It’s National Arbor Day! Why not plant a tree in honor of your homeschool this week.
Archives for April 2021
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Sylviid Warblers and Allies
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 Sylviid Warblers, Leaf Warblers, Grasshopper-Warblers, and Old World Flycatchers and Chats.
π π΅πΌ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon in Palau
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 Rock Islands Southern Lagoon in Palau.
π¦ MAY is Bird Migration Month!
May is Bird Migration Month in the River Houses! This May, why not introduce your students to the wonderful BirdCast website. Keep track of what’s moving across the United States, and watch the radar echoes of migrating birds every night.
π RESEARCH PROJECTS for Homeschool Students β April 2021
Our April 2021 full-moon report on the real scientific and scholarly projects around the world that you and your students can contribute to from the comfort of your little home academy.
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool FamiliesΒ β Week of 25 April 2021
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Penny postage, tall buildings, student projects, communicative codes, illustrious illustrators, memorable molecules, Panamanian rivers, a toast to the world’s farmers, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: Kansas, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Kansas, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, and Papua New Guinea.
π π HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL! (Shakespeare, That Is)
Happy birthday to the Bard! Why not celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday by exploring some of the excellent free teaching materials available from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Gnatcatchers, Dippers, and Kinglets
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 tiny Gnatcatchers, Dippers, and Kinglets.
π πΈ WONDERFUL WORDS: Loveliest of Trees
“And since to look at things in bloomΒ / Fifty springs are little room,Β / About the woodlands IΒ will goΒ / To see the cherry hung with snow.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Housman, for spring.)
π΅ HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Relax With Randall Thompsonβs βAlleluiaβ
Still cooped up and over stressed? Calm your homeschool down with the peaceful “Alleluia” of American composer Randall Thompson, born on this day in 1899.
π π³π¬ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Sukur Cultural Landscape in Nigeria
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 Sukur Cultural Landscape in Nigeria.
π HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS β April 2021
Our April 2021 roundup of some recent academic research and news about home education in the United States and around the world, with links to sources. This month we have a notice of an important online homeschooling conference coming up at Harvard University, as well as four additional academic papers: Laiya (2021), MikusovΓ‘ (2020), Norman, Luo, &Β Salim Muljana (2020), and Sari, Bittmann, & Homuth (2020).
πΊπΈ AMERICAN ICON: The Concord Minute Man
Teach your homeschool students to recognize one of the most famous artistic symbols of the American Revolution this week: Daniel Chester French’s “Minute Man.”
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool FamiliesΒ β Week of 18 April 2021
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Revolutionary beginnings, Shakespearean birthdays, springtime poems, famous physicists, Nigerian landscapes, American rivers, a toast to heroes, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: Oregon, Nigeria, Oman, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Oregon, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, and Oman.
π π πΊπΈ WONDERFUL WORDS: βThe fate of a nation was riding that nightβ
“A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, / And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark / Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet: / That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, / The fate of a nation was riding that night.” (A bonus homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Longfellow, for the beginning of the American Revolution.)
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Nuthatches, Creepers, and Wrens
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 small and friendly Nuthatches, Creepers, and Wrens.
π πΊπΈ βHERE ONCE the embattled farmers stoodβ
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood, / Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, / Here once the embattled farmers stood / And fired the shot heard round the world.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Emerson, for the beginning of the American Revolution.)
π π¦ HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Leo Term 2021
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, April 15th, is the cross-quarter day of Leo Term, our spring term in the River Houses. How are things going in your homeschool?
π π³π± WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Defence Line of Amsterdam
Pay a visit to a World Heritage Site from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week and learn some great history and geography along the way. This week: the Defence Line of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
π LIBRARY LESSONS: Learning About Thomas Jefferson’s Library
Today is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, so why not spend some quality homeschool time this week learning about Jefferson’s famous libraryΒ β aΒ ready-made lesson plan from the Library of Congress will show you the way.
π QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool FamiliesΒ β Week of 11 April 2021
Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Orbital anniversaries, Jefferson memorials, wild weather, Dutch ditches, cartographic celebrations, African rivers, midnight rides, Revolutionary poems, a toast to truth and liberty, and more!
π πΊπΈ SUNDAY STATES: Minnesota, the Netherlands, Niger, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Minnesota, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, and Niger.
π STAR BRIGHT: Regulus for April
Make the acquaintance of “the little king” Regulus in the constellation Leo the Lion this month, one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere sky, and make it your homeschool friend for life.
π¦ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Chickadees, Titmice, and Allies
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 Chickadees, Titmice, and their allies.
π βοΈ WONDERFUL WORDS: Calmly We Walk Through This Aprilβs Day
“May memory restore again and againΒ / The smallest color of the smallest day:Β / Time is the school in which we learn,Β / Time is the fire in which we burn.” (Our Heraclitean homeschool poem of the week, from Delmore Schwartz, for April days.)