Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Linguistic 400s.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for February: “Knots” and “Lunar New Year”
Calling all homeschool photographers! The Wikimedia Commons Photo Challenge is a great way for enthusiastic homeschool photography students to develop their skills and gain some recognition for their work. This month’s themes are “Knots” and “Lunar New Year.” Take a look!
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 4 February 2024
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Coloring books, bird counts, welcome strangers, Valentine poems, Dewey decimals, integrated circuits, Korean rivers, a toast to winter, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Maine, Kiribati, Kosovo, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Maine, Kiribati, North Korea, South Korea, and Kosovo. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for February
Our homeschool review of the educational wonders that you and your students can watch for in the northern hemisphere night sky during the month of February.
⏚ 🐖 HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: Happy Groundhog Day!
Happy mid-point of astronomical winter to northern-hemisphere homeschoolers everywhere! In other words, Happy Groundhog Day!
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Trogons and Kingfishers
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American birds and pick up some great science and natural history lessons along the way. This week: the tropical Trogons and the piscivorous Kingfishers.
🖋 ❄️ WONDERFUL WORDS: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, / But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for wintry February — with a special lesson on rhyme-scheme mapping!)
🗓 💕 💐 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL FEBRUARY from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool February! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.
🌏 🇯🇵 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Monuments of Ancient Nara in Japan
Pay a homeschool visit to a World Heritage Site from one of our countries-of-the-week and learn some great history and geography along the way. This week: the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara in Japan.
🖍 HOMESCHOOL ARTS: Color Our Collections Week!
Download a whole year’s worth of free educational coloring booklets from libraries and museums all around the world. It’s one of the best educational art opportunities you can find for your homeschool.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 28 January 2024
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Coloring books, winter poems, groundhog days, American emperors, fishing birds, lunar landers, Middle Eastern rivers, a toast to bravery, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Alabama, Japan, Kenya, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Alabama, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Kenya. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🎵 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Happy Birthday Mozart!
Happy birthday to one of the greatest musical composers of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born on this day in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. Here are some little Mozart lessons that you can share with your homeschool music students this week.
🐦 NATURE NOTES: Join the Great Backyard Bird Count!
Get your homeschool naturalists involved in the Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual international survey that will let you and your students make a real contribution to science. It’s one of the best educational nature activities your can do all year.
🦉 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Barn Owls and Typical Owls
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American birds and pick up some great science and natural history lessons along the way. This week: the Barn Owls and the Typical Owls.
🌕 HOMESCHOOL “CITIZEN SCIENCE” PROJECTS for January
Our January full-moon report on the many “citizen science” projects around the world that you and your students can participate in from the comfort of your little home academy. Pick one and get started today!
🌍 🇮🇪 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Sceilg Mhichíl in Ireland
Pay a homeschool visit to a World Heritage Site from one of our countries-of-the-week and learn some great history and geography along the way. This week: the ancient island-monastery of Skellig Michael in Ireland — and its mysterious inhabitant!
🖋 🌊 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY & LITERATURE: Remembering Challenger
“I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, / And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from John Masefield, for the Challenger Seven of 1986.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 21 January 2024
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Tall ships, gold mines, Rocky Mountains, classical composers, wise birds, Irish islands, Italian rivers, a toast to lucky labor, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Illinois, Ireland, Jamaica, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Illinois, Ireland, Israel, Italy, and Jamaica. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🚀 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE: The Webb Telescope & Other NASA Missions
Homeschool scientists can discover a world of wonder by keeping track of a NASA mission or two each month, including the James Webb Space Telescope as it explores the early universe.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Vultures, Ospreys, Hawks, Kites, and Eagles
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American birds and pick up some great science and natural history lessons along the way. This week: New World Vultures, Ospreys, Hawks, Kites, and Eagles.
🌏 🇮🇳 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Elephanta Caves in India
Pay a homeschool visit to a World Heritage Site from one of our countries-of-the-week and learn some great history and geography along the way. This week: the ancient Elephanta Caves in India.
🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS – January 2024
Our January roundup of some recent academic research and news about home education in the United States and around the world, with links to sources. We have three items this month, on urban homeschooling; homeschooling in Japan; and homeschooling in Eastern Europe.
🖋 🇺🇸 WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): Lift Every Voice and Sing
“Let our rejoicing rise / High as the listening skies, / Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.” (Our patriotic homeschool poem-of-the-week, from James Weldon Johnson, for the Martin Luther King holiday.)
🗓 🗡 HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Orion Term
We divide the homeschool year into four three-month terms, and the midpoint of each term (following old calendrical tradition) is called the “cross-quarter day.” Today is the cross-quarter day of Orion Term, our winter term in the River Houses. How are things going in your homeschool?