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Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 15, 2016 · Last modified January 14, 2016
You know how we often like to start back into homeschooling with some engaging, out-of-the-box activities? Sometimes we’ve done engineering challenges, other times we’ve done some fun critical thinking activities. Last week, I challenged the kids to make their own marble maze. They each took a big piece of cardboard, sticks (or whatever) and a glue-gun and went to work! They had fun trying to complete each other’s maze courses! ...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 14, 2016 · Last modified November 3, 2016
Recently I came across these multiplication game boards I made for LD years ago. Originally I made it for LD to practice his 7s, but then I made another for the 6s. I thought ED would have fun reviewing her 6s and 7s facts when we start back to school. We’ve been playing these daily since the holidays! I’m going to share this game again for those who might be...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Biology Unit / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 13, 2016 · Last modified September 5, 2017
We are studying biology right now. Last week, the kids had to choose one of the biomes, do research about it, and prepare a 3 to 5 minute speech. They did a great job! This week, they are going to do another short research project. This time, I thought I would have the kids do another of the CDC units. Previously (a couple of years ago) they did projects on...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Kindergarten / Kindergarten Math / Math General Posts / Math--Addition / Montessori (general info)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 12, 2016 · Last modified January 5, 2020
Today I’ve got some free Montessori-style addition pages to share with you! There are some pages with no regrouping and some with regrouping (ie. carrying). These are similar to the pages I made for ED a couple of years ago. It really helped her with the columns laid out and in the Montessori colors. I used pages like these for all three of my kids as they moved on to...
History: Middle Ages / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 11, 2016 · Last modified September 19, 2023
The kids learned so much from our hands-on activities about feudalism. We did a simulation of feudalism that helped the kids understand the roles and responsibilities of the various members of society. And we also studied of some well-known medieval paintings from that period. So first, a bit about our feudalism worksheets. For this unit, we are using Early Times: The Story of the Middle Ages, (affiliate link) by Suzanne...
Math--Division / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 8, 2016 · Last modified January 5, 2020
ED is working hard on division. She has now learned almost all of the multiplication tables (except for the 8s). These winter-themed worksheets are mostly for division practice, but there are a few pages of general multiplication worksheets too. There are 9 pages total. These are free to download. 🙂 Hope someone can use these! If you use them we’d love to hear from you. ED always loves when she...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Science / Science Experiments / Science: Biology Unit / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats / Science: Cell Unit / Science: Chemistry Unit / Science: Digestive System / Science: Dinosaurs Unit / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Human Body Unit / Science: Ocean Unit / Science: Vertebrates - Invertebrates / Science: Water Unit / Science: Weather Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 6, 2016 · Last modified December 11, 2016
When I think about all we’ve done this past year in 2015 in science, I’m really pretty amazed! It’s been a fun, full year! This post has links to dozens of our science experiments, printables and hands-on activities. You’ll find direct links to the posts in the table below. We managed to squeeze in various engineering (STEM) type activities here and there. In January of 2015 we were in the...
Language Arts - Grammar Spelling Reading Writing Categories / Language Arts: Books: Children's Literature / Language Arts: Reading / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 4, 2016 · Last modified January 1, 2016
How do you teach literary analysis to kids? Helping students study and analyze literature on a deeper level In our new Writing Workshop Unit this January we are going to go look at books more analytically. Some of our mini-lessons have included story structure (building to a climax, etc); finding topics to write about; looking at the opening of books (hooking the reader); using different techniques such as similes, metaphors,...
Homeschool Den / Language Arts - Grammar Spelling Reading Writing Categories / Language Arts - Grammar Worksheets / Language Arts: Spelling / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 1, 2016 · Last modified September 13, 2016
Language arts is a subject that is always in progress, so it doesn’t make quite as snazzy of a year in review wrap-up, but I thought this might be a good opportunity to share some of our free grammar resources again in a nice, organized table form since those still are so popular. The chart also includes links to our popular Homeschool Writing Workshop series. I’ve also included links to...
History and World Cultures Units / History: American Colonies / History: American History / History: Civics, Government and Economics / History: Middle Ages / History: Native American Indians Unit / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 30, 2015
What a successful year! As the year draws to a close, I love taking a look at what we’ve accomplished not only in school, but in life in general. I’m not one to make “resolutions” per se, but I do enjoy thinking about what’s to come and seeing just how to make that happen! This year was a *huge* one for my blog. January 5, 2015 was my last official...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 24, 2015 · Last modified December 21, 2015
I love our breaks as much as the kids do! It’s a time to relax, re-group, and get refreshed and reinvigorated for another semester! Time-off is as important to our homeschool as going full-tilt with school! It’s time to kick back, read and relax a bit, enjoy the family and the holiday season! Wishing your family a wonderful holiday season! ~Liesl and the Kids
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Nature / Science: Biology Unit / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats / Science: Vertebrates - Invertebrates
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 21, 2015 · Last modified September 11, 2025
Animal Unit We have a 100+ page packet all about animals! The Animal Unit covers various topics such as body coverings (feathers, fur, scales, skin), the different types of animals (vertebrates, invertebrates), animal characteristics, insects vs. spiders, domesticated vs. wild animals, animal tracks, animal homes and shelters, herbivores, carnivores & omnivores, and much more! In our animal unit, we spent quite a bit of time on animal classification. First, we...
Holiday: Christmas Activities / Homeschool Den / Math--Division / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 18, 2015 · Last modified December 8, 2018
Here are a few math review sheets I put into ED’s math workbox this week. (I almost forgot to share it!) So better late than never, right?!! These pages have a little bit of everything–addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. She has just started on double-digit multiplication, but she likes having “fun” math sheets too. Hope someone else can use these! 🙂 ~Liesl Christmas Math Worksheets You might be interested...
Homeschool Den / Language Arts: Books: Children's Literature / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 17, 2015 · Last modified January 5, 2020
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about books here in our homeschool. I thought I would spend some time highlighting the books my 7-year old has read and loved this fall. This past summer I bought a huge selection of chapter books that were reasonably short (roughly 100 pages or less). Last year she read through 35 of the Magic Tree House books. (affiliate link). Just like my son, she...
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.
