Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 11, 2016 · Last modified March 5, 2023
ED is working on the /er/ sound. She really enjoys the spelling word sort activities and enjoys playing these board games, so I made a new spelling activity for her with a desert scene! These cover words spelled with ur such as burn, turn, nurse, church words spelled with ir such as girl, bird, shirt, dirt, circle words spelled with er such as summer, mother, desert words spelled with or...
Homeschool Den / Kindergarten Math / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 9, 2016 · Last modified March 1, 2018
My daughter really loves having cute, fun math worksheets to work through. This is a packet I made for her at the beginning of the year (she is in 2nd grade this year). She has finished it up and it was about time to share it on the blog! This packet is well over 50 pages! The Pet Pack has about 35 pages of addition and subtraction worksheets. The first...
Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / How to Start Homeschooling / Science / Science Experiments / Science: Ocean Unit / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 8, 2016
Last week we did some pretty fun science experiments for our ocean unit. We always get so pumped up doing hands-on activities & the salinity experiment was especially impressive. I thought I’d talk a little bit what a big impact these kinds of experiments add to our day… the kids get excited and engaged they ask a lot of good questions the activities and projects are memorable so they often...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 6, 2016 · Last modified March 7, 2016
Sometimes we take the opportunity to focus on current events. Today, March 6, 2016, former First Lady Nancy Reagan died. So, tomorrow (Monday), we are going to spend some time talking about Ronald Reagan’s presidency and the former First Lady Nancy Reagan. As many of you probably know, starting on Presidents’ Day a couple of weeks ago, we started reviewing the U.S. presidents again. The kids have been singing the U.S.A....
Kindergarten / Montessori (general info) / Science / Science Experiments
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 4, 2016 · Last modified May 30, 2017
As many of you may know, I have been working hard to get some of the images in our older posts working again. (It’s a complicated story, but it has to do with our moving our blog from Parents.com where we were for several years, to our new location here.) Anyway, I’ve been fixing old posts and realized I should share some of these posts for our new readers! So...
Language Arts - Grammar Spelling Reading Writing Categories / Language Arts: Spelling
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 3, 2016 · Last modified September 22, 2023
DD is a natural speller but both LD and ED have really benefited by the logical layout of the All About Spelling lessons. (affiliate link). I do my very best to stay consistent working through those lessons. It helps if we can work on spelling at least three times a week. During the spring semester, we also spend more time/attention on grammar, but we try to keep going with spelling...
Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 2, 2016 · Last modified October 25, 2018
Most every year around mid-semester, I wrestle with some of the same problems. Maybe you’ve noticed this too: Being tired Feeling overwhelmed Letting things slide Having too many commitments Feeling like the kids aren’t “doing” enough Feeling doubt Feeling really critical or cynical, irritable or impatient Feeling frustrated or anxious I find myself reaching for education and teaching books, hoping to find the perfect motivational nuggets to get me through...
Homeschool Den / Science: Ocean Unit / Science: Water Unit / Science: Weather Unit / Science: Whale Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 29, 2016
Last week we spent time learning about the water cycle, divides and watersheds and underground water. We have just started a big unit on they hydrosphere (ie. oceans), so it’s important the kids understand the water cycle because of the profound impact it has on our world’s oceans and vice-versa. We used many of the same materials we used a few years ago. You’ll find links to these beautiful posters...
Homeschool Den / Language Arts - Grammar Spelling Reading Writing Categories
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 25, 2016 · Last modified November 27, 2020
A week or so ago, we started reviewing irregular verbs and the plurals of nouns again. I realized the kids could use a bit more practice, so I pulled out some of the old grammar worksheets I made several years ago and had them work on those as well. I thought I would put all three of these together here in the same post for anyone who might need to...
History: Rensaissance and Reformation / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 24, 2016 · Last modified December 29, 2018
We have continued on with our unit on the Renaissance. Our readings covered Maximilian and Charles V, and talked about the influential people of that period: the Fugger Family, who were the wealthiest banking family outside of Italy, and Albrecht Dürer the famous German artist. We are using The Story of the Renaissance (affiliate link) as our spine for this unit. We read sections aloud together and add in art...
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...
History: Geography Activities / Homeschool Den / Science: Ocean Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 22, 2016 · Last modified September 15, 2020
Last week we started on our ocean unit — the hydrosphere. We were pretty busy with other things, so we spent most of the week simply going over some of the major oceans, seas and straits. I made a pin map and the kids worked on about a dozen places. You’ll find the free printable below. For those of you who may be interested in making your own pin...
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 / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Outdoor Fun
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 19, 2016 · Last modified February 18, 2016
A lot of the time I write posts focused just on one topic… like the Renaissance sheets I just shared on Wednesday or the comma worksheet I’m going to share next week. But other times, I just want to chit-chat about what’s going on… and that’s what this post is going to be! Homeschooling has been going pretty well lately. We are trying to keep going at a steady pace...
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.
