Heartwood Hotel: A True Home

Recommended for: Level 2 (Ages 7–10), Great for All Ages

Step into a hollow tree deep in Fernwood Forest with Mona, a small mouse washed out of her home by a storm, who knocks on the door of the grandest hotel in the woods and talks her way into a job and a family in Kallie George's Heartwood Hotel: A True Home.

Your family will slow down and sink into a story about finding your place, doing your work well, and the kind of courage that shows up quietly in the face of fear. Through gentle, story-led learning, you will explore autumn leaves, squirrels, nuts and seeds, and mushrooms in a way that feels connected, meaningful, and actually enjoyable to live out at home.

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Topics Explored

• Autumn Leaves: Where the Green Goes
• Squirrels and Their Food Preferences
• The Tree Waiting Inside an Acorn
• Mushrooms and the Web Beneath Them

Nature Study Skills Explored

• The scientific method, from question and prediction through observation and conclusion
• Notebooking, with a completed sample page for every science activity
• Observational drawing from a real specimen
• Labeling parts, life cycles, and recording results

This Month's Adventures

• Dip real fallen leaves in beeswax and string a garland across your home
• Pull the hidden colors out of a green leaf using chromatography, and find out where the green goes
• Set out a squirrel buffet, predict the winner, then tally and graph what the squirrels actually choose
• Design and build a hotel guest room fit for a squirrel out of twigs, bark, moss, and acorn caps
• Lift a mushroom cap after an overnight rest and reveal the spore print underneath
• Close the month with a First Snow Festival, your own book club party
• And more...
  

What's Inside

Every guide includes curated picture book selections tied to the month's four nature topics, a poem of the month, a monthly plan so you can see the full rhythm at a glance, and open-and-go weekly overview pages with suggested reading schedules, supply lists, and activity checklists. A master supply list gathers everything for the month in one place, grouped by week.

Watch and Wonder Each week opens with curated videos and podcasts to explore the topic before anything else, plus a Wonderings to Follow space to capture your child's questions as they surface.

Art Project A hands-on art project each week, inspired by the season and tied to what your family is studying.

Science Activity A guided investigation each week that opens with a Spark Curiosity moment, moves through the scientific method, and lands on a notebooking page. A completed sample page is included for every one, so your child can see what a finished page looks like before they begin.

Recipe A story-inspired recipe to bake or build together, chosen to match the month's themes.

Nature Adventure A reason to head outside each week, enjoy, and learn about the season. 

Nature Journaling A full observe, sketch, label, and narrate rhythm each week, with a Circle Back question that returns your child to the wondering they started with.

Play A game tied to the week's topic.

Lingering After the Last Chapter A gentle way to reflect and look ahead, including:

• A reading journal page
• A reflection page for your child
• A magazine-style quiz to discover what adventure to explore next

Book Club Party A joyful, low-pressure celebration to mark the end of your adventure and create a memory your family will hold onto

A Compassionate Approach to Homeschooling

This guide was created for real families. You might follow every page. You might skip around. You might just read together some days. It all counts. You are allowed to build a homeschool that works for your actual life, not an ideal one.

Digital product — no physical item will be shipped.

Topics explored may change before official launch.