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You are here: Home > 2020 > December

Archives for December 2020

πŸ–‹ πŸ”” WONDERFUL WORDS (and Sounds!): Ring Out, Wild Bells!

31 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“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.)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

πŸ–‹ 🍻 WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): Auld Lang Syne

30 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“We two once ran along the hills,Β and picked the daisies fine; / But we’ve wandered many a weary foot since those days of long ago.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Burns, for auld lang syne.)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🌍 πŸ‡¬πŸ‡­ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Asante Traditional Buildings in Ghana

30 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

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 Asante Traditional Buildings in Ghana.

Filed Under: Homeschool States & Countries, Weekly World Heritage

πŸ—‘β™— HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Murder in the Cathedral

29 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Take five minutes today to teach your students the story of Archbishop Thomas Becket, whose murder on this day in the year 1170 has loomed large in the Western imagination for nearly a thousand years.

Filed Under: Homeschool Holidays & History

πŸŒ• RESEARCH PROJECTS for Homeschool Students – December 2020

29 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Our December 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.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🎡 πŸŽ„ HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: The Sussex Mummers’ Carol

28 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“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.” (The Sussex Mummers’ Carol, from Percy Grainger and others, for Homeschool Holiday Music Month.)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

πŸ—“ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 27 December 2020

27 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: New years, wild bells, scientific birthdays, X-rays, ocean birds, disappearing planets, Ghanaian rivers, a toast to betterment, and more!

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🌎 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ SUNDAY STATES: Ohio, Germany, Grenada, and More

27 December 2020 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: Ohio, Germany, Ghana, Greece, and Grenada.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🎡 🌹 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

26 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“It came, a flow’ret bright, / Amid the cold of winter, / When half spent was the night.” (An ancient German carol that has been translated into many languages, for Homeschool Holiday Music Month.)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🎡 πŸ‘ HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: The Shepherd’s Carol

25 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“We stood on the hills, Lady, / Our day’s work done, / Watching the frosted meadows / That winter had won.” (A Christmas night carol, from Bob Chilcott and Clive Sansom, for Homeschool Holiday Music Month.)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🌊 WONDERFUL WORDS: β€œIt was a short, cold Christmas”

25 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Herman Melville reminds us that even on Christmas Day, somewhere in the world there are sailors heading out to sea.

Filed Under: Homeschool Holidays & History, Homeschool Language & Literature

πŸ¦… FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Tropicbirds, Loons, and Albatrosses

25 December 2020 by Horace the Otter 🦦

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 Tropicbirds, Loons, and Albatrosses.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

πŸŽ„ 🦦 HAVE YOURSELF AN OTTERIFIC CHRISTMAS

24 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Our mascot Horace the River Otter wishes you and yours, and homeschoolers everywhere, a merry, peaceful, and positively otterific Christmas.

Filed Under: Homeschool Holidays & History, Our River Houses Mascots

🎡 πŸŽ„ HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Hallelujah!

23 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Introduce your homescholars (in just five minutes) to one of the world’s most famous pieces of classical music, from Handel, for Homeschool Holiday Music Month.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🌍 πŸ‡¬πŸ‡¦ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Lopé-Okanda Landscape in Gabon

23 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

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 Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda in Gabon.

Filed Under: Homeschool States & Countries, Weekly World Heritage

πŸ–‹ πŸŽ… WONDERFUL WORDS: ’Twas the Night Before Christmas

22 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“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 Eve of course!)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

πŸ“‘ πŸŽ… 🦌 NORAD’s Santa Tracker is Up!

22 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Want to know when your Christmas presents will arrive? Don’t ask Amazon, ask NORAD! (And maybe even learn a little world geography along the way.)

Filed Under: Homeschool Holidays & History, Homeschool Maps & Geography

🎡 ❄️ HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: In the Bleak Midwinter

21 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; / Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, / In the bleak midwinter, long ago.” (A frosty carol from Christina Rossetti and Gustav Holst, for Homeschool Holiday Music Month and the winter solstice.)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

πŸ—“ ⛄️ WINTER IS HERE! (Astronomically Speaking)

21 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Winter is here! If you’re in the northern hemisphere, that is. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, summer is here! Happy December 2020 solstice to homeschoolers everywhere!

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🎡 πŸŽ„ A CHRISTMAS EVE INVITATION: Carols from King’s College

20 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

The beautiful Festival of Lessons and Carols from King’s College at Cambridge University is broadcast every year on Christmas Eve to millions of people around the world. You and your homescholars can join them.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

πŸ—“ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 20 December 2020

20 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Classical carols, jolly poems, winter solstices, midnight crossings, lunar prospects, oceanic birds, Georgian rivers, a toast to Christmas, and more!

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🌎 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ SUNDAY STATES: Tennessee, France, Georgia, and More

20 December 2020 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: Tennessee, France, Gabon, the Gambia, and Georgia.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🎡 πŸŽ„ HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: IΒ Wonder as IΒ Wander

19 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Introduce your homeschool students to an American folk tune that has now become an internationally famous Christmas carol.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

πŸ¦… FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers (II)

18 December 2020 by Horace the Otter 🦦

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 Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers (Part II).

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🎡 πŸŽ„ HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Christmas with William Billings

16 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

“Methinks I see an heavenly host / Of angels on the wing; / Methinks I hear their cheerful notes, / So merrily they sing.” (Discover what Christmas sounded like at the time of the American Revolution.)

Filed Under: ARCHIVES

🎡 MARVELOUS MUSIC: It’s Beethoven Day!

16 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

Take a few minutes out of your homeschool schedule today to celebrate an annual musical milestone, to wit, Beethoven’s Birthday!

Filed Under: Homeschool Arts & Music

🌏 πŸ‡«πŸ‡― WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Levuka Historical Port Town in Fiji

16 December 2020 by Bob O'Hara

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 Historic Port Town of Levuka in Fiji.

Filed Under: Homeschool States & Countries, Weekly World Heritage

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