🇺🇸 🎆 HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Happy Independence Day! Why not celebrate the occasion with a reading of the Declaration of Independence — it’s been a homeschooling tradition since 1776.

That clip is from the excellent 2008 dramatized documentary series “John Adams” from HBO. I recommend it highly. Stream it online this month for family viewing, or see if your local library has a version available for borrowing. (I have not been able to find a free copy online.)

• ➢ “John Adams” (2008) (imdb.com)

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are the top “celebrities” of the American Revolution, but it was John Adams who did much of the hard work in politics and government that held the Revolution together.

What historical events are you and your students reading about in your homeschool this Hercules Term? 😊

❡ Explore more: For a quick homeschool review of the American Revolutionary period, turn to pages 298–299 in your homeschool history encyclopedia. 📚

❡ Here, said the year: This is one of our regular posts about Homeschool Holidays & History. Subscribe to our free River Houses newsletter to get more great homeschool history lessons delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 📫

❡ We set to-day a votive stone: If you want a wonderful long-term project in history and geography for your homeschool, explore the Historical Marker Database online (hmdb.org) and make a plan to find all the markers that are listed in your local area. Add any new ones you know of that are missing, and add new photos or descriptions for the ones already included. Your students will gain a new appreciation for your local community and will learn a wealth of new information about history and geography. 🏛

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

❡ Support our work: If you enjoy our educational materials, please support us by starting your regular Amazon shopping from our very own homeschool teaching supplies page. When you click through from our page, any purchase you make earns us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping us to keep going and growing! 🛒

❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡