Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: AΒ new homeschool year (!), aΒ new fall term, handsome houses, library lessons, famous physicists, little emperors, peaceful treaties, a toast to free rivers, and more!
Archives for August 2020
π FAMILY REFERENCE BOOKS for the New Homeschool Year
The beginning of a new homeschool year is a good time to build up your homeschool reference library. We recommend six standard reference books for every homeschool.
π REMEMBERING the Last Days of Pompeii
The ancient Roman city of Pompeii, now one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, was destroyed in an eruption of Mount Vesuvius on this day in the year 79.
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families β Week of 23 August 2020
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: annual endings, artistic ornithologists, chemical celebrations, volcanic anniversaries, monstrous birthdays, the great river of the heavens, a toast to new voyages, and more!
π π SUNDAY βSTATESβ BONUS: The Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe
Thank you for taking a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with us over the past year! We conclude today with the Earth itself and the amazing Universe beyond.
π π‘ ENVOY: A Living River by the Door
“Go, little book, and wish to all / Flowers in the garden, meat in the hall, / AΒ living river by the door, / AΒ nightingale in the sycamore.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Louis Stevenson, for the end of the River Houses year.)
π πΊπ³ πΊ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: AΒ (Nearly) Free World Heritage Wall Map
Get your own full-color wall map of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for only the cost of shipping, and follow along with us as we tour the world during the 2020β2021 River Houses homeschool year.
πΊπΈ π³ THE CENTENNIAL of the Nineteenth Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was ratified on this day in 1920, exactly 100 years ago.
π HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS β August 2020
An August 2020 roundup of some recent academic research and news about homeschooling worldwide, with links to sources. We have four items this month: Bartholet & Dwyer (2020), Blume etΒ al. (2020), Ponnou-Delaffon (2020), and Riley (2020).
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families β Week of 16 August 2020
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Suffrage centennials, successful steamboats, transatlantic telegraphs, Martian explorers, explosive overtures, poetical wishes, the Great River Ocean, a toast to the ballot, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY βSTATESβ: U.S. Territories, World Oceans, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, and the oceans of the world.
π π WONDERFUL WORDS: βPoor, middle-agΓ¨d summer!β
“Poor, middle-agΓ¨d summer! Vain this show! / Whole fields of golden-rod cannot offset / One meadow with a single violet.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Helen Hunt Jackson, for late summer.)
π πΊπ³ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Newly Inscribed Sites
Pay a visit to a World Heritage Site from one of our countries-of-the-week and learn some great homeschool history and geography along the way. This week, to wrap up the homeschool year: newly inscribed World Heritage Sites, including the ancient city of Bagan in Myanmar.
π HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY NEWS: Minervaβs Kaleidoscope for Kids and Families
The Library of Congress has a new blog for kids and families called Minerva’s Kaleidoscope β give it a browse today!
π PERSEID METEORS for August 2020
Point your homeschool students to the constellation Perseus this week for the annual Perseid meteor shower, the lovely trail of debris left behind by Comet SwiftβTuttle.
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families β Week of 9 August 2020
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Perseid meteors, American songs, leaning towers, magnificent museums, suspicious signals, polar places, a toast to happiness and freedom, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: Hawaii and Antarctica
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week, as the year approaches its end: Hawaii and Antarctica.
π π WONDERFUL WORDS: A Star in a Stoneboat
“From following walls I never lift my eye, / Except at night to places in the sky / Where showers of charted meteors let fly.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for this month’s Perseid meteors.)
π STAR BRIGHT: Vega for August
Make one last homeschool friend for the summer: our neighbor-star Vega in the constellation Lyra the Lyre, one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere night sky.
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Accidental and Extinct Species
Our grand homeschool tour of North American bird families has at last come to its close. This week we wrap up the year with a look at a number of Accidental and Extinct North American birds from your bird guide’s appendix.
π π»π³ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Citadel of the Ho Dynasty in Vietnam
Pay a visit to a World Heritage Site from one of our countries-of-the-week and learn some great homeschool history and geography along the way. This week: the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty in Vietnam.
π LEARNING THE LIBRARY: On Beyond Dewey
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge as we take a year-long homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month, as the year ends, we’ll take a quick look at the alternative Library of Congress Classification, commonly used in colleges and universities.
πΈ PHOTO CHALLENGE β August 2020: βHigh-Dynamic-Range Imagingβ and βDemonstrations and Protestsβ
Calling all homeschool photographers! The Wikimedia Commons Photo Challenge is a great way for serious homeschool photography students to develop their talents and gain some recognition. This month’s themes are “High-Dynamic-Range Imaging” and “Demonstrations and Protests.” Take a look!
π RESEARCH PROJECTS for Homeschool Students β August 2020
Our August 2020 full-moon report on the real scientific and scholarly projects around the world that you and your students can join and contribute to from the comfort of your little home academy.
π° HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE LINCOLN CENT, βBornβ This Day in 1909
The familiar Lincoln penny β you may have one in your pocket right now β first went into circulation on this day in 1909. It was struck to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families β Week of 2 August 2020
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: terrific trumpeters, wonderful writers, fighting Quakers, leaning towers, bright stars, free presses, meteoric poems, arid rivers, a toast to the many, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: Alaska, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Alaska, Vietnam, Yemem, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.