Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 11, 2016 · Last modified July 30, 2019
I love this time of year… fresh pencils, new binders, and colorful fun writing journals. And apparently I’ve given my joy and excitement of office supplies to my kids. Today your challenge is two-fold… check to see what you need, but being careful not to OVERSHOP!!! This is a voice of experience saying this!! 🙂 One year we wound up with so many glue sticks we had to donate a...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 10, 2016 · Last modified July 10, 2017
Welcome to Day 3 of the Back to Homeschool Challenge!! Today, let’s tackle the Subject Planning… I don’t know about you, but I really mull things over in the summer. I generally have tentative plans at the end of the year for the new school year, but given some time, I often change course slightly. Do you need to add in a different topic? Last year in history, for example,...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 9, 2016 · Last modified January 22, 2019
We all hear a lot about getting organized and keeping the clutter down. But today I want to talk about becoming organized in a strategic way… a way that helps our homeschool day run smoothly. It’s not really about making the pencils and markers look pretty and organized, though that definitely has its appeal. It’s about making sure our days flow smoothly. That the kids have some sense of what...
Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 8, 2016 · Last modified July 9, 2017
Up until the last minute, I knew exactly what our first challenge would be… You know it, I know it… We should discuss organization, right? It’s at the core of keeping things running smoothly during the year. But then much to my surprise, an idea popped into my head. I realized there was something more important to tap into first… and this post kind of wrote itself! Cartoon graphic purchased...
Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 3, 2016 · Last modified August 2, 2016
Hi Everyone, For those in the northern hemisphere, I hope you’ve been having a restful, relaxing, rejuvenating summer! Time is flying by quickly and maybe you — like me — are wanting to make sure we’re ready for the new school year!! The Back to Homeschool Challenge starts next week… 10 days of small daily tasks to make sure we’re ready for a fabulous new homeschool year!! Join us each...
All About Homeschooling! / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool Mastermind Group / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 1, 2016 · Last modified August 2, 2016
I’ve hinted this summer about a Homeschool Mastermind Group… It’s going to happen!! I’ve been working hard to iron out the details and plan out a really great course. It’ll be a 14-week discussion group that will delve deep into how we can make our homeschool extraordinary! What is a Mastermind Group? It’s a group of experts who come together to get support, inspiration, advice and encouragement from others who...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 28, 2016 · Last modified July 6, 2020
Over on Facebook, a reader said, “trying to figure out how to homeschool my 7th grade daughter any advice would help…” For those who are new on their homeschool journey and/or new to our blog I’ll share some resources with you that will hopefully help you as you embark on your own journey to find curriculum, resources, and to make this educational adventure an amazing one for your family!! I...
Free Calendar Planning Pages / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 25, 2016 · Last modified July 15, 2016
In last week’s post, I mentioned an online-planner that many homeschool families use. I still need to be able to see everything at a glance and to be able to check things over the course of the day, so I like having everything gathered in a 3-ring notebook. Last year I got a notebook that has a built in file dividers where I can place invitations and keep important papers...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Technology
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 18, 2016 · Last modified August 19, 2018
This summer I am spending some time looking at some education apps, tools and websites. I thought I’d talk about a few that I’ve heard other educators mention so that you have a chance to look at them before the school year starts as well. 🙂 These look like they might be a fun way to incorporate a bit of technology in those “checking for understanding” moments. I don’t know...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 11, 2016 · Last modified July 7, 2020
For many of us it is mid-summer. Homeschooling seems far away still, though we know it’s lurking around the corner. We don’t want to be caught completely unprepared, right? Here are some things that we can do now to make the transition easier when we return: 1) Turn in your Notice of Intent (if your state requires one) – Get this done and turned in so you don’t have to...
Highlighting Past Posts / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Science / Science Experiments / Science Units
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 24, 2016 · Last modified May 15, 2016
Today I’m going to talk about the science units we covered in our homeschool this year AND what we didn’t get to because we ran out of time!!! My plans are always a bit more ambitious than what we actually cover, but even so it felt like we accomplished a lot! 🙂 This year the kids were in Grades 2, 5 and 7, but below you’ll also find some resources...
Free Calendar Planning Pages / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 15, 2016 · Last modified May 16, 2016
Hi Everyone, This is going to be a bit of a random post so bear with me! I’m going to talk about 3 separate things in this post. 1) Our free calendar printable and homeschool planning pages 2) A free end of year questionnaire for students and parents and 3) a random chat about our Homeschool Writing Workshop. Free Calendar, Homeschool Planning Pages and Homeschool Supply List: First, as many...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 3, 2016
Someone once asked me, “How do you plan for your school year?” Here are 10 steps you can take to figure out what next year’s homeschool will look like for your family. These are some of the questions I ask myself as I try to determine what we’ll cover and what skills the kids need to develop. Remember, your path as a homeschooling family will be completely different from anyone...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 26, 2016
This week our family is doing Standardized Testing to fulfill the requirements of our state (to show “proof of progress.”) For our family, doing testing is easier than creating a portfolio of work or meeting with a certified teacher. I know that I would spend endless hours pulling together a portfolio… and meeting with a teacher to discuss the kids’ work doesn’t appeal to me again because I know I...
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.
