The River Houses Homeschool Network

🏡 WELCOME! (Pinned Post)

1 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

First time visitor? We post a wide range of easy-to-use educational ideas and “little lessons” that will enrich your homeschooling schedule all through the year. Please subscribe to our free homeschool newsletter! (It’s just one message a week with no spam.)

There’s a wealth of wonderful material here on the River Houses website — everything from homeschool astronomy to books and libraries to language and literature to geography, natural history, homeschool calendars, and more. The materials we’re developing are going to become the foundation for a new type of homeschool network made up of friendly local groups called “Houses” (just like in Harry Potter). Make yourself at home! 😊

🗓️ ⚗️ HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE: Happy Birthday, Dmitri! (Mendeleev, that is)

8 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

The father of the Periodic Table of the Elements, the great Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, was born on this day in 1834 near Tobolsk, Siberia. Here are some clever educational ways to remember him in your homeschool.

🖊️ ❤️ WONDERFUL WORDS: “Unwind the solemn twine, and tie my Valentine!”

8 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

“Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine!” (Our romantic homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Emily Dickinson, for Valentine Week.)

🗓️ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 8 February 2026

8 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Bird counts, Valentine’s Days, amazing meteors, great artists, great scientists, great poems, fast flyers, Korean rivers, a toast to love, and more!

🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Maine, Kiribati, Kosovo, and More

8 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

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

7 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

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.

🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Trogons and Kingfishers

6 February 2026 by Horace the Otter 🦦

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.

📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for February: “Orange” and “First Aid”

5 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

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 “Orange” and “First Aid.” Take a look!

🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Lookout Mountain and Little River Canyon

4 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week: Lookout Mountain and Little River Canyon National Preserve in Alabama.

📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Linguistic 400s

3 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Linguistic 400s.

⏚ 🐖 HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: Happy Groundhog Day!

2 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Happy mid-point of astronomical winter to northern-hemisphere homeschoolers everywhere! In other words, Happy Groundhog Day!

🖊️ ❄️ WONDERFUL WORDS: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

1 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

“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 metrical homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for wintry February — with a special lesson on rhyme-scheme mapping!)

🌕 HOMESCHOOL CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECTS for February

1 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Our February 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!

🗓️ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 1 February 2026

1 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Ground hogs, lunar landings, welcome strangers, Valentine poems, Dewey decimals, integrated circuits, Japanese rivers, a toast to truth and liberty, and more!

🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Alabama, Japan, Kenya, and More

1 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

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!

🗓️ 💕 💐 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL FEBRUARY from the River Houses!

1 February 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Happy homeschool February! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.

🦉 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Barn Owls and Typical Owls

30 January 2026 by Horace the Otter 🦦

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.

🐦 NATURE NOTES: Join the Great Backyard Bird Count!

29 January 2026 by Horace the Otter 🦦

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.

🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Lincoln Home National Historic Site

28 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week: the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Illinois.

🎵 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Happy Birthday Mozart!

27 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

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.

🖊️ 🌹 WONDERFUL WORDS: Happy Birthday to Robert Burns!

25 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

“Till all the seas gang dry, my dear, / And the rocks melt wi’ the sun; / I will love thee still, my dear, / While the sands of life shall run.” (Happy birthday to Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, born on this day in 1759.)

🗓️ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 25 January 2026

25 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Classical composers, giant gems, wise birds, splendid sluggers, eponymous founders, Irish rivers, a toast to winter warmth, and more!

🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Illinois, Ireland, Jamaica, and More

25 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

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!

🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Vultures, Ospreys, Hawks, Kites, & Eagles

23 January 2026 by Horace the Otter 🦦

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.

🖊️ 🌊 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY & LITERATURE: Remembering Challenger

22 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

“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 commemorative homeschool poem-of-the-week, from John Masefield, for the Challenger Seven of 1986.)

🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Natchez National Historical Park

21 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week: Natchez National Historical Park in Mississippi.

🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS for January

20 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

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 four items this month: on single-parent homeschooling; homeschooling theory; homeschooling in the Persian Gulf region; and homeschooling spouses.

🗓️ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 18 January 2026

18 January 2026 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Gold mines, great poets, hopeful dreams, space explorers, freedom philosophers, majestic birds, Indonesian rivers, a toast to lucky labor, and more!