Welcome to Discovering American Folktales Homeschool Social Studies Course

Course Sample for Our Discovering American Folktales Homeschool Social Studies Course

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Parent Notes

Lesson 2: Johnny Appleseed

Born: September 26, 1774, Leominster, MA
Died: March 18, 1845, Fort Wayne, IN

Each lesson can be taught over a single day or explored over two or three short sessions in a week. You do not have to cover all of the material. Choose things that your child will enjoy. I’ve tried to include extra material that would appeal to a wide range of children. For instance, if your child does not like to color, but loves mazes, choose a puzzle. If your child loves crafts, choose that. A small child will remember what they are taught with a fun activity much longer than one remembered as work or unpleasant.

I have tried to allow the parents or teachers to teach in a relaxing and fun way that will help the child associate history with a pleasant memory and encourage eager learners in the future. Teach a child to enjoy learning and to enjoy what they are learning, and they will begin to search for new information on their own.

There are pictures in the student pages. They are not included in the parent notes to save ink if you wish to print. However, pictures are noted below.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com note: Parents should closely monitor children’s use of YouTube and Wikipedia if you navigate away from the videos and articles cited in these lessons. We also recommend viewing the videos on a full screen setting in order to minimize your students’ exposure to potentially offensive ads and inappropriate comments beside or beneath the video.

This story is about a man who really lived. His parents named him John Chapman. He traveled west planting apple trees for the settlers to find. The settlers liked finding the apple trees on their land, and they built their homes near the apple trees. Johnny encouraged the settlers to pick his apples and use them. He taught them how to plant more orchards.

You can access this through World Book Online, which is included in your membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com: http://www.worldbookonline.com/kids/home#article/ar830084.

Johnny Appleseed was born in Massachusetts, lived in Pennsylvania, and later planted apple trees in Ohio and Indiana and the surrounding areas. Can you find those states on a map?

There is a small USA map provided.

Parents can pull up this map to show their children where Johnny Appleseed lived, and really zoom in, or pull out an atlas or large USA map. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9120011,-84.8461213,1195096m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en &authuser=0

We can find where Johnny Appleseed lived and where he was buried when he died. That makes part of his story true. But many of the stories about the man, Johnny Appleseed, are exaggerated or made up. Have you ever made up a story? Have you ever “stretched the truth” so your story is more exciting? That is why the story of Johnny Appleseed is part of American folklore.

You can look online for a picture of Johnny Appleseed’s headstone. There are a few pictures of Johnny’s grave. Which one is really the right one?

There are so many stories about Johnny Appleseed that it is hard to know which ones are true. Many of the cities where he planted his trees and visited often have stories that are unique to their city. But all the stories agree about a few things.

Johnny Appleseed loved people and animals and helped everyone, no matter what. He didn’t own much for his daily life; he didn’t even wear shoes, nor did he pursue a comfortable life, even though he was actually a rich man who owned a lot of land. He planted apples everywhere he traveled and taught people the skills he knew. He taught the Bible to everyone; that made him an American missionary! He never allowed an animal to be mistreated. Here was a man who loved his neighbor as himself, and went without many things, often even food, to help others.