Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Here are some ways the felt board can be used. You canuse it for free play (shapes), dress up play (like the bearin the last picture below, laminated pictures like thefairies you see below (just tape a piece of sandpaper on theback) and patches. I happened to have lots of patchesaround that I never used. They’re pretty and work wellon the felt board. Someone else suggested using felt boardsfor letters...
I saw this craft (I think on the Crafty Crow, butI’ll add the link later) and happened to mention thisto LD yesterday. First things this morning he wanted tomake it. Everyone got into the action.
While we don’t really need it today with highs around 25C/80F it’ll come in handy on Wednesdayif the temperature climbs to 35C/96F as predicted!
We had a two week holiday in Sydney and Canberra. OnSunday (Sept 13) we all went to Luna Park, but the nextweek Daddy had a class in Sydney so the kids and I didthings on our own.
The kids looking out at the Sydney Opera House andSydney Harbor Bridge.
Some of the things we did in Sydney includedLuna Park, the Power House Museum and theSydney Aquarium. Luna Park is a theme park; just look at that frontgate! Here are some of the things the kids and I did onour own while Dad was in a class all week: The Power House Museum is a children’s museum. DD especially liked the area where you built a house(pictured 2nd below). The...
We visited Little Dynamos which says that it’s the largestindoor play place in Australia. It’s located on the airport(train) line just a couple stops from the airport at Georgeand Allen Streets. I was able to get all three kids there onmy own; it’s just a couple blocks from the train. I includeda map for those friends who might want to let the kids burnoff energy after a long airplane trip.
The kids and I enjoyed a day at the Sydney Zoo. What a great view for those mountain goats!
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 26, 2009
We just returned from a wonderful holiday in Sydney and Canberra. We did a lot of really fantastic things and caught up with some friends. I feel rejuvenated and excited for the next term. I’m brimming with ideas!! It has been more than a year since we’ve been away as a family (we live in a very isolated town; 1200km to the nearest city!) I’ll be posting a few pictures...
Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 18, 2009
I found a really good resource for upper elementary aged students. It’s a list of homework ideas for students at a Montessori school. The list has suggestions in a whole range of categories from creative arts and language to science, math and sports. It’s about five pages long. It includes ideas such as knit, embroider, tie knots, learn to weave, learn how to use tools from an adult, start a...
Every now and then people ask each other on homeschoolgroups what kind of music they include in their homeschoolschedule. My kids all did Kindermusik (until the teacher started anew job). Now we do music classes with some friends.Currently we’re doing a class with ED’s little 20mo-old-friend. LD and DD decided they didn’t much like the “baby”class, though I hear DD singing all the songs we do (andshe usually joins us...
Kindergarten Math / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 10, 2009
LD has been working on his addition facts. Here are some of the activities we’ve done in the past few months. We often do two or three different math activities (not necessarily all addition related) and/or our math curriculum, Right Start Math. Right Start Math has some wonderful games; I recommend their math card games set; You can check it out at http://www.activitiesforlearning.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID;=12 if you’re interested. Pictured below is a...
Kindergarten Math / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 10, 2009
Math balance from Right Start Math — my kids love to play with this http://www.activitiesforlearning.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID;=53 LD was SO excited when he saw it out today. “Hey Mom, it checks my answers!” By the way, our dining room table is always covered in stuff… sigh… DD just loves doing math when LD has math time. She literally comes running down the hall if LD and I are going to do another...
Kindergarten Math / Math General Posts / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 10, 2009
Egg carton toss — They threw two pom-poms into the egg carton and added the numbers together. They could use the abacus if they wanted. Math Monster– (ie. Freeze Tag!) Give the child the ANSWER and spread the equations around the back yard. You are the Monster trying to freeze them before they get the correct answer. If you tag them and they think they have the right answer, they...
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.
