Field deck. Journal. Parent guide. No prep.
Most homeschool nature curriculum is either a Pinterest rabbit hole of printables or another 45-minute subject your morning doesn't have room for. The Appalachian Backyard Nature School Kit is one small box that fits in your morning basket and lets a real outdoor walk become real school.
For homeschool families in the Appalachian mountains and anyone who wants to teach observation, drawing, and wonder. Faith-neutral. Charlotte Mason-friendly. Made in Bristol, Tennessee.
If "do nature study this week" has been on your homeschool list for three months and never happened, you are not alone. Three reasons it stalls:
Free printables turn into hours of searching, downloading, and laminating before anyone steps outside.
Every tree on the card is from somewhere else. Kids can't find them in your actual backyard.
Full nature curriculums add a whole new block to a morning that's already at capacity.
The kit fits in your morning basket. The walk becomes the lesson. No prep, no laminating, no Pinterest tabs.
Each card has four prompts on the back: Look · Draw · Listen · Wonder. Your kid doesn't need to be a budding naturalist. They just need to slow down for one species per walk.
Trees · Birds · Tracks · Wildflowers · Rocks & Minerals · Creek life. Every species is one your kid can spot on an Appalachian walk: Eastern Hemlock, Pileated Woodpecker, Brook Trout, Black Bear track, Red-Spotted Newt, Mountain Laurel.
Card front — illustrated by hand. Common name and Latin name. No clutter.
Card back — Look, Draw, Listen, Wonder. The same four prompts on every card so kids learn the rhythm.
We're a small kit, not a curriculum, not a $0 printable bundle, not a generic field guide. Here's where each fits.
| Free printables | Nature curriculum | Generic field guide | Hollow & Holler kit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prep time per lesson | 30-45 min | 2 hr+ | 15 min | 0 min |
| Designed for outdoors first | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Region-specific (Appalachian) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reusable for years | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Heirloom-quality build | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Kid-led, no parent script | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $0-15 | $200-400 | $25-40 | $59 |
First batch ships in late June 2026. Reserve now to lock the early-bird price; you're not charged until kits go to print.
Five through twelve is the primary range. The parent guide includes notes for adapting up to early teens (more challenging Wonder prompts, journaling-as-essay) and down to younger siblings (one-prompt-per-walk, drawing as the whole lesson).
No. The kit is faith-neutral. It works as part of any morning basket, any curriculum, any family. The Wonder prompts are open questions, not catechetical ones.
About 60% of the species (most birds, tracks, weather, basic trees, common wildflowers) are accurate across the eastern half of the United States. The other 40% are Appalachian-specific. Regional decks for the Pacific Northwest, Desert Southwest, Great Lakes, and Gulf Coast are coming in 2027.
The journal has four prompts per session. Drawing is one of them. Skip it. Use the Wonder prompt as a five-minute conversation instead. The kit is designed for kids who hate drawing as much as for kids who already keep a sketchbook.
No. It complements one. We've designed it specifically to slot alongside Good and the Beautiful, Memoria Press, Sonlight, BookShark, and Charlotte Mason-style approaches without overlapping their core science work. The parent guide includes a one-page "how to fit this with your existing curriculum" map.
The first batch ships in late June 2026. Reserving locks the early-bird price; your card is not charged until the print run is finalized.
The 3-Pack ships everything three families need to run nature study together. We also send free preview kits to co-op leaders organizing groups of five or more families — no strings, just our way of helping the kit reach the families who'll get the most out of it.
Apply for a preview kit
One downloadable PDF guide for your next family walk, plus one new species illustration in your inbox each week. Unsubscribe whenever — no judgment.
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