The Secret Garden Unit Study - Homeschooling on a Shoestring

This literature-based unit study explores The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, weaving in nature study, poetry, vocabulary, and art activities inspired by the story. The unit includes hands-on projects, book and video suggestions, worksheets, recipes, and ideas for reflection and creativity across multiple ages.

The unit is suitable for grades K–12, with flexibility to adapt based on your learners’ ages and abilities. Please preview links and activities to ensure they are appropriate for your family. New resources will be added as time allows.

Many of the links below lead to printable resources that can be added to a notebook or lapbook for this study.

Table of Contents

Many parents and teachers will need to create their own goals. You can compare the goals at these sites to create your own goals depending on how stringent your requirements need to be. All links have several suggested activities for different ages.

Suggested Curriculum Standards:

World Book Scope Basic Course structure https://www.worldbook.com/free-educational-resources#tcos
Michigan Department of Education https://www.michigan.gov/mde/services/academic-standards
Maine as an example of state level requirements https://www.maine.gov/doe/ela/standards/index.html
California state level requirements https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/
McREL Compendium National Level https://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/
Ontario Canada K-8 Expectations https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum#elementary
Abeka Scope and Sequence https://www.abeka.com/HomeSchool/ScopeAndSequence.aspx
The series of books called “What your nth Grader needs to know” May also be helpful nth representing the grade your child is in. This series only Goes to grade 8

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

Identify major characters and summarize the plot of The Secret Garden
Analyze themes such as healing, growth, and transformation
Explore the symbolic role of gardens in literature and personal development
Examine basic geographical and cultural elements of colonial India
Develop vocabulary and reading comprehension through chapter-based activities
Express character insights and literary analysis through journal prompts and creative writing
Create visual and artistic representations inspired by the story
Explore the concept of disability and personal change as portrayed in the novel
Engage with poetry as a creative and reflective response to literature
Build timelines and maps to visualize historical and literary settings

Timeline & Historical Context

OurTimelines.com – Tool for creating historical timelines (starts at year 1000 to present)

Suggested Activity:
Create a timeline of events in the story to help visualize plot development and character growth.

Vocabulary

Focus Words:
Garden, India, Disability, Mourning, Mourn, Death

WordWeb – Free downloadable dictionary software
Dictionary.com – Online dictionary

Book Resources

About the Book:

About India:

Wikipedia Overview of India – Use with worksheet tools
Country Studies – India – Online textbook content, adaptable for student workbooks

Poetry, Music & Audio

Teaching & Writing Poetry:

RhymeZone – Rhyming dictionary and poetry activities (try writing poems about India or gardens!)

Creative Writing Ideas:

Write a poem that reflects the atmosphere of the garden
Try alliteration poems using nature or Indian themes
Compose a short verse from the perspective of Mary, Colin, or Dickon

Video and Software Resources

Explore these resources to enrich your study with visual and interactive materials:

The Secret Garden (1993 Film) – A well-loved adaptation directed by Agnieszka Holland. Great for comparing book vs. film.

The Secret Garden (2020 Film) – A more modern retelling with updated visuals and slight plot changes. Discuss what’s different.

The Secret Garden Audiobooks – Find versions on LibriVox or YouTube, ideal for auditory learners.

Make your own audiobook – Use Audacity to record chapters or favorite quotes. You can convert your recordings to MP3s with dBpoweramp.

You might also look up:

Nature documentaries about gardens or India for background visuals
Cultural clips about Indian customs, clothing, or music to support broader understanding

Clip Art Resources

Use these clip art sources to enhance your student notebooks, lapbooks, presentations, or timeline projects:

Indian Flags:
Small GIF images of different Indian flag styles:

These can be used on notebook covers, game cards, worksheet headers, or any printable materials related to India or the book.

Recipes

Explore traditional Indian flavors with these resources. You might choose one dish to try as part of your study or host a small “garden tea” with simple Indian-inspired snacks.

Field Trips

Bring the garden theme to life by experiencing real plants and nature, just as Mary did in the story.

Visit a garden – Explore a local botanical garden, conservatory, or even a well-kept public park. Bring sketchbooks to draw flowers and take notes on plant names and scents.

State or regional botanical gardens – Many offer educational tours, scavenger hunts, or kids’ programs. Look for places with rose gardens, secret paths, or healing herb sections that tie in with the themes of the book.

Optional add-ons:

Look for butterfly houses or greenhouse tours.
If your area has a South Asian cultural center or museum, consider visiting to learn more about India.

Art & Craft Ideas

Bring the garden to life through creative projects:

Draw flowers – Observe real or illustrated flowers and sketch your own
Garden crafts for kids – GardenWeb forum post with kid craft ideas
Printable garden craft ideas – Danielle’s Place: Garden Crafts

Paper Doll & Diorama Resources:

MakingFriends.com – Paper Dolls – Includes a paper doll in a wheelchair
Canon Papercraft – Animals of Asia Diorama
Taj Mahal Model – Canon Papercraft – A fun and challenging 3D craft

GeoSafari

Using the instruction guide for the GeoSafari you can create a ton of cards for this unit. GeoSafari is GREAT for long car trips https://archive.org/details/GeoSafari-Manual
Geosafari (File folder game Ideas will work for Geosafari and Vice Versa)
Donna Young’s Instructions https://donnayoung.org/homeschooling/games/geocards.htm
Make cards:

Timeline events to their date Matching card
True or false cards
Vocabulary Words to real pictures.
Chapter-based quizzes
Cloze (fill-in-the-blank) cards about desert regions or people

Games

Choose games to make https://web.archive.org/web/20040111040408/http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/Cardboard/matrix.html

Board games – Ideas for making your own board games at Mary’s Site https://www.angelfire.com/wi2/GamesForLearning/ideas.html

Try your hand at making a file folder game to match this topic. Here are some sample File folder game boards.
Blank Game boards to create any game for this unit
https://timvandevall.com/product-category/board-game-templates/
https://justfamilyfun.com/board-game-templates/

Games

These game ideas reinforce vocabulary, geography, comprehension, and thematic elements of the unit.

GeoSafari & File Folder Games

You can adapt many concepts from The Secret Garden and India into file folder games or GeoSafari card sets:

Make your own cards:

Timeline events → Match to dates
True or false questions
Map location matching (India and England)
Chapter quizzes
Cloze activities for famous people from India (from the Wikipedia page)

Board Games & File Folder Games

You can make:

Character trait matching games
Vocabulary matching or concentration games
India trivia or Secret Garden quiz paths
Garden-themed board games with flower-themed rewards

Worksheets

Make your own worksheets with these worksheet creation tools:

SchoolHouseTech https://www.schoolhousetech.com/ This company gives away two free software worksheet factories one for Basic math and one for wordsearch utility that will make wonderful complements to this unit when you include the clipart listed in the clipart section.
Start Write – This program makes nice reports and handwriting worksheets for the unit. https://www.startwrite.com/
TeachNology has several online worksheet makers and a ton of Rubric makers. Rubrics work great with Homeschool Tracker because they give you total points and you count up exactly how many points your child gets. https://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/
Online Crossword Puzzle Maker to use with your vocabulary words or locations or even dates from the timeline. https://www.happychild.org.uk/wks/english/ssm/crosswords01.htm

Worksheet Creation Tools
Use these to design your own worksheets tailored to your student’s interests and skill level:

Worksheets

Flag of India Information Page – https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/in.html

Complete Units

The Secret Garden full text and resources – https://www.literatureproject.com/secret-garden/
Penguin Putnam Secret Garden Unit – https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/537783/the-secret-garden-by-frances-hodgson-burnett/9780451528834/readers-guide/
Core Knowledge PDF Unit – https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Unearthing-the-Secrets-of-the-Garden.pdf

Lesson Plan Collections

TeacherVision Reading Activity – https://www.teachervision.com/literature/the-secret-garden

Maps and Reference Tools

India Map Generator (Xpeditions Atlas) – https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/education-resources/mapmaker-launch-guide/
(Choose Asia → India → select labeled or blank map)

Assemble a three ring binder and please include:

A copy of this unit
Course Description (Highschool Students)
Write a summary about books read for the unit
Write an essay on the various topics discussed
Your Lapbook created for the unit (K-8 Students)
Any worksheets or activity books created with SchoolhouseTech Software https://www.schoolhousetech.com/
Your journal and its contents
Your Log of activities from Homeschool Tracker https://www.homeschooltracker.com/free-homeschool-tracker-basic-edition Its Free!
Your Timeline

Unit Safari The Secret Garden Unit Study was originally compiled August 28, 2000. One of my files says the information was pulled from the Plants and Gardening Unit Study. If that unit is up, there may be some overlap.