Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 23, 2014 · Last modified July 26, 2015
Goodness, that sounds so formal, doesn’t it? Let me say right off the bat that our homeschool is much (much, much) more flexible than a formal public school. In so many ways, our homeschool doesn’t resemble public school much at all… We have just 3 kids; we don’t always start school at the same time or with the same subject; we have the flexibility to dive into one particular subject...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Science / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 22, 2014 · Last modified January 1, 2015
A week or so ago, a reader asked me if I had any other tips about homeschool planning. She had read the posts I had put together on short term and long term goals and planning, but wondered if I had any other thoughts. She wondered how I make sure we keep tabs on the resources and books and planning things out in general. I spent a lot of the...
Math General Posts / Math--Division / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 19, 2014 · Last modified March 8, 2016
Are you looking for some Minecraft math worksheets for multiplication & division practice? You’ll like these Minecraft themed practice sheets I made for the kids!! The kids filled out these pages (along with their other math work) last week. There are 2 pages. These are free to download if anyone else has a Minecraft fan in their household! Multiplication Division Worksheets with a Minecraft Theme This year we’ve shared a number of Minecraft math...
History: American History / History: Civics, Government and Economics
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 17, 2014 · Last modified March 17, 2016
This fall, the kids are learning some of the basics about Civics… What is the Constitution? What are the Bill of Rights? What is an amendment and how many are there? I found a series of flashcards put together by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services that suits our purposes perfectly. They put together a series of 100 questions for those seeking US citizenship. I printed out the flashcard series and we’ve...
Science / Science: Simple Machines Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 16, 2014 · Last modified May 16, 2023
Last year, the kids were 5, 8 and 10. We all did this simple machines unit together. It was perfect for my younger two — quite easy for my oldest, but from here we’re going to go on to more complicated topics… inventions and electricity (see our STEM Electricity and Circuits Packet here) which are more suited to my older two. It works best for our family to do these...
Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 15, 2014 · Last modified May 3, 2015
Are you looking for Minecraft themed addition or subtraction worksheets? My daughter absolutely loves Minecraft so earlier this summer I spent some time doodling on the computer and made a few characters she would enjoy! I thought I’d share these addition pages with you today. As always, they are free to download, just click on the link or picture below: Minecraft Addition Worksheets If you use these, ED would love...
Homeschool: Random Thoughts / How to Start Homeschooling / Must Read / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 12, 2014 · Last modified April 10, 2015
For so many of us who grew up attending public schools and being educated among same-age peers, there are real questions about the socialization of homeschooled kids. We remember sitting in classrooms packed with other children and truly wonder how homeschoolers will fill in that “void” of being with other children so many hours of the day. As a homeschooling family, though, I was quick to realize that socialization is...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 11, 2014 · Last modified August 19, 2018
We’re way overdue for a general post about what we are/will be covering this fall. Some things we cover together and other subjects the kids work on their own, at their own pace. I put the kids “grade level” in the title of the post, but remember that as homeschoolers that doesn’t mean terribly much. We work at whatever level and at whatever pace the kids need it. Sometimes...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 9, 2014 · Last modified April 16, 2015
Would you believe there is a 10,000 acre safari in Ohio? We took the kids there on our vacation and they were absolutely THRILLED!! We went on the open-air safari, not the private one you see in the picture below, but we still got up close and personal with a number of animals! The Wilds is located about an hour west of Columbus and is an affiliate of the Columbus...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 8, 2014 · Last modified September 9, 2023
Last week ED I printed out the daily calendar page I made for her last fall. She filled one out each morning as she needs some review on some of the spellings on the days of the week and we needed to review how to read a thermometer. I printed it out on the back of her daily checklist (You can grab our free homeschool planner with these daily checklists...
History: Native American Indians Unit / Homeschool Den / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 5, 2014 · Last modified January 1, 2015
Many years ago, a friend told me about an amazing outdoor drama called Tecumseh. This is a 2 hour outdoor drama about Tecumseh, a Shawnee Indian who lived at the end of the 1700s and died fighting in the War of 1812. His dream was to unite all the Native American tribes from Ohio all the way south to Georgia and Alabama. For years, he traveled trying to gain the...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 4, 2014 · Last modified July 9, 2017
With all of my health problems last year, we weren’t able to get away much at all. At the last minute, we decided to throw our camping gear in the car and head out for some adventures! We had a wonderful mix of camping, nature, education and fun. We unplugged for the week… and headed off!! Our first destination was West Virginia. You may have heard of John Brown, who...
Freebies / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 3, 2014
One thing I love about homeschooling is that we have the ability to be totally spontaneous! Our family started our new homeschool year a couple of weeks ago, but then Hubby and I decided at the last minute to take a family vacation. So, we simply stacked the (academic) books, packed the car and set out for a week of camping — plus a whole slew of education and just...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 2, 2014 · Last modified June 25, 2015
Just what is a lapbook? Here’s a picture of the Pirate Lapbook my son made when he was a preschooler. As you can see, it is a file folder that is refolded so that the edges meet in the middle. Then, you tape other pages to the bottom or into the middle to add in more material. It is a cute way to display small folded mini-books, flaps, pop-up...
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.
