Educational Games – Pollywog's Place Blog

Coming Soon! Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study

Published on October 7, 2026October 14, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

I’m so excited to announce that this is finally finished! It’s not quite the same format as our previous unit studies, but they will be so educational and entertaining for the whole family. I am giving you a chance to download the PDF right now as I continue to work on adding links to the weekly lesson plans. I am hoping to have them ready by next month…

As the autumn air crisps and we head into the colder months, there is nothing quite like gathering the kids around a cozy fire for storytime. But what if your read-aloud time could double as your entire homeschool curriculum? This week, our family dove deep into the breathtaking, frosty world of the Dakota Territory with The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder**. Reading about how the Ingalls family survived the historic blizzards of 1880 sparked so many questions about history, survival, and science that I knew I had to build something bigger. If you are looking to trade dry textbooks for a rich, immersive living book experience, here is how you can transform this classic frontier tale into a rigorous, hands-on 6-week unit study for your middle schooler.

**As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post does contain some affiliate and/or referral links to products and/or services that we use. If you happen to click through a link and make a purchase, we may earn a teensy-weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. This means that we can keep bringing you great recipes, ideas, and tips for FREE! Click HERE for a full disclaimer. –Thank you!

Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study

Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study Week 1

Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study Week 2

Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study Week 3

Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study Week 4

Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study Week 5

Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study Week 6

The Long Winter: Teacher Answer Key

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Our 2026-2027 Homeschool Curriculum, Schedule Plans, Resource Links, and Daily Routine – Tons of FREE resources! UPDATED

Published on May 19, 2026August 14, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

It’s that time of year again for us… time to get the next school year planned out. We technically finished up our 2025-2026 school year before Easter but I’ve been busy with the garden and such so I am just now getting around to making our new schedule.

It is always SO TEMPTING to take a few months off to just focus on this house but I know from past experience that this doesn’t go well and that it takes FOREVER to get a couple of the kids back into the school routine. You can read more about last year’s curriculum and routines HERE.

Having a little extra wiggle room in our schedule means that we can take off more time around the holidays and I can take a week off for new grandbabies too! We also love taking the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to just reflect on the reason for the season and it gives us time to do fun things with the family too.

A couple of years ago we switched to more of a Charlotte Mason-style approach and it was GREAT for the most part. We still have a couple of kids who just hate anything to do with math so that’s been a little challenging but we’re making progress. We’ve also really enjoyed using some of the FREE courses with Under the Home Homeschool, even though some of the YouTube links no longer work. They have a lot of great lessons though!

I will also be pulling some lessons from the Old Fashioned Education site. They have a TON of great resources and FREE printable lesson plans for every grade! You can also check out the Plain and Not So Plain Website for FREE resources and complete lesson plans!

I had a rainy day to gather my thoughts for the new year and I put that to good use. Last year, I also purchased a Montessori Curriculum for Shyanne so we will continue to use that with her, while including her in some of our other lessons too. Shyanne has LOVES being a part of our school routine and she has already completed the Easy Peasy All-in-One Preschool program. She’s also been loving the printable packets from Living With Eve.

Shyanne’s journey has been miraculous and to see her doing so many things that we were told she’d never do has been such a blessing in so many ways!