Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Nature / Outdoor Fun / Recipes / Science: Garden Science
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 5, 2013
It was dreadfully hot, but after dropping LD off at his day camp the girls and I headed off to a u-pick farm. In just an hour and a half we picked 4 huge containers of blueberries!! I love that this farm doesn’t spray their berries. What did we do with 20 pounds of blueberries? Well, we made 9 jars (3 batches) of blueberry jam… It’s easy to do you just...
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...
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 / Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Lapbooks / Must Read / Nature / Science
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 10, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
It has been a while since we’ve done any lapbooks. I saw this free robin lapbook over at Dynamic 2 Moms and asked the girls if they would be interested in doing one on robins. ED and DD both said, “Yes!” So, I printed everything out and the girls set to work. If you’ve never heard of a lapbook, it is a cute way to display small folded mini-books, flaps, pop-up...
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...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 7, 2013 · Last modified August 21, 2022
Digestive Tract: So just how long is our digestive tract? We set out to find out with this activity. We measured out different colors of yarns for each part of the digestive system. The page you see (above right) is in the Digestive System Pack (See details below.) I made for the kids. After we had all the bits measured and tied together, we went out to the driveway to see just how...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 6, 2013 · Last modified August 21, 2022
We did a lot of hands-on activities over the course of two or three weeks. I’m going to put them all into one post. These hands-on activities are all activities we did as we went through our Digestive Unit. Be sure to check out our 150+ page Digestive System Packet too! Esophagus Activities: Does food fall down to the stomach? We proved that muscles helped move the food bolus down to...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Preschool for ED - Fall 2011 (age 3 1/2) / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science Experiments
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 3, 2013 · Last modified March 3, 2016
Amazing, Fun Science To Wow the Little Ones! One of the wonderful things I love about homeschooling is all the hands-on activities you can do with kids. In the preschool years, I scoured the Internet and various science experiment books to find things that would intrigue and excite the kids… and that they could have a hand in doing. Most of the things we did were done using household ingredients....
Freebies / Health / Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 10, 2013 · Last modified January 21, 2020
No, no one choked at our house recently, but we did go into a lot of detail about swallowing and choking a few days ago. I wanted to find a way for the kids to really understand how choking happens — and then to know what to do about it. Now, don’t take this as expert advice… if you really want to know details about doing abdominal thrusts (Heimlich Maneuver)...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit / Science: The 5 Senses
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 8, 2013 · Last modified August 21, 2022
To start off our unit on the digestive system, I had the kids look at a diagram and write down all the parts of the digestive system. That was the first section of the pack I made (more about that below). Then we took a closer look at the mouth. We did these activities over the course of several days: I asked the kids what the mouth’s role is in...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 4, 2013 · Last modified February 21, 2022
After we did an overview of all of the different body systems, we spent a couple of days reviewing the skeletal system. The skeleton provides support, structure and protection for the body and its organs… and because it had been nearly a year since we went over the names of the bones it was time for a review. The kids put together our skeleton puzzle and then identified all the...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 3, 2013 · Last modified February 21, 2022
Today I’m sharing our Human Body Systems Worksheets with you. This set provides an overview of the Body’s major systems. It also talks about human cells, tissues and organs. Once a year, we usually learn about one of the human body systems. One year, we went into great detail one year about the Skeletal System. Another year, we studied the digestive system. And recently, we learned about the circulatory system. We...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 25, 2013 · Last modified July 19, 2018
We read the second chapter in the geology book we have from Real Science 4 Kids. It talked about the different tools that geologists use — including topographic maps. I wasn’t sure the kids thoroughly understood how the maps worked and looked around for some resources to help them understand. I found a couple of wonderful activities! We actually started with this topographic map page from the USGS: I thought...
Homeschool Den / Math General Posts / Must Read / Science
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 24, 2013 · Last modified March 10, 2016
Last week we spent the week doing a brief unit on measurement — the imperial units. We didn’t touch on the metric system at all. I wanted the kids to come away knowing the basic facts like 16 tablespoons in a cup and 4 quarts in a gallon. Day 1: I brought out a number of different bottles, cups and measuring spoons and the kids and I went over what...
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.
