Sharing traditions and preserving them for future generations

Apple Blossom programs engage the head, heart, and hands to cultivate inner joy, reverence and wonder for the earth, and a deeper connection to our local community and the world.

If you are looking for a unique combination of home school and school you have found us! Offering 1 - 4 days/week (depending on the program) in the beautiful and rustic setting at Rail River Folk School, Apple Blossom offers academic skills while fully immersing children in the great outdoors and teaching life long skills. We preserve the magic of childhood with our screen free teaching methods and we encourage families to take a low tech approach to childhood.

we are immersed everyday in the natural world

With our No Tech Approach to Learning we teach:

• whittling

• campfire and shelter building

• archery, tracking, bird watching

• cooking over the fire

• Planting, composting, harvesting, preservation

• Wild Rice Harvest

• Maple Sugarbush

• Three Sisters Garden

• seasonal shelter building

• Hiking and biking

• ice skating, snowshoeing, skiing

• Handwork, sewing, knitting and seasonal arts and crafts

• Storytelling

• Nordic and Indigenous Traditions

At Apple Blossom Village we nurture the child’s full human potential. By building on a child’s natural curiosity, sense of wonder and love of learning, the whole child is educated with a head (thinking), heart (feeling), and hands (willing or doing) approach. Preschool and Kindergarten offer a play and movement based approach to learning, fostering social/emotional skills and offering time for children to explore their environment. A developmentally appropriate academic curriculum unfolds in the Grades Class over the first through fourth grade years, integrating the cultural, scientific and social life of humanity.

Diversity and Inclusivity at Apple Blossom

All are welcome here!

indigenous values of sustainability and care for all living beings is woven into our days. Situated between Red Lake, White Earth, and Leech Lake Reservations, we believe Ojibwe language and culture are central to our work. It is our intent that each child will feel deeply connected to their own culture and traditions, and that all children will gain an understanding of and respect for Native American Culture that is an inherent part of our land and history. Our curriculum is nature based and follows the seasons. We are grateful to the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) for sharing their garden space with us for learning opportunities and for the Nibi Center in White Earth for securing an Indigenous Scholarship Fund for Indigenous Students.

Apple Blossom is committed to a learning environment of respect, honesty, and inclusion that celebrates differences beginning in Early Childhood. Our vision and purpose promotes the importance of diversity and inclusivity through world language and culture, and an anti-bias curriculum that grows and deepens as the children grow. We stand firm in our commitment to offer learning in an atmosphere of love, trust, and respect for all people.