• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The River Houses

A National Network of Local Homeschool Societies

  • Subscribe!
  • Home
  • Topics β–Ύ
    • Arts & Music
    • Astronomy
    • Books & Libraries
    • Dewey Decimals
    • Friday Bird Families
    • Geography
    • Great Stars
    • Holidays & History
    • The Homeschool Year
    • Language & Literature
    • Lunar Society Bulletins
    • Natural History
    • Photo Contests
    • Poems-of-the-Week
    • Quick Freshes
    • Research & News
    • States & Countries
    • Weekly World Heritage
  • Calendars
  • Books
  • About Us β–Ύ
    • Our Mascots
  • Lunar Society
  • Friends
  • Shop!
You are here: Home > Homeschool Holidays & History > This Post

πŸŽ‚ HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: Happy Birthday, Ralph! (Emerson, that is)

25 May 2023 by Bob O'Hara

Today is the birthday of the great American essayist, poet, and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), aΒ name every American homeschool student should know. And although we called him Ralph in the headline above, his family and friends knew him as Waldo.

In our modern age of television, movies, and the Internet, it’s hard for us to imagine what a “celebrity” might have looked like in the nineteenth century before any of those things existed. But if anyone was a celebrity in nineteenth-century America, it was Emerson. His essays and books were best sellers, his aphorisms were the talk of every literary circle, and over the course of his long life he delivered more than a thousand public lectures to packed houses all across the country. And for many readers outside of the United States, Emerson was the voice of America.

Our River Houses mascot Horace the Otter is aΒ big Ralph Waldo Emerson fan, and he hopes you and your students will be too. Perhaps you can even visit Emerson’s house some day on your homeschool travels, as Horace has.

Horace the Otter pays a call on his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson is a great writer for teens. You can find copies of his essays and poems in any public library, and inexpensive editions are available in every bookstore. (The Portable Emerson is a good modern anthology to add to your permanent teaching collection.) Like Benjamin Franklin, Emerson had aΒ talent for crafting the just-right phrase, and like Franklin, he’s quoted everywhere. (“Hitch your wagon to a star.”)

This week for Emerson’s birthday, why not send your students off to read his famous essay “Self-Reliance,” aΒ work that has inspired young Americans for close to two hundred years. Start them there, and see where their star-hitched wagons will take them. 🌟

What educational anniversaries have you been celebrating in your homeschool this Leo Term? 😊

❑ Here, said the year: This is one of our regular posts about Homeschool Holidays & History. Print your own copy of our River Houses calendar of educational events to follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year.Β πŸ—ž

❑ Support our work: If you enjoy the educational materials we distribute each week, please support our work and the noble cause of homeschooling by making a small donation as a Friend of the River Houses! Your support keeps us going and growing! 😊

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related Posts:

  • πŸ–– HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: Happy First Contact Day!πŸ–– HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: Happy First Contact Day!
  • 🎡 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Happy Birthday Bach!🎡 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Happy Birthday Bach!
  • 🍝 HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: The Annual Spaghetti Harvest in Switzerland🍝 HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: The Annual Spaghetti Harvest in Switzerland
  • πŸ–‹ πŸ“– WONDERFUL WORDS: Happy Birthday to Emily Dickinson!πŸ–‹ πŸ“– WONDERFUL WORDS: Happy Birthday to Emily Dickinson!

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

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Newsletter!

It’s free! Your name and email address are never shared with any third parties.

CHECK YOUR INBOX (or spam folder) to confirm your subscription. Thank you! 😊

Search the River Houses

Recent Posts

  • πŸŒ• HOMESCHOOL “CITIZEN SCIENCE” PROJECTS for June
  • πŸ”­ WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for June
  • πŸ¦… FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Wagtails and Pipits
  • πŸ–‹ 🌞 WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): β€œSumer is i-cumin in”
  • πŸ—“ πŸƒ 🏸 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL JUNE from the River Houses!
  • πŸ—“ πŸ’ͺ HERCULES TERM and the River Houses Homeschool Year
  • πŸ—“ βœ’οΈ WONDERFUL WORDS: Happy Birthday to Walt Whitman
  • 🌍 πŸ‡·πŸ‡Έ WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Studenica Monastery in Serbia
  • πŸ—“ NEW CALENDARS & PLANNERS for the 2023–2024 Homeschool Year
  • πŸ—“ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 28 May 2023
  • 🌎 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ SUNDAY STATES: North Dakota, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and More
  • πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ πŸ–‹ β€œAFTER A HUNDRED YEARS / Nobody knows the Place”
  • πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ πŸ•Š HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Memorial Day
  • πŸ¦… FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Indigobirds, Old World Sparrows, and Allies
  • πŸŽ“ πŸŽ‰ HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Let Us Rejoice!

Post Topics

  • 🎡 Homeschool Arts & Music
  • πŸ”­ Homeschool Astronomy
  • πŸ“š Homeschool Books & Libraries
  • πŸ’° Homeschool Collections & Collecting
  • πŸ“… Homeschool Holidays & History
  • πŸ“– Homeschool Language & Literature
  • πŸŒ• Lunar Society Bulletins
  • πŸ—Ί Homeschool Geography
  • πŸ› Homeschool Museums & Monuments
  • 🏞 Homeschool Natural History
  • πŸ—“ Quick Freshes for Homeschool Families
  • πŸ”Ž Homeschool Research & News
  • 🌎 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Homeschool States & Countries
  • πŸ—“ Homeschool Terms & Calendars

Astronomy

  • American Meteor Society
    • – Fireball Reporting System
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day
  • Evening Sky Maps
  • Homeschool Astronomy (Sky & Telescope)
  • Hubble Space Telescope
    • – Learning Resources
  • NASA
    • – Asteroid Watch
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Our Solar System
    • – Spot the Station
    • – Webb Space Telescope
  • The Planets Today
    • – Light-Distance to the Planets
  • The Sky This Week (USNO)
  • Space Weather
  • Stellarium Night Sky Charts
  • Time and Date
    • – Eclipses
    • – Meteor Showers
    • – Moon Phases
    • – Seasons
  • Tonight’s Sky (hubblesite.com)
  • Virtual Planisphere

Books & Libraries

  • Baldwin Library of Children’s Literature
  • Biodiversity Heritage Library
  • Classic Children’s Books (read.gov)
  • Folger Shakespeare Library
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Shakespeare’s Plays Online
  • HathiTrust Digital Library
  • In Our Time (BBC Podcasts)
  • New York Public Library Digital Collections
  • Project Gutenberg
  • US Library of Congress
    • – Children’s Book Selections
    • – Educator Resources
    • – LC Blogs
    • – LC Digital Collections
    • – Minerva’s Kaleidoscope
  • US National Archives
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Founders Online
    • – K–5 Resources
    • – Teaching With Documents
  • Vatican Library Digital Collections
  • WorldCat Library Catalog
    • – WorldCat Library Finder
  • World Digital Library

Museums, Parks, & Monuments

  • Art Collections Online
  • British Museum Collections Online
  • Google Arts & Culture Collections
  • Smithsonian Institution
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Smithsonian Museums
    • – Smithsonian Open Access
  • Timeline of Art History
  • US National Park Service
    • – Educator Resources
    • – National Memorials
    • – National Monuments
    • – National Parks
    • – Wild & Scenic Rivers Program
  • US National Wildlife Refuges
  • US State Parks
  • Watercolour World

Natural History

  • All About Birds (Cornell University)
    • – Bird Identification Guide
    • – eBird Online
  • Biodiversity Heritage Library
  • BirdCast Daily Migration Maps
  • Time and Date
    • – Seasons
  • UC Museum of Paleontology
    • – Educator Resources
  • US Fish & Wildlife Service
    • – Education Programs
  • US Geological Survey
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Latest Earthquakes
  • US National Weather Service
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Nationwide Air Quality
    • – Nationwide River Conditions
    • – Wildfire and Smoke Map
  • Wild & Scenic Rivers Program

Maps & Geography

  • Antipodes Map
  • FlightAware (Planes in the Air)
  • Mapquest World Maps
  • MarineTraffic (Ships at Sea)
  • OpenStreetMap World Maps
  • Printable Blank Maps & Flags
  • Printable Outline Maps (d-maps.com)
  • River Runner
  • USGS Topographic Maps
  • World Heritage Sites (UNESCO)
    • – Educator Resources
  • Zoom Earth

Civics & Social Science

  • Bill of Rights Institute
  • Constitution Center
  • C-Span Classroom
  • Free Speech Curriculum from FIRE
  • Foundation for Economic Education
  • History of the Western World (I)
    • – Western World (II)
  • iCivics.org
  • Learn Liberty
  • Mises Institute Economics
  • MyMoney.gov
    • – Educator Resources
  • Online Library of Liberty
  • US Founding Documents
  • US Government Portal
    • – The Congress
    • – The Supreme Court
    • – The White House
  • US Mint
    • – Coin Activities for Kids
    • – Educator Resources
  • US Postal Museum
    • – Explore the Collections
    • – Activities for Kids
    • – Stamps Teach (from APS)
  • Visual Capitalist
Sign up for our free newsletter and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox every week!

All original content Β© 2017–2023 by The River Houses Β· The River Houses and the River Houses emblem are Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.