Courses · Gardening & Animals · Kindergarten to Grade 8
Gardening & Animals
Nine years of growing things and caring for animals, one for each grade. Each year follows the seasons: harvest and wildlife in the fall, soil and pets in early winter, seeds indoors, farm animals and bees in early spring, planting in spring, and caring for a growing garden. Each time the same subjects return a little deeper, so students learn to be faithful stewards of what God has made.
Choose a grade
Ages 5–6
Kindergarten
Seeds and sprouts, worms and dirt, chickens, cows and honeybees, and animals near home.
Ages 6–7
Grade 1
Starting seeds indoors, compost, choosing a pet, the chicken life cycle, sheep, and the queen bee.
Ages 7–8
Grade 2
Sand, silt and clay, worm bins, guinea pigs and parakeets, goats and horses, and from flower to honey.
Ages 8–9
Grade 3
Soil tests, geckos and rabbits, a backyard flock, inside the beehive, repotting and garden pests.
Ages 9–10
Grade 4
Frost dates and growing zones, soil pH, the vet, pollination, cattle, and diagnosing a sick plant.
Ages 10–11
Grade 5
Composting science, the aquarium nitrogen cycle, raising chicks, horse care, a hive inspection and IPM.
Ages 11–12
Grade 6
The nitrogen cycle, Mendel’s peas, wildlife ecology, dairy science, honey harvest and plant pathology.
Ages 12–13
Grade 7
Microclimates and greenhouses, plant hormones, deer management, poultry science, swarms and orchards.
Ages 13–14
Grade 8
Farm history and economics, soil capstone, animal health and careers, apiculture and a harvest-fair capstone.
How every lesson works
Each course is one school year: 8 units of 4 lessons, one lesson a week in two short sessions. Every lesson has the same parts, so students and parents always know what comes next.
- Warm-up. A few minutes of observing, sorting or remembering.
- Watch. A hand-picked YouTube video from a gardener, farmer, vet, beekeeper or extension service, with a note on when to watch it.
- Learn. Key terms and short, clear teaching a parent can read aloud.
- Picture study. A public-domain painting or natural-history illustration to look at closely and talk about.
- Hands-on project. Planting, tending, building, testing or caring, with a materials list, safety notes, steps and a checklist.
- Nature journal. Drawings, measurements and logs that train careful observation.
Each unit ends with a short review and a portfolio project with a simple rubric. In the last week, hold a family harvest fair.
No yard or animals are needed. Every lesson works with a few pots on a windowsill, and the animal lessons offer a farm visit, a neighbor’s pet or careful study instead.
Every course can also be downloaded as one printable PDF, with the video links printed in each lesson.
Videos open on YouTube. Each one was checked for the lesson and for the content, but YouTube shows its own recommendations and ads around them, so parents should stay nearby.