“Ring out the old, ring in the new, / Ring, happy bells, across the snow: / The year is going, let him go; / Ring out the false, ring in the true.” (Join Tennyson and some skillful bell-ringers to ring in the new year.)
Archives for December 2018
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 30 December 2018
Great homeschool teaching ideas for the week ahead. This week: the New Year, the planet Vulcan, Louis Braille, the Cacheu River, a toast to war, peace, and betterment, and a partridge in a pear tree.
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Louisiana, Guinea, Haiti, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Louisiana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, and More.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: The Sussex Mummers Carol
“God bless your house, your children too, / Your cattle and your store; / The Lord increase you day by day / And send you more and more.”
🦆 NATURE NOTES: If You Don’t Look, You Won’t See
On homeschool natural history day it’s good to remind your students that the only way to discover something new is to go look — even if it’s cold and raining.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: The Shepherd’s Carol
“We stood on the hills, Lady, / Our day’s work done, / Watching the frosted meadows / That winter had won.”
🌊 “IT WAS a short, cold Christmas”
Herman Melville reminds us that even on Christmas Day, somewhere in the world there are sailors setting out to sea.
🖋 🎅 ’TWAS the Night Before Christmas
“So up to the housetop the coursers they flew / With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Clement Clarke Moore, for Christmas of course!)
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo!
“Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley, / Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!”
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 23 December 2018
Great homeschool teaching ideas for the week ahead. This week: Apollo 8, murder in the cathedral, the American Cincinnatus, the Suchiate River, a toast to Christmas, and more.
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Ohio, Ghana, Guatemala, and More
Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Ohio, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, and Guatemala.
🌕 RESEARCH PROJECTS for Homeschool Students – December 2018
Our December 2018 full-moon report on the real scientific and scholarly projects, investigations, transcriptions, analyses, and computations that your students can work on in your little home academy.
🗓 ⛄️ WINTER IS HERE! (Astronomically Speaking)
It’s the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere (and the first day of summer in the southern hemisphere). A crossword puzzle from NASA will help your homeschoolers learn all about it.
🖋 🎵 WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): In the Bleak Midwinter
“Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; / Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, / In the bleak midwinter, long ago.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Christina Rossetti, for the midwinter season.)
☄️ LIBRARY TUESDAY: Discovering Comets
I bet there’s a homeschool student out there somewhere who will one day follow in the footsteps of history’s great scientists.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: I Wonder as I Wander
Introduce your homeschool students to an American folk tune that has now become an internationally famous Christmas carol.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 16 December 2018
Great homeschool teaching ideas for the week ahead. This week: Beethoven, the Christmas Comet, the Winter Solstice, the Gambia River, a toast to love, and more.
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Tennessee, Gabon, Germany, and More
Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Tennessee, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia, and Germany.
📚 BOOKS: A New World Almanac for the New 2019 Year
The 2019 edition of the World Almanac and Book of Facts is a one-volume desk encyclopedia that every homeschooling family should have.
☄️ THE CHRISTMAS COMET: 46P/Wirtanen 2018
Comet 46P/Wirtanen, dubbed the Christmas Comet of 2018, is now brightening in the southern sky. Be sure to spend some quality homeschool time out after dark this week and see if you can find it!
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Introducing Vince Guaraldi
The American jazz musician Vince Guaraldi (1928–1976) wrote some of the best-loved Christmas music of our time. Why not introduce your students to his wonderful work this month.
🖋 📖 WONDERFUL WORDS: Happy Birthday to Emily Dickinson!
“He ate and drank the precious Words — / His Spirit grew robust.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Emily Dickinson, for her birthday.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 9 December 2018
Smart homeschool teaching ideas for the week ahead. This week: the South Pole, Emily Dickinson, the Boston Tea Party, the River Seine, a toast to striving, and more.
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Kentucky, Ethiopia, France, and More
Tour the United States and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Kentucky, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, and France.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Introducing John Rutter and His Carols
“How do you capture the wind on the water? / How do you count all the stars in the sky? / How can you measure the love of a mother? / Or how can you write down a baby’s first cry?”
🔭 ☄️ WATCHERS OF THE SKIES – December 2018
A homeschooling review of the northern hemisphere night sky for December 2018.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: All Those Christmas Clichés
“I want the tree full of toys and tinsel, I want the wreath on the red front door, / I want the elves in the yard and each sentimental card dripping glitter on the floor.”
