Apple Blossom programs engage the head, heart, and hands to cultivate inner joy, reverence and wonder for the earth, and a deeper connection to our local community and the world.

If you are looking for a unique combination of home school and school you have found us! Offering 3 - 4 days/week in the beautiful and rustic setting with lake access at Rail River Folk School, and 2 - 3 Farm and Forest Fridays offsite per month, at Apple Blossom we offer academic skills while fully immersing children in the great outdoors!

We are a fully outdoors program with yurts as classrooms. We teach Survival and Life Skills such as *whittling *campfire and shelter building *archery *tracking *bird watching, *cooking over the fire *composting *harvesting *preservation *planting *winter shelter building *ice skating *snowshoeing *skiing *seasonal crafts

We can differentiate for a variety of learning styles, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Much of our approach to learning is “hands on” and we offer SEL (social emotional learning). However, due to our outdoor location on a lake with only small yurts as classrooms, and no special needs staff onsite, we cannot accommodate challenging unsafe behaviors. Children must be able to be safe and gentle with their bodies, use appropriate language for school, and listen to safety directions, staying within boundaries etc.

At Apple Blossom Village we nurture the child’s full human potential. By building on a child’s natural curiosity, sense of wonder and love of learning, the whole child is educated with a head (thinking), heart (feeling), and hands (willing or doing) approach. Preschool and Kindergarten in the Apfelhaus offer a play and movement based approach to learning, fostering social/emotional skills and offering time for children to explore their environment. A developmentally appropriate academic curriculum unfolds in the Baumhaus over the first through third grade years, integrating the cultural, scientific and social life of humanity.

Screentime Policy at Apple Blossom

Apple Blossom Village is a Screens Free Zone an exception may be made to listen to an app to learn bird calls, frog calls, plant identification, or Ojibwe language pronunciation from Native speakers). We believe young children learn best through movement, play, and hands on skills.

From Lifeways North America:

Decades of research have shown us what children need to develop, grow and thrive. Below, we list some of these essential brain-building activities, and discuss how screens interfere.

1. Social engagement with caregivers and peers. Children need serve-and-return interactions to build social-emotional and language skills. Screen time is unidirectional, isolating, and interrupts engagement with others.

2. Communication and problem solving practice. These skills are integral to expression, relationships and learning. Early and excessive screen time has been shown to impair these significant developmental skills.

3. 3-dimensional and multi-sensory learning. Children learn best “in real life”- from attentive caregivers and teachers, as well as from physical objects that they can hold and manipulate. Two-dimensional screen time negatively affects visual-motor integration, bilateral coordination and sensory processing. Playing with 3-dimensional objects and toys can mitigate these negative effects.

4. Free and imaginative play. Free play promotes a child’s creativity, imagination, and self-sufficiency- plus it benefits physical and mental health. It is especially important for young children. Screens supply very few of these essential benefits.

Outdoor Clothing at Apple Blossom

We are outside in all weather and for this reason, we must dress appropriately for northern Minnesota weather.

Check out The Outdoor School Shop/Apple Blossom for great information on how to dress for the weather at an outdoor school! To receive a 15% discount on everything in our shop use CODE at checkout: APPLE

Food at Apple Blossom

We eat what we grow and we learn about planting, weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, preservation, and cooking as part of our curriculum. We provide a healthy and hearty and mostly organic snack each morning for the whole school around 10:30 am each day. We have a policy of “Litter Free” or “Zero Waste” lunches. Parents are encouraged to send lunches that have little or no packaging that needs to be thrown away. Wrappers that are sent to school are sent back home in your child’s lunch box (Boomerang Lunch). For tips and ideas on litter free lunch, check out these websites: https://meaganrosewilson.com/2017/10/school-lunchbox-ideas/

https://www.heatherfegan.ca/blog/2019/11/19/leave-the-litter-out-of-lunch

Diversity and Inclusivity at Apple Blossom

We place high value on diversity and inclusiveness, indigenous values of sustainability and care for all living beings is woven into our days. Situated between Red Lake, White Earth, and Leech Lake Reservations, we believe Ojibwe language and culture are central to our work. It is our intent that each child will feel deeply connected to their own culture and traditions, and that all children will gain an understanding of and respect for Native American Culture that is an inherent part of our land and history. Our curriculum is nature based and follows the seasons. We are grateful to the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) for sharing their garden space with us for learning opportunities.

Our Learning Model encompasses all aspects of Wellness:

Social Wellness

We model and practice problem solving throughout the year, guiding children to become compassionate listeners and speakers. Children practice social skills through imaginative play, collaborative learning and reflection times.

Emotional Wellness

In a caring and supportive environment, children feel safe to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves. Activities focused on mindfulness and quiet reflection times improve resiliency and confidence, allowing children to better manage emotions. The Rhythm of the day naturally includes quieter times (in breaths) and times for robust play and movement (out breaths), creating a balanced daily experience.

Physical Wellness

Children build strength, coordination, balance and stamina when they are allowed extensive free movement. Children will build, create, climb, hike and explore. Extended outdoor time creates healthier bodies and stronger immune systems. Movement Arts are offered to introduce children to games and movement that create strong core muscles, balance and agility in a non-competitive way. Healthy eating is modeled through “Soup Day” in the kindergarten and cooking activities in the grades. We provide a daily snack, organic when possible, and incorporating our own harvest. Lunch is brought from home with guidelines for healthy eating. Gluten free and Dairy free foods are incorporated into our snack menu. Children also learn about qualities of herbs, and some foraging skills are taught as they grow with us.

Sleep is also an important factor in a child’s health and wellbeing! Here is a chart with some recommendations:

Environmental Wellness

Through immersion in nature where we experience seasonal changes no matter the weather, students begin to develop their own ecological identity. This understanding of where they live, how they are connected to nature and their purpose as a human being supports their environmental wellness. It also promotes active citizenship in our community.

Cognitive Wellness

By working on academic skills at their own pace with more teacher support and in a natural environment, children will build confidence, attention, and increased comprehension. The curriculum is language and story rich, and subjects are studied in blocks and then allowed to rest. The engaging content captures children’s attention in a developmentally appropriate way which allows children to sink deeper into their learning, rather than rushing through content areas. In addition, learning in a small, multi-age classroom allows children to choose their academic pace without stigma. Children can take on leadership roles and challenge themselves intellectually.

Wellness of the Spirit

Through storytelling, arts, yoga and reflection, the child’s heart or spirit is engaged in learning as well as the head. Developmentally appropriate discussions occur after our stories, as we explore different cultures and beliefs in an inclusive and non-judgmental way. Universal values, morals, and human rights are explored in age appropriate ways as we work together on inclusiveness in our own classroom community, expanding that to the larger community as the children grow.