learning all about the five senses – sight & the eye, hearing & the ear, taste & the tongue, smell & the nose, touch & the skin. Five Senses: Hands-On Activities Our family just loves hands-on activities and this Five Senses Packet will keep your kids engaged and excited! The Five...
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Montessori (general info) / Science Experiments / Science Units
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 31, 2019 · Last modified May 4, 2023
I had a reader ask what topics that a Kindergartner/1st Grader (ie. 5-7 year old) might learn for science. I’ve gotten this same question several times in the past month or so, so I thought I might share with you some of the topics we explored when the kids were in early elementary. As you’ll see below, there are SO many things you could do with your kids. Just ask...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / 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 / Homeschool Den / Montessori (general info)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 17, 2019 · Last modified August 31, 2020
I know that I have a lot of readers with younger kids. This post includes a lot of activities we did when the kids were 2-5 years old or so. It can be difficult to balance kids of different ages… especially when you have a rambunctious, active toddler and/or preschooler in the mix!! You can read this post about homeschooling multiple ages, if you are interested. The Preschool Page, might...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Homeschool Den / Montessori (general info) / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats / Science: Rain Forests
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 14, 2017 · Last modified November 2, 2022
I’m excited to share our new 75+ page Amazon Rainforest Unit! Students will learn about the layers of the rainforest,rainfall, biodiversity, animals and insects of the rainforest, and more! It includes notebook pages, animal and insect identification pages, animal and insect Montessori 3-part cards, layers of the rainforest worksheets and other activities. The Amazon Rainforest is fascinating! It is the largest rainforest in the world and represents over half of...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 8, 2013 · Last modified August 21, 2022
We had so much fun with our Digestive System Unit. We did hands on activities to see how the digestive tract works (how nutrients pass through), made “fake”vomit, measured out the length of the digestive system and more! We broke our unit into three parts: Part I: Digestive System — Mouth Part II: Digestive System — Swallowing, How the epiglottis works Part III: Digestive System — The Digestive Tract I...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: The 5 Senses
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 3, 2012 · Last modified March 7, 2016
ED is doing a brief unit on the 5 senses. I’ll talk a little more about our general activities below, but first I wanted to share this wonderful sound game we played! One of the activities we did together this week was called Sound Bingo. I downloaded the sound files such as a baby, guitar, monkey, fireworks, scissors (41 sounds in all) onto my laptop and printed out bingo cards...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 17, 2020 · Last modified May 6, 2023
Are you homeschooling Kindergarten or Grade 1 for the first time or looking for some fresh new ideas? It’s hard to know where to start, right?! There are lots of possibilities and picking a starting point can be overwhelming! I hope this post will give you some ideas and inspiration for a wonderful homeschool year ahead! FREE Curriculum Resource Guide for Kindergarten-Grade 1 I was often asked what we did...
Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Kindergarten Math / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 12, 2019 · Last modified February 22, 2024
This new Calendar Packet covers the Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons. It includes both worksheets & booklets. This 40-page pdf has just been added to the (growing) K-2 Math BUNDLE, but can be purchased individually as well. What is included in the Calendar Packet? There are worksheets for the Days of the Week, Months of the Year and Seasons of the Year. There are also booklets for the...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 31, 2019 · Last modified June 17, 2020
This past week I’ve had a couple of emails from readers who will be homeschooling Kindergarten or Grade 1 for the first time. It’s hard to know where to start, right?! There are lots of possibilities and picking a starting point can be overwhelming! I hope this post will give you some ideas and inspiration for a wonderful homeschool year ahead! For us, homeschooling was not a big change from...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 10, 2018 · Last modified July 25, 2021
This is always one of my favorite posts to write. It’s my chance to reflect back on the year and all the things we managed to accomplish! Sometimes in the short-run it can feel like we’re not getting much homeschooling done. You know how our homeschooling can go… we’re interrupted for activities, illness, errands, appointments, or the occasional blahs. But then when we step back to look at the bigger...
Ages 2-6: Clocks - Telling Time / Kindergarten / Kindergarten Math / Math General Posts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 28, 2018 · Last modified July 8, 2020
These free activity pages will help your kids become familiar with how to read a thermometer. They will compare the temperatures in Fahrenheit and Celsius and will begin to recognize the temperature in winter, spring/fall or summer in Fahrenheit and/or Celsius. Print out the thermometers on card stock. Cut them out. Have the kids put them in order from coolest to warmest or from warmest to coolest. Remind them that...
Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Science / Starting to Homeschool / Videos
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 29, 2016 · Last modified April 18, 2019
How do I start teaching science to my kids? This is a very different answer if your kids are K-2 than if they are a bit older. Here are some of the science topics you might want to consider if your kids are in early elementary. I put together a video of some of the activities we did when the kids were in early elementary. Some of these activities my...
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.
