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Language Arts - Grammar Worksheets / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 16, 2011
We are using the Five in a Row book list to add some spice to our children’s literature readings this summer and into the fall. We bought two of the FIAR curriculum guides (for vol. 2 and 3) and will use the other two lists as a reference to bring great books into the house. We also will be going through the children’s literature author’s list suggested by Lucy Calkins...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Math General Posts / Math--Addition / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 15, 2011 · Last modified March 16, 2016
DD took a domino and created an addition problem writing it on her recording sheet. We used the domino recording sheet from Mathwire. You can find more domino math ideas on the investigating dominoes page and on this Mathwire page.There’s a cute activity also for addition called the domino parking lot with use with regular sized dominoes. ED simply counted the dots and put her wooden numbers on top of...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 14, 2011 · Last modified July 17, 2020
I made this a while ago, but never got around to introducing it to ED. It was a big hit the yesterday. Then DD came over and wanted to play. I had a number of extra eggs and ham without a letter on the reverse side, so they took turns trying to find the letter for their plate. If they got a blank egg or ham it was the other...
Math General Posts / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 12, 2011 · Last modified December 31, 2015
Goodness, we have been so busy here there’s hardly been any time to write. It’s the end of the semester and many of the kids’ (and my) activities are coming to a close. There have been extra practices and parties and we’re still doing our slow but steady homeschool stuff. Lots of books and lots of games this time of year! Plus we’re finishing up some old (unfinished) lapbook projects...
Language Arts - Grammar Worksheets / Language Arts: Spelling
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 9, 2011 · Last modified December 29, 2014
The kids are working on the different forms of to, too, two. Here’s a quick exercise I made for them. You can print this out here: to, too, two practice worksheets You can also find a free file folder game called “to,too,two much glue” at File Folder Fun which practices these same skills.
Science / Science Experiments / Science: Garden Science
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 8, 2011 · Last modified March 22, 2016
Plants, plants, plants!! That’s still the main focus of our homeschooling life. The kids are enthralled by the growing process this year. The kids tenderly attend to their plots in the garden. We watch each strawberry ripen eagerly. They rush to inspect the blueberries and peas forming! They help bring in the lettuce for our supper each evening.And, they/we are loving the Junior Master Gardener handbook — and are enjoying...
Language Arts - Grammar Worksheets / Language Arts: Spelling
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 6, 2011
A few weeks ago we started using First Language Lessons. The kids — and DD (age 5) in particular — are enjoying it. We’ve memorized three poems and are enjoying the leisurely introduction to common and proper nouns. This curriculum suits us at this point. The lessons are in small bits (we spent about 10 minutes, but often do more than one lesson) and most importantly DD enjoys them a...
Math Monster: I spread out various cards for the kids — multiplication problems for LD, addition problems for DD and letters to identify for ED. I’m the math monster and try to tag the kids. If they don’t have a card they are frozen, if they have a card and can answer correctly they can go free (if they answer incorrectly they’re frozen as well). They can be unfrozen by...
I used the Beacon Second Reader with LD a couple of years ago. DD has been reading them aloud in the past few weeks. When I downloaded them a couple of years ago, I printed it all out. I got a Nook for my birthday, though, and decided to download the book right onto the Nook. Neat!! Anyway, these stories are at the perfect (if not a bit easy) level...
Language Arts - Grammar Worksheets
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 30, 2011 · Last modified February 24, 2016
The main focus of our language arts is always reading — both independently and aloud together. I really feel there’s no better way to increase your vocabulary, learn about the eloquence of language. We talk about what we read, we memorize poetry and all that. But since we have some standardized testing coming up, we’re doing some more formal language arts review (thus all the worksheets). A quick, straightforward sheet...
I made some addition cards for DD this afternoon. We needed some new, more challenging addition cards to use with our ‘Fast Track’ board game. DD wanted flowers and butterfly cards, so I thought I’d give it a go. She declared that these were “beauuuuu – ti – ful.” Hope someone else can use them. Click here to view and print out the addition cards. If you want to print out...
Elem-Children's Music 1 (6 yr old) / History: Geography Activities / Music
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 26, 2011 · Last modified October 11, 2015
Since my kids are learning a bit about the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas we decided to jump to South America with our world music class. We are enjoying music, geography and games from Mexico and South America. Here’s what we’re covered with our friends the past couple of weeks: *We all sing hello and each child chooses a movement for the rest of the group to follow. *I pull out...
I’ve been trying to pull out a few photos which highlight some of our activities this year (and in general). You’ll notice them in the sidebar to the right. If you’re interested in seeing more you can click on the photo and that will bring up posts from that particular unit.
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 26, 2011 · Last modified May 18, 2015
A year ago this week, we said goodbye to the outback. It was bittersweet for us. We were ready to come to the US and live nearer to our family, but we loved our twelve years over in Central Australia. The kids were all born there. In no particular order — here are some photos from the Outback (animals and other stuff). For many, many more — click on the...
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.
