I recently got it in my head that I want to take the family to hike part of the Appalachian Trail. Well, I really want to do the whole thing. I told them, “it will be like Wild, except a whole family!” What could be better, right?! They’re completely against it so I’m trying to work on a compromise where we just spend Spring Break hiking part of it. Serendipitously, the Schoolhouse Review Crew just offered the boys and I an opportunity to check out the Appalachian Trail Unit Study, available from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

Unit studies are my favorite way to teach/ learn. I like completely submersing in a topic we’re interested in and making that apply to all our necessary subjects. As the boys get older, I have a harder time finding really good ones through random internet searches that really offer the challenges they, especially fourth grade Big Boy, need. This Appalachian Trail unit study by Donna Rees is just what we need. It is eighteen (!) pages full of information and suggestions on how to teach every subject. I really like all of the lesson ideas available on so many subjects. From Donna’s list you have multiple options for use in English, Math, Geography, History, even Physical Education and Home Economics! All of the lessons in this ebook are specific enough that you don’t have to think TOO hard about what you’re teaching, but general enough that you can easily cater them to a huge variety of age groups.

When I make my own unit studies, I spend hours going through every library book and website I can find before I even begin working on it with the boys. I appreciate that the author has taken on that grunt work for me. Not only is this unit study full of information to get you started- there is a full page introduction full of information on what the trail is and how it came to be- it is also sprinkled with links to more websites with more in-depth information on various aspects of the Trail. Also included is a list of books with selections ranging from children’s picture books to adult nonfiction. We were able to find most of the suggested books at our local library, which made this already affordable unit study even better.

There are so many activities and so much information available in this unit study that you can keep the learning going for as long as your kids are interested. We have only had our copy for about a week and have not even done half of what we want. I love that it includes general tips for hiking, including links to fun recipes to eat on your trip, so you’re taking away knowledge not just about this trail, but that you will be able to use in any camping/ hiking situation. You can tell the author has put in hours of work to create this for us. It is worth so much more than the $4.95 that you will pay for it. I absolutely recommend it for your campers of any age.