Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
Homeschool Den / Science: Biology Unit / Science: Taxonomy Scientific Classification
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 7, 2017 · Last modified March 23, 2023
What is taxonomy and why do we need to study it?! Taxonomy is the science of classification. Our biosphere supports more than 7 million known species and probably 4 or 5 million more unknown species! Taxonomists work on organizing the vast quantity of species. They are continually updating the classifications to keep up with new research and new discoveries. What is in the Scientific Classification and Taxonomy Packet? Scientific Classification...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Homeschool Den / Montessori (general info) / Science / Science: Animal Characteristics / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats / World Animals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 30, 2017 · Last modified November 2, 2022
Animals of the 7 Continents (World Animals Unit) When my kids were roughly 3-7 years old or so, we spent time learning about the 7 continents and animals of each continent. At the time, I made some Montessori 3-part cards of the World Animals: It was time to update this file and I added in more than 50 pages. It’s now has well over 70+ pages of activities! How to...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Homeschool Den / Montessori (general info) / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats / Science: Rain Forests
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 14, 2017 · Last modified November 2, 2022
I’m excited to share our new 75+ page Amazon Rainforest Unit! Students will learn about the layers of the rainforest,rainfall, biodiversity, animals and insects of the rainforest, and more! It includes notebook pages, animal and insect identification pages, animal and insect Montessori 3-part cards, layers of the rainforest worksheets and other activities. The Amazon Rainforest is fascinating! It is the largest rainforest in the world and represents over half of...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published May 2, 2017 · Last modified May 9, 2017
30+ Preschool and Kindergarten Resources You Don’t Want to Miss! When my kids were younger, we did a wide range of activities. Along the way, I made a number of Montessori 3-Part cards and other resources for them. I wanted to highlight some of those printables for you today. Below, you’ll find more than 30+ printables. Many of them are free. 🙂 Enjoy! ~Liesl Free Montessori Sorting Activity: Living Nonliving...
Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Science / Science: Biology Unit / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats / Science: Vertebrates - Invertebrates
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 21, 2017 · Last modified November 1, 2022
Today I have a free Spring Packet to share with you, plus some fun spring-themed activities like experiments with eggs and making pony-bead lizards and snakes! We have been reading Trumpet of the Swan (affiliate link) which is a really sweet book about a swan who is mute and wants to learn and better himself (in some pretty surprising ways)!! The book highlights a number of different animals. I made...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Theme Time (age 2-4) / Freebies
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 15, 2017 · Last modified March 1, 2017
Recently, one of our preschool posts called Bugs, Bugs, Bugs has been getting a lot of page views. I thought I would add a couple of fun tracing sheets to that unit. And, I also thought I would highlight some of the free PreK printables we have tucked away on the blog! So, this is quite a packed post if you have 3-5 year olds! The free bug tracing pages...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Freebies / Kindergarten / Science: Biomes; Animal Habitats
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 14, 2016 · Last modified January 5, 2021
Have you read Jan Brett’s wonderful book, The Mitten (affiliate link), to your kids? Mine loved this book and years ago we did a number of activities to go along with that. Below you’ll find a free printable packet about the Animals from The Mitten. 🙂 One page has the eight animals featured in this story and a space for the child write in the name of the animal: mole,...
Freebies / Holiday: Christmas Activities / Homeschool Den / Math--Addition
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 25, 2016 · Last modified January 1, 2021
Friday Freebies is Back! It’s fitting to start up this series again when everyone is searching for a deal on Black Friday! Today, we have a set of free Christmas math addition and subtraction practice worksheets for you! These sheets are for kids still working on their basic addition and subtraction facts. Click on the link or picture below to download this free math Christmas worksheet printables: Free Christmas Addition-Subtraction...
Engineering - STEM Activities / Engineering Challenges / Homeschool Den / Science: Electricity and Circuits Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 14, 2016 · Last modified March 19, 2023
Our study of electricity and circuits was electrifying!! Seriously, we all learned SO much in this unit and did over a dozen hands-on projects! If your kids love STEM projects, you may enjoy our 30-page Electricity and Circuits Packet. My kids are currently 8, 11 and 13 and they couldn’t wait to dive into science each day while we were doing this unit! Some of the topics and terms we...
Critical Thinking Activities / Homeschool Den / Science / Science Experiments / Science: Electricity and Circuits Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 24, 2016 · Last modified March 19, 2023
In this part of our Electricity and Circuits units, we had a lot of fun with Paper Circuits!! If you’ve been a reader for a while, you know how much we *LOVE* hands-on science and engineering! We have been having such a great time with our electricity and circuits unit that I just had to come on briefly to share a snippet of what we’ve been doing. (Normally, I wait...
Homeschool Den / Science: Chemistry Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 17, 2016 · Last modified July 19, 2023
This past week, we finished our second chemistry unit on the Properties of Matter. We explored physical properties (which do not change what the object is) and chemical properties. We did a lot of hands-on activities exploring density and determining the density of various materials. At the beginning of the year, we spent time first exploring the different states of matter. Then, in this unit we dove into more detail...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Our Homeschool (what our day is like, curriculum choices, etc.) / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 3, 2016
Over the weekend I wrote a post about what I might do if I were starting all over again with toddlers and preschoolers in-tow (Homeschooling Multiple Ages). In today’s post, I wanted to share what our routine looks like these days. I have two kids in middle school (ie. grades 6 and 8) and one in grade 3. Our homeschool is considerably more structured than it used to be. When...
Homeschool Den / Science: Chemistry Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 26, 2016 · Last modified March 19, 2023
Sublimation and Deposition Activities – Making Chemistry Fun! This fall we’ve been studying the states of matter and changes of matter. Today I’m going to share some of our activities as we talked about the changes in states of matter from solid to gas–sublimation and from gas to solid–deposition. It was a day of Dry Ice FUN!! 🙂 While most kids know freezing, melting and evaporation sublimation and deposition are...
Homeschool Den / Science Experiments / Science: Chemistry Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 12, 2016 · Last modified March 19, 2023
In this part of our States of Matter unit we talked about some of the properties of liquids. A few days ago, I shared some of activities as we discussed gases. You’ll find that here: States of Matter-Hands-On Activities about Gases. We continued to talk about the structure of matter. Liquids have a definite volume, but no definite shape. Not only did we talk about some of the characteristics of...
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.
