Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Today’s experiments (8 & 9) both investigated surfacetension. In this milk experiment, we watched as dish washingsoap broke the surface tension of the milk and sent dyeracing away. So, here’s what we did:1) Pour a small pitcher of milk onto a plate2) Place 1 drop of each color — red, yellow, blue and green3) Dip a Q-tip into dish washing soap 4) Place the Q-tip gently in the center of...
Now you can continue altering the surface tension, dippingthe dish-soap covered Q-tip in various spots in the milk.
We had some really interesting movement when weadded a drop of blue and red food coloring and then leta couple drops of soap drip into the milk. The kids really, really enjoyed this experiment! I highlyrecommend this one. I’ve seen this experiment in a number of places, but there’sa good explanation of the science behind it all at:http://www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/pdf/lesson_1_amazing_science.pdfon pages 6-7.
Grandpa sent us a wonderful science video clipabout water drops. So, I set up this experiment togo along with the two minute video (which wewatched afterward). The experiment wasquite simple, but the kids were at it for at leasttwenty minutes! 1) Pour a pitcher of water into a dish2) Place some colored water into a small dish3) Using an eye dropper, pick up some coloredwater.4) Drop ONE drop into the...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 5, 2010 · Last modified October 27, 2015
This week I’ve been putting a letter sorting activity in DD’s workbox. I chose a small toy/item, wrote that word on a piece of paper and had the first letter of that word (in lower and upper case letters) that she had to sort into rows. She’s also been finding the letters to make words and has been quite motivated to do that. Other related posts you might be interested...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 5, 2010
I wasn’t quite sure what to call this post, buthere’s an activity we did today. Part I: I put letters on some cards and hid them aroundthe yard. DD (4) had to find the animal worker lettercards. LD (6) had to find the stars.
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 5, 2010
Part II: DD had to sort her hard hat animals into different colors.Then she had to put the letters in the right order tomake the words house, flower and teddy bear. LD had to take his letters, make as many words as hecould and write them in his notebook (men, cent, pin etc). He’s been unhappy about his journal writing, but hereally enjoyed this activity.
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 5, 2010
Here are some quick online games LD has played to review his math facts the past few days (some are pretty easy, but some such as ghostblasters, you can work on any sum up to 50). Addition Games http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/ghostblasters2/gb2nores.html http://www.mathmastery.com/cyberchallenge/http://www.coolmath4kids.com/addition/number-monster-addition-basics.htmhttp://www.coolmath4kids.com/addition/math-lines-10.htmlSpace Shuttle Addition:http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/shuttleLaunch/shuttleLaunch.htmMore Easy Addition GamesColor a butterfly with addition:http://www.kid-adventures.com/Game3_1.htmlBirthday Party Present Math:http://www.kid-adventures.com/Game4.htmlPop the addition balloons:http://www.kid-adventures.com/Game5.html
Sorting/tonging for EDKanoodle (a brain teaser) for LD – a big hit, thanks Auntie CStamping for DD (upper/lower case letters)
LD also built his robotic bird. He loved it (thanks forthis too Auntie C!)
Here’s our craft table all set up with a science station. Theseexperiments have to do mostly with magnetic attraction,although we have one on particle attraction as well. I also have the magnetic maze (a gift from a formerkindergarten teacher/friend) and a craft on the milky waygalaxy.
This is a simple lesson that shows how particles areattracted to each other. Just have them drop paper intostill water (don’t blow or move the water around) andwatch the bits of paper move toward one another. We used bits of paper from my comb binder, but anysmall pieces should work. I’ve heard that you could alsosubstitute talcum powder or baby powder, but we did nottry this.
LD and DD just played around with a magnetic set we’vehad for years. They also tried an experiment to see if heat or cold affectedthe magnet’s force. (education.com)
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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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.
