Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Freebies / Must Read / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 19, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
We finished up our close look at the three types of rocks and moved on to minerals. Last summer I bought a couple extra bags to pan for rocks and minerals when we were at an amusement park. I saved it just for this unit and the kids loved it!! It was a bit chilly out, so we had to use a big plastic bin in the bathroom rather than...
Science / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 15, 2013 · Last modified February 7, 2021
We brought the rock portion of our unit to a close with a look at metamorphic rocks. The kids had a tough time deciding which rock sample was marble and which was quartzite. We also did the melted-crayon version to show how metamorphic rocks form under heat and pressure. Okay, so really we just made rainbow crayons, but the kids *said* they understood how the rocks can change because of...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 8, 2013 · Last modified February 7, 2021
Another day we read about sedimentary rocks in our books and filled in a bit of information in the boxes on the sedimentary rock page, Three Types of Rocks Packet. I brought out our rock collection. We had several different types of sedimentary rocks and the kids had to determine whether they were sandstone, limestone or shale by feeling the rock and grains. We also filled in the next parts of...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published March 5, 2013 · Last modified February 7, 2021
This past week, we spent a lot of time delving into the three different types of rocks. The first day we looked closely at some of the different igneous rocks. We started by reading about igneous rocks from a couple of books and filling in the boxes on our chart. (More about that free packet at this post about the Three Types of Rocks.) We then pulled out a rock...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Language Arts: Books: Children's Literature / Language Arts: Reading / Science: Dinosaurs Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 25, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
A couple of week or so ago I highlighted 14 picture books my girls have been enjoying lately. Today I thought I’d share a few of the chapter books we are enjoying. Each day during lunch I read a chapter from Chronicle of Narnia. Last week we finally finished The Horse and His Boy (affiliate link) and loved every minute of it! It seems that everyone knows and talks about The...
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science Experiments / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 24, 2013 · Last modified July 27, 2021
A few days ago I shared the Rocks and Minerals Packet I made for ED who is in preschool. I wanted to spend more time on the three types of rocks–igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The kids were SO excited when they realized this activity was going to include semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, heath crunch bits and flaked coconut. (No we didn’t eat it all,...
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science Experiments / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 24, 2013 · Last modified July 27, 2021
A few days ago I shared the Rocks and Minerals Packet I made for ED (which is also free). I wanted to spend more time on the three types of rocks–igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The kids were SO excited when they realized this activity was going to include semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, heath crunch bits and flaked coconut. (No we didn’t eat it all,...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 14, 2013 · Last modified April 23, 2021
Here’s another freebie from our Rocks and Minerals Unit: Free Printable Montessori 3-Part Cards on Famous Rocks Around the World! If your students are studying Rocks and Minerals they might enjoy this activity about Famous Rocks Around the World! This set includes the Sphinx, Stonehenge, Mt. Rushmore, Uluru, Arches, the Rock of Gibraltar and others. Hope you find these helpful. 🙂 Have a great day! ~Liesl Famous Rocks Around the...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 11, 2013 · Last modified March 1, 2021
Are you studying Rocks and Minerals?! This post has a free packet, great for supplementing your Rocks and Minerals Unit. Find out more below! And be sure to check out the links to some of the fun hands-on activities we did while studying sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. We wrapped our chemistry unit and spent a few weeks on vertebrates and invertebrates. It was time to tackle a new unit...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Nature / Science / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 5, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
While we were on our road trip we had the opportunity to visit an amazing Nature Center in Nashville, TN with my Sis and her (homeschooling) kids. It had everything from taxidermy animals to look at, nature drawers to explore, microscopes, bird watching and identification, creative play with puppets, puzzles, costumes, blocks and more. I wish we had a place like this near us!! There was a full size...
Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science: Ocean Unit / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 2, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
We spent an amazing afternoon at the Aquarium of the Smokies. It was really fabulous. There were all different kinds of displays from the Tropical Rain Forest, penguin display, sting ray bay, underwater sea life, whale skeletons, a coral reef, and much more. I’ll try not to overwhelm you with pictures–just putting together a few collages, but it was such a great day it’s been hard whittling down the pictures!! The...
Health / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Must Read / Outdoor Fun / Science / Science: The 5 Senses
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 29, 2013 · Last modified December 31, 2014
We’ve all heard the experts tell us that time outside has huge benefits for kids. It helps them concentrate and focus in school, boosts learning, helps fight obesity, and is even beneficial for social development. Research has proven that recess is good for kids: “A recent multicenter study of more than 11,000 eight- and nine-year-olds, led by pediatric researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York, showed...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Vertebrates - Invertebrates
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 28, 2013 · Last modified February 23, 2019
One of the wonderful things that has been happening here at the Homeschool Den is the amount of independent work the kids have been doing. DD is always asking to learn more about animals so at the beginning of the semester, I downloaded Erica’s wonderful Expedition Earth: Discovering God’s Animals over at Confessions of a Homeschooler. It is a free animal unit study. Erica has made animal mini-books for close to...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Must Read / Science / Science: Vertebrates - Invertebrates
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 27, 2013 · Last modified July 17, 2020
After our study of earthworms and flatworms, we went back to talking about vertebrates. One day last week, we learned a bit more about domesticated animals. We talked about some pretty fascinating things with DD and LD. Can you guess out of the millions of animal species how many large animals have been successfully domesticated? I’ll tell you in just a minute below! For ED we pulled in a few Montessori...
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.
