Autumn Treasures

A year ago at this time I was about to have my 10th child. (Time flies!!)  At about that time, I got an e-mail introducing these new Download N Go unit studies and an offer for a free unit.  The unit was Autumn Treasures.  I remember skimming it and saving it on my computer to "possibly look at and use at some point".   Little did I know, that a year later I would be using Download N Go as my main curriculum for some of the kids... not to mention reviewing units on this blog and loving every minute of it!

I made an error in my planning for this unit.  I thought I had an extra week and planned to use it over a 2 week period. So, we are not currently finished with it. I plan to post Autumn Treasures part 2 some time in the near future. Find it here.

At first, I thought that it was too early to start a unit on autumn.  I mean, it's technically still summer and I was originally thinking about doing this unit in October.  However, now that we are working on it, I think the timing is perfect. We have started observing nature early enough in the season to watch summer turn into fall.

Jenna and Emma in front of our green maple tree.
We'll take pictures like this all season as it
changes.

For those who are not familiar with Download N Go, it is a unit study curriculum for grades K-4.  Each unit is broken up into 5 daily lessons and covers a variety of topics within the main topic.

 In Autumn Treasures the daily topics are:

Day 1: What is Autumn?
Day 2: Science Secrets of Autumn
Day 3: People and Places of Autumn
Day 4: Time for Tips and Treasures of Autumn
Day 5: Goodies and Gadgets of Autumn

Just before starting this unit we were able to go to a local apple orchard that we try to go to every year.  We picked over 40 lbs of apples (it didn't take much time either).  This year we only picked two varieties; Ginger Gold and Gala.  YUM!  Besides just eating plain apples we have had apples with two different kinds of dip, apple cake, apple pie and apple crisp.  We are planning to make applesauce and possibly apple butter among other things.

Connor picking a Gala apple

Ellie

On the way to the car.  Lots of apples!!

apple cake

apple crisp before going into the oven

apple pie made by Rebecca (17)

One of my favorite things about this study has been going on nature walks.  We are fortunate to live in a rural area (in New England) with a woodsy backyard to explore. I am not really an outdoorsy person. I prefer to be inside but I have really enjoyed our nature walks. I hope to continue this practice until it gets too cold.  (I know some people do it all year long but I honestly don't think I'll be venturing out too much when the weather gets frigid. We can watch birds from the windows.)  Each day as we go out to explore I am just so thankful to the Lord for His beautiful creation.  I hope to instill a love of nature in my children but more importantly a love for the God who created it all. 

heading down the trail into the woods

stopping for a picture

Connor and Jenna

a bag of "treasures" from one of our nature walks

Emma and Jenna exploring a decaying tree

Emma

Some tiny orange mushrooms.
We have seen SO many different mushrooms.

With the official beginning of fall we have much to look forward to...foliage, pumpkins, cider, cider donuts and perhaps this year we'll take a trip to Plimoth Plantation.


There are so many things to learn about in Autumn Treasures; seasons, why leaves change, apples, pumpkins, Johnny Appleseed, hibernation, migration and more!  This unit is jam packed!  I have to say it might be my favorite one we've done so far.

our library books

Read part 2.  To see more reviews of Autumn Treasures visit the blog tour.


*I received Autumn Treasures free of charge in exchange for an honest review.