Craft Table — pic 2
As I said, the table was quite long and we permanentlyhad the dulcimers (there’s a kids dulcimer not picturedthat we used this year), composer pics, etc. So, while it’sprobably not valuable it sure is functional for us!!
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As I said, the table was quite long and we permanentlyhad the dulcimers (there’s a kids dulcimer not picturedthat we used this year), composer pics, etc. So, while it’sprobably not valuable it sure is functional for us!!
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 22, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
The kids have been real troopers as we pack up, sort, break down furniture, sell appliances, outdoor play equipment, and everything that moving entails. Not to mention the endless errands around town. We were also stuck at home as ED was sick all night a couple of nights ago. Today, we dedicated the morning to some plain outdoor fun. We packed up the kids’ bikes and had a really fun...
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 22, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
Golden Orb Spider: When we stopped for a water break, we spotted this huge spider. It’s web was at least five feet across. The main portion of its body was as big as the first joint of my big toe (it was probably 4 inches across if you count the legs)! Glad it was off to the side; it’d be horrible to ride our bikes into that web!!
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 13, 2010
Animal Antics: If you’ve read our blog for a while, you know that DD knewall her letter sounds at age 3 and started putting wordstogether just a bit before she was 4. She wasn’t yet readyto read, though, so we did lots of games and she would readone word on a page or one word at at time in games and such. She’s now had the patience and interest to...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 13, 2010 · Last modified August 22, 2015
This is a continuation of the post: What We’re Using to Teach DD (age 4 1/2) to Read where I explained that DD is using Animal Antics (affiliate link) Starfall Books and other readers to learn to read. Primary Phonics by EPS: This fall, DD will also work on the first two sets (20 books) of Primary Phonics Readers by EPS (affiliate link) . All I have are the storybook...
Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 10, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
One of the few things we did out-and-about last week was to go to Jesse Gap with friends. The older kids had a lot of fun climbing up the rocks. There was a “cave” up behind the trees and the boys spent a long time exploring while the younger ones hid plastic Easter eggs in the grass. (Yes, we kept a hawk’s-eye out for snakes!) Meanwhile, on the home front...
It has been raining quite a bit the past few days. The other day, a friend of a friend stopped at the Todd River bed, which is normally dry. He happened to catch the river just as it started to flow! The kids and I drove by around 11am (a half hour after this was shot) and the river was full from bank to bank and quite deep! Amazing!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPhK4TO1tto
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 10, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
We put up a brick of bird seed on the front fence. Last week in addition to the Port Lincoln (Ring-Necked) Parrots we had a number of galahs come in for a feed.
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 10, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 10, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
These flowers grow here in Central Australia. My neighbor has some growing on the verge. I’ve always liked them because they’re quite unique, so thought I’d snap a picture or two and share them here.
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Science / Science Experiments / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 3, 2010
I just learned about a science website called The Lab of Mr. Q. Wow! What a find! This 8th grade science teacher created a science curriculum for the young elementary ages. He offers the Life Science student and parent texts for FREE! His Life Science curriculum includes these units: 1) Basic Needs 2) Biomes 3) Life Cycles 4) Classification 5) Food Webs 6) Senses 7) Body Organs 8) Cells 9)...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Holiday: Halloween
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 2, 2010
It’s probably too late to be of use to anyone else, but I stillthought I’d share these puzzles that I made for my kids(4 and 6). If you look at the left sheet above, you see there are twogrids. After looking at the two puzzles, the kids have toplace all 9 pieces on the blank grid to make ONE puzzle. I also made an answer key (for each of the...
Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 1, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
Our time has been taken up more and more by our move away from central Australia. We are both excited to move on and sad to leave this beautiful area. We’ve been here 12+ years and have amazing friends and memories. It has been overwhelming the number of things we need to do to be ready to pack up and leave, so expect fewer and fewer posts. Just another 6...
Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 1, 2010 · Last modified May 18, 2015
The other day as I pulled away from the house, a huntsman spider crawled up over my shoulder… luckily it was on the OTHER side of the glass, but it really startled me. Let me tell you, when you see that 3 1/2 inch (8 cm) spider out of the corner of your eye, you flinch! This huntsman was hanging out on our garbage can today. Perhaps it’s the same...
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.
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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!).
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.
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!
How the body is organized from cells to tissues... organs to body systems