Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 1, 2014 · Last modified September 5, 2022
When we delve into a new unit, I search high and low for a wide variety of books. Not only do I want non-fiction books, but I also want books that bring the topic alive… and stories and novels are a wonderful way to do that. This is a long (and probably incomplete!) list of the books we’ve used and are using in our China unit. We’ve read a number...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 31, 2014 · Last modified March 16, 2023
We started a big unit on China a number weeks ago. This is the first in a whole number of posts & printables from our unit on China. One of the first things we did was to cover some of basic facts about China: where it is located, its population, capital, president, currency and things like that. This is the page I made for the kids. I also included the...
History: American History / Language Arts: Writing / WWII
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 21, 2014 · Last modified February 2, 2021
I received several emails and a message from people interested in the WWII Portfolio Project I made for LD. So, here it is! My son is doing some research work on WWII. Except for reading some novels last year (like Number the Stars), we have not covered this topic at all… He has been doing quite a bit of reading and has watched a video before jumping into the project ideas...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / History: Geography Activities / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Montessori (general info)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 19, 2014 · Last modified October 16, 2022
World Animal Packet: This 70+ page packet helps kids learn about animals on every continent! It includes Montessori 3-Part Cards, Activity Sheets for every continent, printable continent cards, a world animal game, world animal pin map activity, and more! The last two weeks I shared some of ED’s animal-related activities. She looked closely at the vertebrate-invertebrate groups and we talked a lot about the characteristics of the animals of the...
History: Civil Rights Movement / Homeschool Den / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 4, 2014 · Last modified March 3, 2016
This is a packet on the main events of the Civil Rights period that I made for the kids to add to their history notebook. I wanted them to have a visual way to remember many of the events we’ve read and studied about over the last four or five weeks. We sat together and went over the key events as we read many of the books in this unit....
History: Civil Rights Movement / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 3, 2014 · Last modified March 3, 2016
Every year since 1976, every U.S. president has designated February as black history month. We have just about finished up our unit on the Civil Rights Movement and I have a couple more posts to share with you. Last week, we learned about the challenges young blacks faced when they attended all-white schools in the late 1950s and early 1960s. We first learned about the Little Rock Nine. Then, the...
History: Civil Rights Movement
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 16, 2014 · Last modified March 3, 2016
This is a packet I made for the kids to explore some of the deep, underlying issues of the Civil Rights Movement. Here are some of the topics we are exploring: What are rights? What’s the difference between a right and a privilege? What does it mean to be treated fairly? What groups do you belong to? Have you ever judged anyone by what they look like (by their clothes?...
Freebies / History: Civil Rights Movement / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 13, 2014 · Last modified March 3, 2016
The kids and I spent quite a bit of time on Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We read a number of books together and also watched two movies that helped bring these events alive. I made a few notebook pages for their history notebooks that you are welcome to download if you find them useful. They are free.: Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Free Worksheets BOOKS:...
Freebies / History: Civics, Government and Economics / History: Civil Rights Movement / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 10, 2014 · Last modified March 3, 2016
Yesterday I shared the Civil Rights books we’ll be using in our Civil Rights Movement unit. Before we go into a lot of depth about the events of the 1950s and 1960s, I wanted to make sure the kids really understood some of the history leading up to this period. I created a photo timeline of events to help my kids review (and/or understand) the events leading to the Civil...
History: Civil Rights Movement / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 9, 2014 · Last modified September 28, 2020
This semester we are doing a unit on the Civil Rights Movement. I came up with a long list of books that we can read with this unit. Most of them I found at our local library. I thought I would share the list I compiled in case someone else might find it useful: Civil Rights Movement Books you may want to read with your students: Elementary (these are...
History: India Unit / Homeschool Den / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 20, 2013 · Last modified March 12, 2016
This week we finished up our studies of India with a close look at Gandhi, his life and contributions. We read a number of children’s books and biographies and watched highlights from the well-known movie, Gandhi. There are a few parts of the movie that (in my opinion) are too rough for younger kids, but some of the scenes (the Indian country-side, the marches) were amazing! The movie is SO...
History: India Unit / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Math General Posts / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 12, 2013 · Last modified March 12, 2016
Tis the season to be flexible! Some days we get quite a bit done, other days… not so much. I try to keep myself calm about that. Yesterday, for example, all our friends had a snow day. Often time we do school anyway, but the appeal of sledding and playing outside with friends won over! Today, we were back to the normal homeschool schedule. Here are some of the things...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 6, 2013 · Last modified April 27, 2016
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom Last night I read about the passing of Nelson Mandela,...
Freebies / History: India Unit / History: World Religions / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 18, 2013 · Last modified February 17, 2016
This semester we are studying India. Back in September I shared the huge India Unit packet I made. We’ve gone through most of that packet and have done a lot of the readings I mentioned in that post. Then while I was recovering from my surgery the kids and my mother-in-law read lots and lots of children’s books about the various Hindu gods and goddesses (books are listed in this...
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.
