The River Houses Homeschool Network

🏡 WELCOME! (Pinned Post)

1 September 2023 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 add your name to our free mailing list! (Just one message a week and no spam.)

There’s a wealth of wonderful material here on our 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 BOOKS: Dover Thrift Editions for Your Students

28 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

The Dover Thrift Editions are a great way to build up an inexpensive library of classic literature for your homeschool students.

🗓 HOMESCHOOL CALENDARS: Thirty days hath September . . .

28 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

“. . . April, June, and November.” (There’s no better week than this to teach your students the ancient calendrical verse that every young homeschooler should know.)

🌍 🇧🇭 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Ancient Capital of Dilmun in Bahrain

27 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

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: Qal’at al-Bahrain, the Ancient Harbor and Capital of Dilmun in Bahrain.

📚 LIBRARY LESSONS: Getting to Know the Library of Congress

26 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

As the new homeschool year gets going, why not get (re)acquainted with the Library of Congress, the world’s largest library. It’s a rich source of free educational materials for homeschoolers and a place every American should know.

🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 24 September 2023

24 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Coming eclipses, great geneticists, learnèd linguists, liberty ships, marvelous musicians, Nobel laureates, Barbadian rivers, a toast to life, love, and liberty, and more!

🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Georgia, Bahrain, Belarus, and More

24 September 2023 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: Georgia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, and Belarus. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!

🌏 🌑 🌞 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE: Solar Eclipse, 14 October 2023

23 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Invite your young homeschool astronomers to view the solar eclipse coming up on Saturday, 14 October 2023, all across North America.

🖋 🍃 WONDERFUL WORDS: “Our Summer made her light escape”

22 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

“And thus, without a Wing / Or service of a Keel / Our Summer made her light escape / Into the Beautiful.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Emily Dickinson, for the end of summer.)

🦃 🐓 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: “Gallinaceous” Birds

22 September 2023 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 Quail, Curassows, Guans, Partridges, Grouse, Turkeys, and Old World Quail.

🗓 🍂 FALL IS HERE! (Astronomically Speaking)

21 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Fall is here! If you’re in the northern hemisphere, that is. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, spring is here! Happy September equinox to homeschoolers everywhere!

🌏 🇦🇺 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Sydney Opera House in Australia

20 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

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 Sydney Opera House in Australia.

🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS – September 2023

19 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Our September 2023 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 homeschool rights, homeschooling in the Czech Republic and Uzbekistan, and race and homeschooling.

📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: Discovering Dictionaries

18 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

On your next library visit, show your homeschool students the many wonderful kinds of dictionaries that are available to them — a lot more than they may realize!

🇺🇸 📜 THE U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES and Constitution Day

17 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

The National Archives in Washington has a wealth of free teaching materials available that are ideal for homeschoolers. Why not pay them a visit this week to celebrate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on 17 September 1787.

🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 17 September 2023

17 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Constitution days, autumnal equinoxes, tasty birds, flying fish, ancient emperors, American spies, Austrian rivers, a toast to rhoticity, and more!

🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: New Jersey, Australia, the Bahamas, and More

17 September 2023 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: New Jersey, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, and the Bahamas.

🖋 🦋 WONDERFUL WORDS: The Tuft of Flowers

15 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

“‘Men work together,’ I told him from the heart, / ‘Whether they work together or apart.’” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for late-summer mowing, the Monarch butterfly migration, and all of us working together, whether we work together or apart.)

🦆 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Ducks, Geese, and Swans (Part II)

15 September 2023 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 familiar Ducks, Geese, and Swans (Part II).

🌍 🇦🇴 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Mbanza Kongo in Angola

13 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

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: Mbanza Kongo, the Capital of the Former Kingdom of Kongo in Angola.

⚔️ HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Marathon, 490 B.C.

12 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. was one of the most consequential battles in the history of the Western world. It’s an event every homeschool student should know.

📚 LIBRARY LESSONS: Discovering Local Libraries With WorldCat

12 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Have you found all the libraries in your local area? There may be more than you realize, and the WorldCat Library Finder will help you and your students locate them.

🇺🇸 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Remembering 9/11

11 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

On this anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, why not invite your homeschool students to contemplate the Star-Spangled Banner, in Baltimore, New York, and London.

🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 10 September 2023

10 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Constitution days, migrating monarchs, ancient armies, star-spangled banners, children’s authors, Angolan rivers, a toast to bravery and freedom, and more!

🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Pennsylvania, Angola, Armenia, and More

10 September 2023 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: Pennsylvania, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, and Armenia.

🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Deneb for September and the New Homeschool Year

9 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Get the new homeschool year off to a great start by making a new friend this month: the giant star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan, one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere night sky.

🖋 🍁 WONDERFUL WORDS: Song at the Beginning of Autumn

8 September 2023 by Bob O'Hara

“But I am carried back against / My will into a childhood where / Autumn is bonfires, marbles, smoke; / I lean against my window fenced / From evocations in the air. / When I said autumn, autumn broke.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Elizabeth Jennings, for the coming fall.)

🦢 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Ducks, Geese, and Swans (Part I)

8 September 2023 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 Ducks, Geese, and Swans (Part I).