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 / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 1, 2018 · Last modified July 18, 2020
This post is both for first-time homeschoolers who are wondering where to start and for veterans who are looking for some inspiring teaching strategies to get the kids completely engaged day-to-day! Since I’ve gotten a number emails/messages asking where to begin I thought I would write a post to say You CAN Do This!! This post may also have some useful resources/activity ideas for those of you who have been...
Free Curriculum Resource Guides / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 29, 2018 · Last modified March 8, 2024
How do I get started homeschooling my middle schooler? How do I know what to teach my 6th, 7th or 8th grader? This free 30+ page Homeschool Curriculum Resource Guide provides some insight into how our family is navigating the middle school years. There are some basic checklists in each of the subjects from language arts and math to science, history and foreign languages. This guide includes some of the...
Freebies / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 4, 2017
Back in the summer, I shared a large 100-page homeschool planner & discovery journal which is free to download. My daughter really likes having a checklist to work from and this weekend I added a holiday background to those pages. She’s excited about them. Just thought I would share them here for you as well. I also added in the calendar pages for the next 4 months (because I print...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 7, 2017 · Last modified August 4, 2018
The Back to Homeschool Challenge: Daily missions to make sure we’re on track for an awesome year! Can you believe that the summer is winding down?! I hope you’ve had a restful, adventurous summer (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere!). Are you getting ready for the new Homeschool Year? The Back to Homeschool Challenge gives us 10 days of small daily tasks to make sure we’re ready for...
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) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 3, 2017 · Last modified May 6, 2023
I am excited to share our new Homeschool Planner and Discovery Journal! This unique homeschool planning packet is currently FREE to download! It is nearly 100 pages! Not only does this packet include daily and weekly planning pages, checklists and record keeping pages, but it also includes various homeschool journaling pages… think gratitude journal meets homeschool goal setting! What is unique about this planner? We all want to be the...
History and World Cultures Units / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / 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 June 11, 2017
Last week, I managed to get our Science Year in Review post done. I had hoped to get the history post done too, but life got away from me! It’s ready for my this week, though! So, here’s our HISTORY year in review! There are quite a number of freebies in addition to the more in-depth packets I made this year. 🙂 This year my kids were in Grades 8,...
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) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 16, 2017 · Last modified September 23, 2022
Homeschool Vision Planner (This 50+ page pdf is FREE to download!) For many of us the school year is coming to a close and we’re thinking about next year. We’re tossing around ideas and trying to determine just what subjects and units we’ll be covering next fall. I thought I would share the process I go through… and also will share the planning pages that I’ve been using the past...
All About Homeschooling! / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Homeschooling in the News / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 13, 2017
This time of year, many people are looking into homeschooling for the first time. It can feel momentous to make the decision to homeschool. I thought I would share some stats so you know that you are not alone! This post shares some graphs and statistics about some of these topics: How many homeschoolers are there in the U.S.? How do the numbers of homeschoolers compare to the numbers of...
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / 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 March 17, 2017 · Last modified August 10, 2023
How to Create Your Own Homeschool Curriculum: Grade 4-5 Today I want to share this free 50+ page Resource Guide for Creating Your Own Homeschool Curriculum. It has been created to help answer some basic questions: What subjects should I teach my 4th or 5th grader? Where do I start? How do I know what to teach my kids? We are eclectic homeschoolers, which means that we use a wide...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Science / Science Experiments / Science Units / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 13, 2016 · Last modified January 8, 2017
When I think about all we’ve done this past year in 2016 in science, I’m really pretty amazed! It’s been a fun, full year! This post has links to dozens of our science experiments, science worksheets and printables, and hands-on activities. You’ll find direct links to the posts in the table below. Last year as we moved into the new year (in January to May 2016), we were focused on...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 21, 2016 · Last modified August 10, 2023
How to Create Your Own Homeschool Curriculum: Gr. 2-3 One of the things I hear a lot about our blog is that there is so much to take in, it can be overwhelming. That is especially true if you are a new homeschooler, just starting out. I’ve dragged my feet about creating a resource like this is because so much of what we covered is not “grade” or “age” specific....
Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Freebies / hands-on science / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Kindergarten / Kindergarten Math / Math--Addition / Montessori (general info) / Must Read / Science / Science Experiments / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 6, 2016 · Last modified August 10, 2023
How to Create Your Own Homeschool Curriculum: K, Gr. 1 This FREE 50-page Homeschool Resource has been created to help answer some basic questions: What subjects should I teach my Kindergartner/1st Grader? Where do I start? How do I know what to teach my kids? Every child is different, but I wanted to offer a starting point. Hopefully you’ll find some ideas and printables that will work with your kids!...
Homeschool Den / How to Start Homeschooling / Kindergarten / Science / Science Experiments / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 4, 2016 · Last modified September 29, 2016
A reader sent me an email asking about homeschool science for her daughter who is in kindergarten this year. She said she was feeling overwhelmed about science and wondered where/how to start. She said she hadn’t done any science yet and wondered if the States of Matter unit was a good place to start. I wrote her back and shared the free printable resource/checklist I made last year about some...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 3, 2016
Over the weekend I wrote a post about what I might do if I were starting all over again with toddlers and preschoolers in-tow (Homeschooling Multiple Ages). In today’s post, I wanted to share what our routine looks like these days. I have two kids in middle school (ie. grades 6 and 8) and one in grade 3. Our homeschool is considerably more structured than it used to be. When...
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.
