It’s National Arbor Day! Why not celebrate the occasion by planting a tree in honor of your homeschool this week.
Archives for April 2022
🦅 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 tips along the way. This week: the Sylviid Warblers, Leaf Warblers, Grasshopper-Warblers, and Old World Flycatchers and Chats.
🐦 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.
🌎 🇵🇦 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Panamá Viejo Site in Panama
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 Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo (Old Panama City) in Panama.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 24 April 2022
Great homeschool teaching tips and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Falling stars, fallen cities, national libraries, presidential landmarks, hereditary discoveries, Papuan rivers, a toast to prosperity, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 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.
🎂 🎭 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.
🖋 🌸 WONDERFUL WORDS: Loveliest of Trees
“And since to look at things in bloom / Fifty springs are little room, / About the woodlands I will go / To see the cherry hung with snow.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from A.E. Housman, for spring.)
🦅 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 tips along the way. This week: the tiny Gnatcatchers, Dippers, and Kinglets.
🎵 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Relax With Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia”
Feeling cooped up and stressed out? Calm your homeschool down with the peaceful “Alleluia” of American composer Randall Thompson, born on this day in 1899.
🌍 🇲🇰 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Ohrid Region of North Macedonia
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 Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region of North Macedonia.
🇺🇸 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” (1874).
🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS – April 2022
Our April 2022 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 an essay by Gilbert (2021) and four regular papers this month: Bartholet (2022), Hamlin & Peterson (2022), Lapon (2022), and Mangez & Tilman (2022).
🏇 🇺🇸 WONDERFUL WORDS: “The fate of a nation was riding that night”
“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.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 17 April 2022
Great homeschool teaching tips and little lessons for the week ahead, including: Easter Sundays, Revolutionary rides, embattled farmers, ancient cities, cherry trees, peaceful rivers, a toast to American heroes, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 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.
🌕 RESEARCH PROJECTS for Homeschoolers – April 2022
Our April 2022 full-moon report on the real scientific and scholarly projects around the world that you and your students can participate in from the comfort of your little home academy. Pick one and get started today!
🖋 🇺🇸 “HERE ONCE the embattled farmers stood”
“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.)
🦅 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.
🗓 🦁 HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Leo Term 2022
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?
🗓 🦁 HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Leo Term 2022
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?
🌏 🇳🇿 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand
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 Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand.
📚 LIBRARY LESSONS: Learning About Thomas Jefferson’s Library
Tomorrow is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, so why not spend some quality homeschool time this week learning about Jefferson’s famous library. A ready-made lesson plan from the Library of Congress will show you the way.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 10 April 2022
Great homeschool teaching tips and little lessons for the week ahead, including: American poems, cross-quarter days, opening salvos, presidential birthdays, celebrated cosmonauts, New Zealand rivers, a toast to integrity, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Minnesota, 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.
