Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 20, 2013 · Last modified August 19, 2018
Someone asked what our typical homeschool day looks like. Actually, no day is really ever like another, but I’ll do my best to share the general rhythm of our day… that is, if we’re home all day. Kindergarten Day: ED (now in kindergarten) is still the first one up most days. She and I sit down together to eat at the dining room table and I read her a book...
Have you ever been to a Renaissance Festival? We went to one in Colorado a couple weeks ago and there’s one starting up in Maryland next weekend (details at the bottom of this post). I’ve always heard about Colorado’s Renaissance Festival, but never made it there. It was a lot of fun to go with the family! Lots and lots of people were dressed up in costume and it was...
When we arrived in Colorado, we had a couple of days before we had to be at the family wedding. Looking at the map, we decided to do a quick road trip to Arches National Park in Utah. We set off through the mountains, enjoying the change in landscape from the east coast woods. At one stop, there was a prairie dog town — which the kids just loved!! We...
Some homeschoolers pack everything and travel around the country or around the world for a year or so. We dream of doing that, but have to be content (for now?!!) with shorter trips. We got back late Saturday night from an amazing two-week trip out to the Colorado area. It was such a fabulous trip! We headed out there because Hubby’s cousin was getting married up in the mountains near...
Most of our activities take place in the evening which leaves me scrambling for a meal unless it’s done ahead of time. I’ve been a bit tired of our old standbys and gave this recipe a try. Everyone in the family loved it! It’s definitely a keeper! Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 cup sliced leek (the white and light green parts–washed well) 2 finely chopped garlic cloves 1 cup...
If you’re interested, the Perseid Meteor Shower is at its peak tonight (Sunday, Aug. 11). I’m going to take the kids outside tonight to check them out. They always get so excited seeing the “falling stars”! This meteor shower has one of the highest percentages of bright ones — plus this year it is peaking under a moon-free sky. You should see more than one-per-minute. The best viewing will be...
Ages 2-6: Fire Safety / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 10, 2013
Here are two books that have made the kids laugh a lot, while covering some important safety tips… Things like… Don’t take rides from strangers. Never stand on a swivel chair. In case of fire — Get outside as fast as possible and don’t stop to take along your favorite things. We borrowed a book from the library that was so funny! It’s called Dinosaurs Beware! A Safety Guide by...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Kindergarten
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 9, 2013 · Last modified December 12, 2016
I had to submit our Notice of Intent to Homeschool and even though I don’t have to go into much detail about our curriculum, I use that as my deadline for roughly mapping out the school year. The kids are in Grades 5, 3 and Kindergarten this year. I pulled out some (but not all) of the resources we’ll be using for a quick photo: Here are some of the...
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 7, 2013 · Last modified December 31, 2014
Not too long ago the categories section of my blog was disabled. I’m trying to get that up and running, but in the meantime I wanted to be sure people could cruise through the various topics we’ve done while planning for the fall. I’m sure homeschoolers all around the country are gearing up for the new school year! Update: We have just moved to homeschoolden.com… I have not yet provided the...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 5, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
At some point soon I’ll be sharing some of my plans and the curriculum choices for this next fall. But before I do that, I really wanted to write a post with advice to new homeschoolers. I want to stress how different each and every homeschool family is! So without further ado, here’s some of my thoughts about homeschooling for those who are new to the adventure: *In many states,...
Love The most important ingredient of homeschooling is simply love. Homeschooling is about the relationships, not the curriculum we use. Some days will be wonderful, other days… not as noteworthy, but at the end of the day did we connect wit the kids, snuggle with the kids, help them find their own voice and strengths. I help motivate them and support them. I try to keep in mind that at...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschooling in the News / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 31, 2013 · Last modified January 28, 2018
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been asked by people “What about socialization?” or something to that effect. Depending on the tone of the person asking I’ve responded in different ways. My answer has also changed as the kids have gotten older. These days in answering that question I often start with my own thoughts about socialization… “well, I want the kids to be good listeners, polite, well-rounded,...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschooling in the News / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 29, 2013 · Last modified January 28, 2018
People are often curious why homeschoolers have chosen this route. After all, the vast majority of people choose to send their children to public school. On the other hand, there are now more children being home-schooled than are enrolled in charter and voucher schools combined. I read recently that there are now over 2 million homeschooled children. In 1999, three reasons for homeschooling were the most frequently cited: 49 percent...
I was born in Seattle, Washington and both sides of my family are from there. In fact, many of my mom’s relatives were among the first settlers in the region! One of Hubby’s best friends now lives in Seattle. They planned a hiking-reunion weekend and they spent several days hiking around the beautiful mountains out to the west of Seattle. The scenery was so beautiful, I definitely hope to plan...
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.
