Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
History: American History / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 4, 2017 · Last modified January 5, 2017
Today I have a free packet for you that reviews our US Presidents. At times in our homeschool, we take the opportunity to review the 45 U.S. Presidents. We do that by singing a song that lists them in order. 🙂 We then spend time highlighting 6 or 8 of them and talking about the major events that happened during their presidency. Then we’ll learn a bit more about...
Homeschool Den / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 3, 2017 · Last modified September 21, 2019
“Mom, I don’t know what to write!” Have you ever heard that in your homeschool? Today I have five ways you can help kids when they are feeling stuck with their writing. At the end of this post, you can download our 35+ page writing resource packet. It is currently FREE to download! Writing Tips: Writing Resource Packet We’ve been using a writing workshop for a couple of years now. ...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 28, 2016 · Last modified February 9, 2020
In this German unit, the kids learned how to talk about daily routines, activities, hobbies and chores. We covered topics such as: Was machst du den ganzen Tag? (Daily routines, activities, chores) das Haus Wortschatz (items around the house) Was machst du in deiner Freizeit? (Hobbies) And, there are a couple pages about conjugating verbs in the present tense. Daily Routine: We started this unit with vocabulary relating to one’s...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 21, 2016 · Last modified December 28, 2016
Ready to have some meaningful conversations about the ups & downs of homeschool life? Join our free Homeschool Den Chat Facebook Group – called Homeschool Den Chat, a community of inspiring, creative, dedicated homeschooling parents! This is a closed FB group to share what’s working (and what’s not) in your homeschool. Come join us as we talk about the ups and downs of homeschool life. Share what’s working in your...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 16, 2016 · Last modified December 24, 2017
Congratulations! After a busy semester, we are all ready for a well-deserved break! The kids are excited for the holidays and we educators need time to regroup, relax and re-energize too! Here are some tips for getting the most from your holiday break! 1. If you have time before the holidays are upon us, try to wrap up your schooling completely. Even if you are in the middle of a...
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...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Freebies / Holiday: Christmas Activities / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 6, 2016 · Last modified December 13, 2018
Today’s holiday freebie is for those of you whose kids are just starting to read. It is 30-pages and has six sets of words that kids can work on: 2-letter sight words Bob Book Words (from Bob Books Set 1, affiliate link) CVC-Words -at, -it, -ot, -ut CVC Words -ad, -id, -od, -ud CVC Words -ag, -ig, -og, -ug CVC Words -an, -in, -on, -un Each set has a matching...
Holiday: Christmas Activities / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 2, 2016 · Last modified December 3, 2016
Sometimes it can be hard to think of fun, engaging gifts for your kids (and for all those “extra” gifts you have to buy for friends and family). I thought I would highlight some of the games, crafts, and books that my kids have been enjoying lately! First on the list has to be Escape! My kids LOVE this fast-paced, exciting board and dice game!! My three kids (ages 8,...
This brought our homeschooling to a standstill today! (A thoughtful, touching gift from some friends of ours!!) This was so cute, I just had to share! It reminds me of the time I took DD out to breakfast… and when I went up to pay, we found out that someone had already paid for our bill. Sometimes people try to make someone’s day simply because they can!! We all have...
History: American History / History: Slavery and the Civil War / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 27, 2016 · Last modified September 22, 2023
This fall we did a major unit on slavery and the Civil War. Our 100+ page packet includes notebook pages, maps, charts, review cards and some of the resources we used for this unit. It includes extensive teacher notes. Our unit actually consisted of three parts: Slavery, Territorial Growth, and the Civil War. This is the first time we’ve covered these topics in depth (up until now, I dragged my...
Freebies / Holiday: Christmas Activities / Homeschool Den / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 25, 2016 · Last modified January 1, 2021
Friday Freebies is Back! It’s fitting to start up this series again when everyone is searching for a deal on Black Friday! Today, we have a set of free Christmas math addition and subtraction practice worksheets for you! These sheets are for kids still working on their basic addition and subtraction facts. Click on the link or picture below to download this free math Christmas worksheet printables: Free Christmas Addition-Subtraction...
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....
Freebies / Holiday: Thanksgiving / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 20, 2016
I’m so thankful for so many things… my family, our friends, and you, my dear Reader! This is the time of the year that we also encourage our kids to be grateful for the things in their lives. I wanted to share this thankful stationery that I made for the kids last year. I came across this really pretty fall clipart and the kids (and I!!) fell in love with...
Holiday: Christmas Activities / Holiday: Thanksgiving / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 17, 2016 · Last modified November 11, 2016
Keeping on top of things During the Holidays! Homeschooling in the next 6 or 7 weeks promises to be very hectic. Not only are we balancing daily school work, but there are other pressures on our time… holiday parties, shopping, decorating, communicating with far-away friends and family. Rather than getting swept away by holiday stress, be proactive and make sure you know what challenges are coming up! Holiday Preparations: Cards:...
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.
