Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 7, 2016 · Last modified March 19, 2023
We started our chemistry unit this year with a study of the States of Matter – Solids, Liquids and Gases. Today, I’m going to share four hands-on activities we did about air. We started the unit with a discussion of the states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. The kids had to brainstorm as many examples as they could in two minutes. Then they shared their examples. I then asked...
Happy Labor Day! This is a post you definitely don’t want to miss. It has links to dozens of freebies in science, history, language arts, math, PreK, German and Spanish!! Today is a holiday that honors the hard work of men and women across America. This blog has been my labor of love for more than seven years! It started as a way for me to document our homeschool journey...
History: Africa Unit / History: American History / History: Slavery and the Civil War
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 29, 2016 · Last modified August 28, 2016
We’re so excited to officially be back in school! Last week, I shared some of our science plans. For history we will be doing a big unit on Slavery and the Civil War. As we ease back into our routine, we’re going to spend some time learning about history West Africa just prior to the onset of the slave trade. We’re going to talk about the salt and gold trade...
Homeschool Den / Science / Science Experiments / Science Units
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 22, 2016 · Last modified June 26, 2020
The last couple of weeks, we had our Back to School Challenge, but I didn’t write specifically about our upcoming plans. In today’s post, I’m going to talk about our plans for science this year. The kids are going into grades 3, 6, and 8. When planning out for the new year, I think back over the units we’ve covered the past few years. I try to make sure that...
Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 19, 2016 · Last modified July 10, 2017
We’ve done it — we’ve talked about our systems, routine, and chores. We’ve double checked that we have the books and supplies we need. We’re primed and excited for the new school year. Now… just one thing left… to be ready to jump right in!! Have you decided how you want to mark the first day of school? Will you take back to school photos? Write a time capsule letter...
Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 18, 2016 · Last modified July 10, 2017
Back to Homeschool Challenge: Day 9 Family Homeschool Meeting There are so many positive things about holding a family meeting. They give everyone – including the kids- a sense of belonging and ownership of the rules. We want the kids to know that they have a real and important voice in the family. Family meetings give everyone a platform for making your family a better team. And one reason to...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Random Thoughts
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 17, 2016 · Last modified July 10, 2017
Back to Homeschool Challenge: Day 8 As we begin the year, don’t let any of these ruin your homeschool day… Comparison – Every homeschool is unique. Don’t worry about what your friends are doing. Don’t feel like your homeschool has to incorporate every project on Pinterest. Don’t compare someone’s best day to your worst day. Remember that when someone tells you about their homeschool day or writes about homeschooling online...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning / 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 August 16, 2016 · Last modified July 10, 2017
Right now you’re healthy, you’re excited, you’re energized… Motivation is at an all-time HIGH. But let’s be realistic… there are times when we don’t feel up for homeschooling. It might be because of a seasonal cold. It might be because we have a series of errands/appointments that fill up the morning. It might be because we’re downright *tired*!! So what do you do when you feel it coming on? When...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 15, 2016 · Last modified July 10, 2017
Welcome to Day 6 of the Back to Homeschool Challenge! Last week our challenge was to work on some of the nuts and bolts of our homeschools: Our first challenge was just to spend a few minutes reflecting on the journey we’re on and being grateful for the opportunities we have as homeschoolers Then we spent time Organizing our Homeschool Work Space And we made sure we’re *actually* ready to...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 12, 2016 · Last modified July 10, 2017
One of the huge challenges for me is not necessarily the homeschooling itself… It’s keeping on top of everything. Today, your challenge is to think about how your family will handle chores this year. In this post, I wanted to share a variety of chore systems that other families have tried. Maybe one will work especially well for yours this year. Each year our kids are just a little older....
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 11, 2016 · Last modified July 30, 2019
I love this time of year… fresh pencils, new binders, and colorful fun writing journals. And apparently I’ve given my joy and excitement of office supplies to my kids. Today your challenge is two-fold… check to see what you need, but being careful not to OVERSHOP!!! This is a voice of experience saying this!! 🙂 One year we wound up with so many glue sticks we had to donate a...
Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / How to Start Homeschooling
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published August 8, 2016 · Last modified July 9, 2017
Up until the last minute, I knew exactly what our first challenge would be… You know it, I know it… We should discuss organization, right? It’s at the core of keeping things running smoothly during the year. But then much to my surprise, an idea popped into my head. I realized there was something more important to tap into first… and this post kind of wrote itself! Cartoon graphic purchased...
Free Calendar Planning Pages / Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Organizing and Cleaning
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published July 25, 2016 · Last modified July 15, 2016
In last week’s post, I mentioned an online-planner that many homeschool families use. I still need to be able to see everything at a glance and to be able to check things over the course of the day, so I like having everything gathered in a 3-ring notebook. Last year I got a notebook that has a built in file dividers where I can place invitations and keep important papers...
There are so many amazing activities that kids can do that don’t involve electronics. This is a HUGE list of fun activities that will get your kids ENGAGED! Here are some examples: Cabin Camping, Camp Fire Songs, Candle Making, Candy Making, Candy Tour, Canning, Car Wash, Card Games, Card Making, Cardboard Boat Race, Carnival, Caroling, Cave Tour, Cemetery Walk, Ceramics Mug Pottery Wheel, Challenge Course, Chemistry Day, Chess, China, Chili...
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.
