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 August 23, 2017 · Last modified March 3, 2021
This is just a real quick post to let you all know that I have updated and added to the Earth Science Packet. It’s now well over 150 pages! The link to purchase this Earth Science Unit is down below or in Our Store. Don’t forget to check out the Earth Science BUNDLE options as well! My girls will be doing a bit on Earth Science again this year. I...
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: 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...
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...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool High School / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published June 2, 2017
Like so many of you, I have been busy planning for next year. I think I have things mapped out enough to write a post and share our (tentative) plans! 🙂 My oldest, LD, will be in 9th Grade in the fall. SCIENCE: The first big decision for us (for me and LD) was to look at science in the coming years. We want to follow a more traditional model...
Homeschool Den / 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 May 16, 2017 · Last modified September 23, 2022
Homeschool Vision Planner (This 50+ page pdf is FREE to download!) For many of us the school year is coming to a close and we’re thinking about next year. We’re tossing around ideas and trying to determine just what subjects and units we’ll be covering next fall. I thought I would share the process I go through… and also will share the planning pages that I’ve been using the past...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 23, 2017 · Last modified August 24, 2020
Today, I have a few astronomy worksheets to share with you. I made these for my older two (who are in grades 6 and 8). Here are some of the astronomy topics we talked about: What is an AU (astronomical unit)? the layers of the Sun the Sun’s atmosphere solar flares, sunspots, flages planetary orbits, Kepler’s Laws asteroids, comets Last week, I shared a free packet about the planets of...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Freebies / Homeschool Den / Kindergarten / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published February 26, 2017 · Last modified April 23, 2021
Today, I’m going to share some of the hands-on activities and the free rock cycle worksheets that go along with our unit. For the past week or so, we have been talking about the three types of rocks and the rock cycle. (It’s free to download down below.) What is great about these activities is that they will work with a huge age range… from PreK up through elementary! As...
Science Experiments / Science: Chemistry Unit / Science: Rocks and Minerals
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published January 23, 2017 · Last modified October 13, 2017
The past few weeks, my youngest has been doing a unit on “Winter.” Today, I want to share one of the fun, hands-on projects she did – Growing Sugar Crystals (ie. rock candy!!). I’ve seen this mentioned before, but this was the first time we actually did it! This is a project that can be done with things you have around the house. That’s always a plus, right?!! 🙂 What...
Homeschool Den / 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 / Science / Science Experiments / Science Units / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 13, 2016 · Last modified January 8, 2017
When I think about all we’ve done this past year in 2016 in science, I’m really pretty amazed! It’s been a fun, full year! This post has links to dozens of our science experiments, science worksheets and printables, and hands-on activities. You’ll find direct links to the posts in the table below. Last year as we moved into the new year (in January to May 2016), we were focused on...
The last project in our electricity and circuits unit was making an Art Bot. Today, I wanted to explain how we made this cute motorized guy. It’s a fun STEM project even if you are not doing a larger unit about electricity and circuits! Prior to doing this activity, we had learned about series and parallel circuits and learned some of the basic electrical symbols. We practiced how to draw...
Holiday: Christmas Activities / Homeschool Den
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published December 2, 2016 · Last modified December 3, 2016
Sometimes it can be hard to think of fun, engaging gifts for your kids (and for all those “extra” gifts you have to buy for friends and family). I thought I would highlight some of the games, crafts, and books that my kids have been enjoying lately! First on the list has to be Escape! My kids LOVE this fast-paced, exciting board and dice game!! My three kids (ages 8,...
Homeschool Den / Homeschool: Planning and Preparation / Homeschool: Useful Resources (websites books etc) / How to Start Homeschooling / Starting to Homeschool
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published November 21, 2016 · Last modified August 10, 2023
How to Create Your Own Homeschool Curriculum: Gr. 2-3 One of the things I hear a lot about our blog is that there is so much to take in, it can be overwhelming. That is especially true if you are a new homeschooler, just starting out. I’ve dragged my feet about creating a resource like this is because so much of what we covered is not “grade” or “age” specific....
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.
