Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 19, 2013 · Last modified May 16, 2016
This is such a fun post to write! This is where I get to reminisce and think about the amazing year we’ve had. It has been a blast… tiring at times (particularly in February when LD had a lot of out-of-town gymnastics meets, I had lots of meetings and was training for a half-marathon). But looking back, we had a fulfilling, successful year. We do a lot of our activities...
According to a new study, America’s universities are failing to adequately train the people who become teachers each year. The study by National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) found that most teacher education programs are lacking. They studied more than 1,100 university education programs. The NCTQ blog said, “Our results show that most [programs] have a long way to go to get teachers classroom ready from day one.” The study points out that...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Math: Preschool Math / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 17, 2013 · Last modified January 28, 2018
Each year at the end of the year, I put together a post that looks back at our school year. ED has had a great year. She was 4 this year and turned 5 this spring. We homeschool together… so ED participates with my older two kids in all their activities. Some of these units (like the 5 senses) were mainly for ED, others were mainly for the older kids, but...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 13, 2013
Today I listened to an interview with Peter Gray, a psychologist who examines the importance of play over at the (free online) unschooling summit. Despite yesterday’s post, Summer Learning, where I talked about the academic focus of our homeschool, the truth is my children play a lot especially compared to their public school friends. After listening to his interview and cruising some of the articles he posted on his website, Freedom...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 12, 2013
One question homeschoolers often ask each other is, “Will you do school during the summer?” For us, the answer is… some of the time. We take vacations when it suits us even when (or maybe especially when!) public school kids are in school. We also take vacation trips in the summer since some of our the kids’ cousins don’t homeschool and we try to catch up with them once a...
Homeschool Den / Nature / Outdoor: Fossils / Science / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 5, 2013 · Last modified March 26, 2016
A few years ago, I heard about a fossil collecting trip that another homeschooling family had gone on (I came across it on a blog somewhere). It sounded so terrific, I tucked in the back of my mind and kept an eye on the trips offered by Cathy at Fossil and Nature Trips. She organizes fossil collecting trips up and down the east coast. I had my eye on one...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 3, 2013 · Last modified May 16, 2016
I saw this question somewhere on the internet while I was on holiday a week or so ago and it really got me to thinking… what has taken me most by surprise in our homeschooling adventure? I knew “from the start” that we would homeschool. It was on our radar because my sister’s family homeschools their kids and my cousin homeschooled her three kids. It sounded like a good fit...
Holiday: Father's Day / Homeschool Den / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 2, 2013 · Last modified March 26, 2016
How well does your child know Dad? Their cute answers will really make Father’s Day special. I asked the kids these questions when they were 3 and 5… and this year we are going to do it again. I’ll tuck in their answers from four years ago in as well since Hubby hasn’t seen this in years! Here are a few sample questions: 4. How does your Dad make you...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 29, 2013 · Last modified March 26, 2016
As you probably gather from yesterday’s post 10 Reasons Why Time Off is Important, our family was on holiday last week at the beach. There are so many things to do at the Outer Banks (Southern Shores/Kitty Hawk/Nags Head area), I thought I would share some of the things our family has done there. I know it’s a popular family destination. Here are some things your family might enjoy in...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Outdoor Fun / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 28, 2013 · Last modified March 26, 2016
1. It allows you to open your eyes to the beauty around you 2. It puts the focus on love, family and being together 3. It lets you try new things The kids went kayaking for the first time last week. 4. It’s soothing, relaxing and you can switch off. 5. It allows you to experience someone else’s passions Hubby and LD played endless rounds of card games...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool for ED - Fall 2011 (age 3 1/2) / History: Geography Activities / Homeschool Den / Montessori (general info) / Must Read / Science: Rain Forests
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 21, 2013 · Last modified November 2, 2022
World Animal Packet: 100+ page packet focusing on the 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! As I mentioned on Friday, ED has been working on her world geography. She has spent a couple of weeks going over the 7 continents again and working with some Montessori 3-part cards...
Ages 2-6: Flower Unit / Arts and Crafts / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 19, 2013 · Last modified March 26, 2016
Did you know this week, May 2-8, 2016 is National Wildflower Week? You might want to visit the U.S. Forest Service Website: Celebrating Wildflowers and their Special Features Page. They have beautiful posters and resources available (free). Okay, so only some of these flowers below are actually wildflowers. It’s not a great idea to pick wildflowers if you don’t know the regulations of your region, but we found some gorgeous...
This Mother’s Day we celebrate… The Moment We Became Moms: The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. — Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh A new baby is like the beginning of all things-wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities. — Eda J. Le Shan When I stopped seeing my mother with the...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 8, 2013 · Last modified August 21, 2022
We had so much fun with our Digestive System Unit. We did hands on activities to see how the digestive tract works (how nutrients pass through), made “fake”vomit, measured out the length of the digestive system and more! We broke our unit into three parts: Part I: Digestive System — Mouth Part II: Digestive System — Swallowing, How the epiglottis works Part III: Digestive System — The Digestive Tract 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.
