An Apple A Day Makes a Homeschool Unit Study
With apple trees bursting into bloom all around us, now is a great time to consider putting together a homeschool unit study focusing on apples and apple blossoms. A great way to put a simple unit study together is to choose a topic and assign a different subject to each day of a week–or whatever time frame you’d like to cover–and then plan an easy lesson by exploring your topic’s role in the subject you’re studying that day. Check out this Homeschool Living for an example of a fun apple unit study that incorporates history, science, art, literature, math, and home economics, and let your creative juices start flowing!
Creating Your Own Homeschool Unit Study
You can start with history by exploring the history and legend of John Chapman, commonly known as Johnny Appleseed. Check out Biography.com for a brief overview of his life and legacy, and don’t forget to explore the story as American folklore as well!
Little Bins for Little Hands shares a variety of science experiments with apples as the star player. You probably have the things you need for many of these projects at home already. Try erupting apples, a five senses apple taste test, apple racing gravity experiments, and more!
This apple life cycle hat is a fun combination of science and craft, and little ones will love sporting it and sharing their newfound knowledge with anyone they can! The printables featured here are great for a simplified, colorable version for younger students, but you can also kick it up for older students by researching additional details, having them find or draw their own pictures of various stages, and creating a timeline instead of a hat if they like.
This hanging tree craft uses simple materials and is easy to tailor to your students abilities. They can create an apple tree in full bloom, cut out shapes to add apples ready for harvest, or even divide the tree into quarters and decorate each section according to each of the seasons.
This list of twelve amazing apple books for kids includes a bit of a synopsis and teaching tips for each to help you choose which might work best for your homeschool unit study. Many are inexpensive for online purchase if you wish, or consider checking out your library’s online resources for more ideas.
One of the best–and most fun!– ways to incorporate math and logic skills into a homeschool unit study is to plan for a few hours of fun in the kitchen! Kids love being “in charge” of choosing what to cook, following a recipe, and planning ahead for a meal or snack. This kind of lesson is endlessly customizable depending on the ages and abilities of your students. Check out these fun apple recipes from Mommy Poppins for a range of options including simple, no-cook snacks, sweet breakfast and dessert options, and even an unexpected main course.
