Our late October 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.
Archives for October 2020
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Limpkins, Rails, Gallinules, Coots, and Cranes
Join our year-long homeschool tour of North American bird families and pick up some great science and natural history teaching ideas along the way. This week: the Limpkins, Rails, Gallinules, Coots, and Cranes.
π π°π WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Temple of Preah Vihear in Cambodia
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 Temple of Preah Vihear in Cambodia.
π π HALLOWEEN AT THE LIBRARY: Spooks, Spirits, and Shakespeare
Explore an assortment of educational activities for your homeschool Halloween from the Library of Congress and the Folger Shakespeare Library.
π βFROM THIS DAY to the ending of the worldβ
“This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.” (Celebrate some Shakespearean history in your homeschool on St. Crispin’s Day.)
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool FamiliesΒ β Week of 25 October 2020
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Agincourt, singers and poets, great canals, historical turning-points, Martian invasions, swampy birds, drifting continents, temporal anomalies, Cambodian rivers, a toast to witches, fays, and grinning cats, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: South Carolina, Cabo Verde, Canada, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: South Carolina, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, and Canada.
π¨βπ¦ βTO-MORROW is Saint Crispianβ
βThis story shall the good man teach his son.β (Offer a Shakespearean toast in your homeschool on the eve of St. Crispin’s Day.)
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Swifts and Hummingbirds
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American bird families and pick up some great science and natural history teaching ideas along the way. This week: the Swifts and Hummingbirds, aerial acrobats all.
π π WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): Turning Toward the Morning
“If I had a thing to give you, / I would tell you one more time / That the world is always turning / Toward the morning.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Gordon Bok, for October’s end.)
π π§π« WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Ruins of LoropΓ©ni in Burkina Faso
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 Ruins of LoropΓ©ni in Burkina Faso.
π HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS β October 2020
An October 2020 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: Letzel et al. (2020), Pietersma (2020), St. Aude (2020), and Schmidt et al. (2020).
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool FamiliesΒ β Week of 18 October 2020
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: October songs, great whales, famous architects, Revolutionary victories, annular anniversaries, fast birds, Burundian rivers, and a toast to offer from this day to the ending of the world.
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: Maryland, Brunei, Burundi, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Maryland, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, and Burundi.
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Cuckoos, Roadrunners, Anis, and Goatsuckers
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American bird families and pick up some great science and natural history teaching ideas along the way. This week: the Cuckoos, Roadrunners, Anis, and Goatsuckers. (All birds with funny names!)
π π¦’ HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Cygnus Term 2020
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, October 16th, is the cross-quarter day of Cygnus Term, our fall term. How are things going in your homeschool?
π π WONDERFUL WORDS: After Apple-Picking
“I am overtired / Of the great harvest I myself desired.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for apple season.)
β NATURE NOTES: It’s National Fossil Day!
For National Fossil Day, why not explore a big collection of rare and beautiful books on paleontology made available by the Smithsonian Institution and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
βοΈ π§΅ HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: 1066 and All That
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066Β β the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England. Why not use this occasion to introduce your homeschool students to one of the most famous objects that has survived from the Middle Ages: the Bayeux Tapestry.
π π§π¦ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The SokoloviΔ Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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 Mehmed PaΕ‘a SokoloviΔ Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
π LIBRARY LESSONS: Dewey Detectives at Home
Did you know there are secret Dewey Decimal numbers hidden in the books in your own homeschool library? It’s true!
π LIBRARY LESSONS: Dewey Detectives at Home
Did you know there are secret Dewey Decimal numbers hidden in the books in your own homeschool library? It’s true!
π΅ π WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): βMy Orchard in Linden Leaβ
“I be free to go abroad / Or take again my homeward road / To where for me the apple tree / Do lean down low in Linden Lea.” (A bonus poem-of-the-week, from William Barnes and Ralph Vaughan Williams, for apple season and Vaughan Williams’ birthday.)
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool FamiliesΒ β Week of 11 October 2020
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Columbian commemorations, beloved bears, whirling galaxies, stunning surrenders, naval birthdays, ancient bridges, great whales, Bulgarian rivers, and a toast to the wind, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: Massachusetts, Bolivia, Brazil, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Massachusetts, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, and Brazil.
π STAR BRIGHT: Alpheratz for October
Make the acquaintance of the young double star Alpheratz in the constellation Andromeda this monthΒ β one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere skyΒ β and make it your homeschool friend for life.
ποΈ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Pigeons and Doves
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American bird families and pick up some great science and natural history teaching ideas along the way. This week: the Pigeons and Doves.
