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Homeschool Den / Science / Science Experiments
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 30, 2017 · Last modified July 25, 2021
This week, we talked about how tensions build deep beneath the Earth and then suddenly release creating earthquake vibrations that move out away from the focus. Below I’ll share several of the hands-on activities we did as we talked about this build-up of tension (and release of energy). In the second part of our science club meeting we continued talking about taxonomy and focused on the digestive systems of flatworms...
I’ve been falling down on the job. Our meals and snacks have been downright boring… and often not as healthy as they could be. So, the past 10 days or so, I’ve been challenging myself to offer the kids a variety of (reasonably) healthy snacks. That’s what this post is all about! Our meals started out well at the beginning of the semester, but lately our meals – and especially...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 18, 2017
This was our fourth week of science club. Time’s flying by! As we waited for everyone to arrive, the kids filled in the tectonic plate map. We talked about the experiment we had done a couple weeks earlier that helped explain how the tectonic plates can move. This week, we were going to do a couple more activities to show how heat/cooling can create currents and movement. (These pages have...
Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den / Science / Science Experiments
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 13, 2017
In the third week of our science club, we spent quite a bit of time talking about Taxonomy and Scientific Classification. We had touched on it the previous week, but this time we went into much more detail. We had already talked about Linnaeus and his role in developing the classification system. We also talked about how much it has changed – especially in just the last 15 or 20...
This past summer, I spent quite a bit of time trying to decide what LD would do for 9th grade writing. Last year we used Cover Story and the kids continued doing a lot of independent writing. They also had to do some writing for history, but we hadn’t delved much into formal essay writing. It was time for LD to start writing more polished pieces, but I wasn’t quite...
Freebies / Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Earth Science Unit / Science: Natural Disasters Unit and Activities / Science: Water Unit / Science: Weather Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 5, 2017 · Last modified November 19, 2020
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing some of the Earth Science activities we’ve been doing in our science club. Today, I thought I would share some other resources that are buried here on the blog for those of you who want to continue on with Earth Science this year. a packet about the Earth’s atmosphere (Find out more about this 50+ page packet here.) Weather Packet Weather...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 11, 2017
We’ve been in school for a couple of weeks now and creating good routines has been on my mind a lot. I think we all want to harness the energy and excitement we feel these first few weeks of school and keep that going all throughout the year, right?! Coming up with a homeschool routine that works well for your family can be really challenging. Some homeschoolers have a fairly...
This week we are starting back into homeschooling. We’ll be starting slowly with a number of projects and activiteis. I thought I’d share some of things our family is starting out with. 🙂 My kids have loved the math puzzles and challenges. Our favorite book has been Mathematical Circle Diaries, Year 1: Complete Curriculum for Grades 5 to 7 (affiliate link). These were a bit hard for my youngest daughter...
Free Calendar Planning Pages / Freebies / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 18, 2017 · Last modified August 19, 2017
Hi everyone! As the school year begins again for many of us, we’re all trying to keep ourselves organized. I use google (online) calendar for many of our activities, but I still keep a traditional paper calendar as well in my homeschool planner. I wanted to share the updated printable calendar with you all. This is FREE to download and print out, just click to link or picture below! This...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 7, 2017 · Last modified August 4, 2018
The Back to Homeschool Challenge: Daily missions to make sure we’re on track for an awesome year! Can you believe that the summer is winding down?! I hope you’ve had a restful, adventurous summer (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere!). Are you getting ready for the new Homeschool Year? The Back to Homeschool Challenge gives us 10 days of small daily tasks to make sure we’re ready for...
Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 3, 2017 · Last modified May 6, 2023
I am excited to share our new Homeschool Planner and Discovery Journal! This unique homeschool planning packet is currently FREE to download! It is nearly 100 pages! Not only does this packet include daily and weekly planning pages, checklists and record keeping pages, but it also includes various homeschool journaling pages… think gratitude journal meets homeschool goal setting! What is unique about this planner? We all want to be the...
Today I want to share a free summer Astronomy Packet with you. This one highlights the amazing events coming in August 2017… the complete Solar Eclipse that will occur across a huge portion of the United States later this summer as well as other more common summer astronomy activities such as watching the Perseid Meteor Showers, looking for constellations, observing the phases of the moon and more! It highlights well...
History and World Cultures Units / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 11, 2017
Last week, I managed to get our Science Year in Review post done. I had hoped to get the history post done too, but life got away from me! It’s ready for my this week, though! So, here’s our HISTORY year in review! There are quite a number of freebies in addition to the more in-depth packets I made this year. 🙂 This year my kids were in Grades 8,...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / Science / Science Experiments / Science Units
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 4, 2017 · Last modified June 3, 2017
I love looking back at the year and everything we managed to accomplish! Sometimes in the short-run it can feel like we’re not getting much homeschooling done, but when I step back to look at the bigger picture, I’m amazed at what we managed to cover. This year my kids were in Grades 8, 6, and 3. We do our science activities together. Sometimes I focus a little more on...
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.
