Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Must Read / Technology
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 16, 2012
Technology in Education and in your Homeschool (Part 2) Last week I talked about how you can incorporate video, audio and educational apps into your homeschool. This week’s post talks about how your child/student can use tools to create their own projects that use photos, diagrams, audio, visual components including interactive animations, 3D animations and/or video content. Your child can use a wide range of tools to create stunning videos,...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 11, 2012
20 Things to Keep Yourself, Your Household, and Your Homeschool Fresh and Inspired We are a homeschooling family, so the kids are always with me. Always. I find I need to remember to take care of myself in this equation. With Mother’s Day just a couple days away this seemed like the perfect time to think about how we Moms can celebrate and take care of ourselves. This is a...
Holiday: Earth Day / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Must Read / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 23, 2012
We learned some really amazing space missions are in development! Last week we watched the Space Shuttle Discovery in awe as it flew close by our house towards its final destination. The Space Shuttle Program has truly come to an end. We went to see the space shuttle is in its new home at the Udvar-Hazy National Air and Space Museum, but we were surprised to learn just how much...
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 17, 2011
I came across a number of free Thanksgiving activity packs and thought I’d share those for anyone who might be interested in the next week or so: Thanksgiving Activity Pack from Itsy Bitsy Learners Thanksgiving Fun Book from The Simple Homeschool If you like this pack, you might want to pop over to The Simple Homeschool and register for their newsletter. From Dec. 1-12 they will be giving away...
Freebies / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Math General Posts / Math--Addition / Math--Multiplication
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 15, 2011
Late at night my brain often whirls with ideas. Last spring I put the skip counting patterns to familiar tunes since LD is working on his basic multiplication facts. For example, I put the 7s to the tune of ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.’ LD learned that so well I went back and created another tune for the 6s and the 8s which he’ll be working on again this fall....
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 3, 2011
I’ve had some good luck getting my curriculum used this year from http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com. I bought three books from homeschool classified and got prompt replies from the sellers. The books arrived quickly in the mail. The prices made me excited as I saved quite a bit buying them second-hand. Just wanted to mention that venue if anyone else was looking around for curriculum for this fall.
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 12, 2011
Last year my sister’s three homeschooled kids each wrote a novel. I hope to get a chance to read their work when we visit them. Her kids are 8, 11 and 13. Amazing! It’s not yet our season for writing things like that, but someone in one of the groups I visit shared this link for kids who plan to write their first novel. Here is the elementary “Young Novelist”...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 12, 2011
I developed this blog in large part for me. It helps me keep a record of what we’ve done and it also helps me stay organized and keep track of websites where I’ve gotten activity ideas and printables. You should see my drafts!! Whenever I’m cruising around trying to find information and activities for new units I create a “draft” and link lots of the websites I come across. I...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Holiday: St. Patrick's Day / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 12, 2011 · Last modified January 27, 2016
There are such wonderful resources out there for those of you planning to do some St. Patrick’s Day activities with your kids. Here are some of the free St. Patrick’s Day units and printables I’ve come across this past week: Irish-themed letters (lower and upper case), numbers (0-20) and phonics cards; Powerpoint Explanation about St. Patrick and how he brought Christianity to Ireland Musings of Me — St. Patrick’s Day Teacher’s...
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 6, 2011
I’ve come across a number of beautiful Valentine’s Day math activities that I plan to use this week with DD. They are so pretty and well done, I just had to share in case someone else might want to incorporate them into their week! I wish I had the time (and health!…I still have a vicious cough from the pneumonia.) to be making such beautiful things, but at the moment...
Ages 2-6: Penguin Unit / Ages 2-6: Theme Time (age 2-4) / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 30, 2011
DD enjoyed this penguin computer game. The object was to move your penguin around to keep the egg warm by avoiding the other penguins and obstacles or predators that might get in your way. Here’s the link:http://www.nationalgeographic.com/marchofthepenguins/game/ Also at the national geographic website was a crittercam game. She had to spot the various animals of Antarctica — the Emperor Penguin, krill, skua and other things. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/03/crittercam/antarctica/ Finally, she played a...
Ages 2-6: Penguin Unit / Ages 2-6: Theme Time (age 2-4) / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 30, 2011
If you are working on Arctic Animals, this first grade teacher made a very cute science journal which incorporates polar bears, penguins, walruses, the arctic fox and snowy owl: Oceans of First Grade Fun.She also has a set of penguin “What Comes Between” math cards. The child has to place the number that comes in between 31 __ 33 or 36 __ 38. What’s nice for us is that they...
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 December 26, 2010
I usually take opportunity over our December break to begin planning for the next semester. This last semester we learned a lot during our studies of Ancient Rome. We enjoyed watching bits of Spartacus and Ben Hur. LD and DD were entranced by the boat battles and amazing chariot race of Ben Hur! Now, as you obviously can tell by the clip art I’m planning for our next unit on...
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 30, 2010 · Last modified January 8, 2018
Someone shared this link to some handouts from a Montessori conference (American Montessori Society). I have really enjoyed the one related to brain development. I *really* enjoyed the book Magic Trees of the Mind, which talks about the development of the brain and how various connections (dendrites) are formed and then “pruned” as a child ages. The handouts I was reading reinforced some of the things I had learned in...
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.
