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Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Science / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 1, 2010 · Last modified November 26, 2015
————– Here’s what we did today with our forest biome study: 1) We sang the continent song and the kids placed the continents in the world map (the world pin map is at the top right almost out of the picture). 2) We talked about the fact that different places in the world have different temperatures and different climates (ie. different biomes). We talked about our own climate (a desert)...
My son really enjoys spy gear. Making a periscope (whichhe immediately started calling a “spy scope”) was rightup his alley!! Today’s science experiment was very simple and took lessthan 15 minutes. We took a long tubular box, cut a flap onopposite sides and opposite ends of the box, glued a smallmirror to the flap and taped it the flap on the inside of thebox at a 45 degree angle (make...
I wanted the kids to be able to repeat experiments theywere especially interested in. As we’ve done eachexperiment, I’ve written the steps out on index cardsfor LD to follow. After we’ve done the experiment I’veprinted photos of the experiments on card stock andplaced them on a key ring. LD can flip through the stackand choose experiments to repeat (and I have them onfile and easy to access in the coming...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Science / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 31, 2010
We’re going to be starting our new unit on biomes/animal habitats and will be learning about forests this next week. It just so happens that there are some beautiful 3-part Montessori cards free for a few days at the Montessori Print Shop that will work in nicely with our studies. I can’t post a picture today of these lovely woodland animal cards, but animals include the skunk, bear, deer, rabbit...
Science / Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 28, 2010
The picture above is a rock called Gypsum. When wewere in Coober Pedy (known for its opal mining), we wentnoodling (looking around the piles of dirt brought outfrom the mines) for opal. We didn’t find much opal, butwe did find some beautiful crystal rocks called gypsum.It breaks easily into fine, needle-like strands.
Science / Where We Used to Live (Australia posts)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 28, 2010 · Last modified March 29, 2016
I’ve included a picture with ED’s tiny hand. Now want to see something astounding? Check out this website: http://www.ironammonite.com/2009/12/surviving-cueva-de-los-cristales-giant.html In a cave in Mexico where the temperatures soar to 50 Celsius/122 Fahrenheit, there are gypsum crystals that make a grown man look like ED’s small fingernails! You can also check out the National Geographic website: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/crystal-giants/crystals-photography I found even the story of how they entered the cave (without perishing) and...
This activity would be easy to create by clippingfood items from an advertisement. I got mine on saleat some point. There’s also a free file folder game athttp://filefolderfun.com/FirstGradeHealth.htmlwhere kids can sort items into grains, fruit, vegies,milk and meat. Anyway, here is DD sorting foods into the variousfood groups. PS — When I was talking to my hubby about the“food pyramid” he said, “Oh no, that’s outdated.” HappilyI could say that...
The kids did this quick camouflage activity (from Take itTo Your Seat Science Centers, Grade 1-2). We alsodid an online game trying to find the camouflaged animals.Find the frog, ibex, snakes, fox, insects, turtles and more.The kids played that for a little bit, but we also just enjoyedlooking at images on the computer such as this websiteabout animals that change colors:http://webecoist.com/2009/02/22/color-changing-strange-animals-species/
While ED and DD painted, LD wanted to workon his body — no weight lifting involved! He laydown on the paper and I did a rough outline ofhis body. Then he put together the bone puzzlefrom a book that Grams gave us.
We looked at the organs in the human body in thebook that Grams gave us and I penciled them inlightly on outline pictures of the kids’ bodies (bythis time DD wanted her outline done — and thenED immediately lay down on the paper and wantedhers done too!) I suggested to LD that he colorthe organs in (the book had them colored). Heoutlined them instead. DD and ED spent a lot...
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.
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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.
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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.
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