Making Homeschooling Hands-On, Engaging, Meaningful & Memorable! Be inspired by all the possibilities!! Check out our unit studies, packets and printables!
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...
Earth Day is April 22nd! The celebration of Earth Day began over 40 years ago. It is a day to celebrate our planet and think about how we can help our environment. Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency was established not long after that first Earth Day in 1970? The Clean Air Act also passed that same year. Now Earth Day is celebrated in more than 175 countries...
History: Middle Ages / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 11, 2016 · Last modified September 19, 2023
The kids learned so much from our hands-on activities about feudalism. We did a simulation of feudalism that helped the kids understand the roles and responsibilities of the various members of society. And we also studied of some well-known medieval paintings from that period. So first, a bit about our feudalism worksheets. For this unit, we are using Early Times: The Story of the Middle Ages, (affiliate link) by Suzanne...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool Encouragement / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Random Thoughts / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc)
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published October 22, 2015 · Last modified October 25, 2018
Have you noticed that the longer you talk, the more the kids’ attention wanders? People’s brains stay sharply focused only for short periods… I think I’ve read figures of between 10 and 20 minutes for average kids. But of course, the more interested you are in a subjects, the better able you are to sustain attention. The key to education then is transforming students from passive receivers of information to...
We’ve been slowly trying to see many of the famous historical parks here in the U.S. This by no means a comprehensive list, but since not everyone is from the east coast, I thought I’d put together a list of some other well-known historic places we’ve visited and blogged about. These are mostly located in the mid-Atlantic states-NC, VA, PA, NY. We’ve been meaning to get up to New England...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 15, 2015 · Last modified March 1, 2024
Our most popular science packets include Earth Science Unit, a Study of Cells, Biology Unit, Chemistry Unit, Digestive System Unit, States of Matter, Simple Machines, Human Body Systems, Skeletal System Unit, Ocean Unit, Physical and Chemical States of Matter, Electricity and Circuits Unit, Layers of the Atmosphere, Magnets & the Magnetosphere, and more. Our science units are mostly under $15.00 and range in length from 20 to well over 150...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published September 9, 2014 · Last modified April 16, 2015
Would you believe there is a 10,000 acre safari in Ohio? We took the kids there on our vacation and they were absolutely THRILLED!! We went on the open-air safari, not the private one you see in the picture below, but we still got up close and personal with a number of animals! The Wilds is located about an hour west of Columbus and is an affiliate of the Columbus...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 22, 2014 · Last modified April 19, 2016
The celebration of Earth Day began over 40 years ago. It is a day to celebrate our planet and think about how we can help our environment. Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency was established not long after that first Earth Day in 1970? The Clean Air Act also passed that same year. Now Earth Day is celebrated in more than 175 countries by an estimated 500...
Homeschool Den / Mom Stories / Outdoor Fun
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 16, 2013 · Last modified April 10, 2016
Let’s face it, my life, especially when you look at the blog, revolves around the kids and homeschooling. I spend a lot of time preparing for homeschooling; the kids and I spend time working on their schoolwork, projects and activities; I blog about homeschooling; and I’m even (gulp) trying to write a book — not about zombies (though I did meet a woman at LD’s Parkour (sport’s) class who writes...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Interviews with other Homeschoolers
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 25, 2012 · Last modified April 16, 2015
This week we’re going across the ocean to talk with April, an Australian homeschooler and author of the blog, Learning Alongside. Welcome! April, I love the title of your blog. Can you explain why you chose “Learning Alongside” as the name of your blog? From the beginning of our homeschooling journey I have been learning. I never realised how much I didn’t know about my children, our family dynamics and myself. ...
Arts and Crafts / History: Ancient Aztecs, Incas and Mayans / History: Native American Indians Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 16, 2011 · Last modified January 1, 2015
We looked at the brilliant colors of Mayan rugs visiting these sites: here, here, and at the Mayan Culture websites. We talked about the patterns they saw. Then the kids spent a lot of time while listening to our novel coloring their own Mayan rugs. They worked really quite hard over several days: They used oil pastels for this project.
Food in America (concerns) / Recipes / Science / Science: Garden Science
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 23, 2011 · Last modified March 22, 2016
I have been reading a lot of books about gardening and food. Oh my, I’ve learned so much about our food sources… I went on for so long, I pushed my thoughts/rants down to later in this post. Anyway, I told LD that he could have his own plot in the garden and he could choose whatever seeds he wanted to plant. He is SO excited and wanted to start...
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.
