Spring Equinox Homeschool Lesson Guide
I have two Spring Equinox Unit Study / Activity Books available- there is a full version you can find in the shop as well as a mini-version available under the FREE RESOURCES tab on this site. In both, you will find a basic template for a themed lesson, and, especially for those who download the freebie- I wrote this post to provide some additional resources and specifics for you, if you are in need!
I love doing our equinox and solstice lessons every year because they’ve become such fun traditional points of the year that help us move through the seasons.
This follows my basic template for a “structured lesson”.
We always start by asking questions. I like using a whiteboard and writing down at least 3-5 questions (usually one from me and one from each of the kiddos) and our guesses/answers. We come back to this later to make sure we discovered the answers and see if we now have new questions! You can also learn more about Spring Equinox in this blog post.
Here are some ideas:
What do you think the word Equinox means?
How do we know when the seasons change from one to another?
What do you think of when you think of spring?
I do the writing and they come up with questions they would like to answer AND questions they have answers to that they want to share. It’s messy but we come back to it through out the lesson and discuss both the questions and the answers.
Next, we examine the subject via a brief overview or synopsis. This is usually done in a 3-5 sentence definition “5 fast facts” style. Just to get us all on the same page. Then I follow this pretty immediately with a very short video on the topic. Here are some videos on spring equinox you could use or you can search around and find one you love! (I always watch them first, and find the shorter and more to the point the better!)
Spring Equinox with Jessie & Squeaks A super cute 4 minute overview for preschool-elementary level kiddos
National Geographic Video A good video for readers, the text is on the screen but there is no narration. We used these when my kids were pre-and early readers and I would just read the text so works for several levels.
Solstice & Equinox by Sixty Symbols This one is better for the older kids, a bit of a deeper dive in to the science!
Next we do a hands on activity- if you’d like some crafting, baking, art project or outdoor adventures you can find them on my Pinterest board HERE.
We come back to our questions at this point and chat about them- did we answer them? Have our thoughts or opinions changed? What is our current perspective?
Of course, we love incorporating themed reading via books/audiobooks. I also cherish this time together and love that my 5th grader still loves being read to. We don’t worry about reading level much at this part of a lesson- even if it’s an early reader book but covers the topic well and has gorgeous art- we’re all over that! I honestly prefer beautiful picture books for this section and if we can’t find them we use Epic or YouTube for a read aloud version. Here are 4 we love for Spring Equinox:
Celebrating Spring Equinox by Waverly Fitzgerald This is a great guide that also touches on the many other holidays & reasons to celebrate Spring!
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak & Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na are both gorgeous, we adore the art in these two!
Busy Spring, Nature Wakes Up is a brand new title from Sean Taylor and Alex Morss
For a more robust reading list check out this post by Boston Mamas!
We generally attach another hands-on or outdoor activity here that corresponds with the book. Again, you can find tons of those on my Spring Pinterest Board!
You can find some journal writing prompts, an acrostic poem prompt and a couple activities in the printable I made as well, if you have not downloaded it yet- visit the Free Resources tab and get one!
Finally, wrap the lesson up with a celebration! This is where we take turns presenting a favorite fact, a writing piece, a craft or something we made with each other and in this case, when it’s a holiday we also celebrate as a family!
This layout can be easily covered in a couple days, or you can stretch it out over a week or two. I’ve found the latter works best for us and we all tend to enjoy and retain more when we do it this way. We also find collaboration to be a really fun part of lessons like this, so even through pandemic times, we’ve used zoom to meet up with others and share our questions, discoveries and creations! Working with a co-op group on a specific project or theme or doing it all the time has been such a great part of our homeschool journey! I highly recommend it!
What are some ways you celebrate Spring Equinox? We would love to try new books, crafts and ideas so please share yours on comments below or tag me on IG (@bethgriffin_co) so we can give your fun stuff a go!
