![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
![[Dewey Decimal System]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dewey-decimal-classes-150x79.jpg)
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Social 300s.
📚 Homeschool Books & Libraries: Little Lessons for the Whole Year
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons on books and libraries from the River Houses Homeschool Network. Print your own homeschool calendars and planners on our River Houses calendar page, and subscribe to our free homeschool newsletter to get posts like these delivered right to your mailbox every week. 📫
❡ Discovering Dewey: This Homeschool Books & Libraries collection also includes our special series of monthly Learning the Library posts that introduce your students to the Dewey Decimal System. 📚
❡ Gotta find them all: Have you found all the libraries in your local area? There may be more than you realize, and the WorldCat Library Finder will help you discover them. Pick a convenient day and time and begin a regular pattern of visiting your favorite library on that day every week. It's one of the best ways to create a light structure for your homeschool year. 📚
🇺🇸 LIBRARY LESSONS: The 119th Congress at the Library of Congress
If your homeschool students want to learn about the operations of the U.S. Congress, there’s no better place to look than on the website of the Library of Congress itself.
🎵 📚 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Olden Times and Ancient Rhymes
What did Christmas in America sound like a hundred years ago? The National Jukebox at the Library of Congress has the answer for you and your homeschool students.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Religious 200s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal system. This month: the Religious 200s.
📚 HOMESCHOOL BOOKS: A New World Almanac for 2025
![[2025 World Almanac]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/world-almanac-2025-101x150.jpg)
The annual World Almanac and Book of Facts is a one-volume desk encyclopedia that every homeschooling family should have.
📖 🦦 LOUISA MAY ALCOTT Gets a Visit From Horace the Otter
![[Alcott Stamp 1993]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/alcott-stamp-1993-118x150.jpg)
Our River Houses homeschool mascot, Horace the Otter, remembers the author of the popular American novel Little Women (1868) on the anniversary of her birth.
🦃 THANKSGIVING at the LIBRARY: Franklin Roosevelt Talks Turkey
President Franklin Roosevelt offers a stern admonition on how to prepare your turkey. (Oh, the things you can find in the library!)
📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARIES: Happy Birthday to Andrew Carnegie!
If you love libraries as much as we do, be thankful this Thanksgiving week for the life of Andrew Carnegie, born on this day in 1835. His philanthropy built more than 2500 libraries in cities and towns across the United States and around the world.
📚 🇺🇸 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: The Veterans History Project
You and your homeschool students can contribute to an important historical documentary project by interviewing American veterans in your family or community for the Library of Congress.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Philosophical 100s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal system. This month: the Philosophical 100s.
⛏ HOMESCHOOL BOOKS & NATURAL HISTORY: National Fossil Day!
For National Fossil Day, why not explore a big collection of rare and beautiful books on paleontology made available by the Smithsonian Institution and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARIES: Classic Illustrated Children’s Books Online
The Library of Congress has put together a great collection of beautifully illustrated classic children’s books, all available free online. They’re ideal for homeschoolers.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The General 000s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal system. This month: the General 000s.
📚 HOMESCHOOL BOOKS: Dover Thrift Editions for Your Students
The Dover Thrift Editions are a great way to build up an inexpensive library of classic literature for your homeschool students.
📚 LIBRARY LESSONS: Getting to Know the Library of Congress
As the new homeschool year gets going, why not get (re)acquainted with the Library of Congress, the world’s largest library. It’s a rich source of free educational materials for homeschoolers and a place every American should know.
📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: Discovering Dictionaries
![[Samuel Johnson Stamp 2009]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/samuel-johnson-stamp-2009-150x145.jpg)
On your next library visit, show your homeschool students the many wonderful kinds of dictionaries that are available to them — a lot more than they may realize!
🇺🇸 📜 THE U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES and Constitution Day
![[U.S. National Archives]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/national-archives-logo-150x135.png){kind=logo}
The National Archives in Washington has a wealth of free teaching materials available that are ideal for homeschoolers. Why not pay them a visit this week to celebrate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on 17 September 1787.
📚 LIBRARY LESSONS: Discovering Local Libraries With WorldCat
Have you found all the libraries in your local area that might be able to support you in your homeschooling? There may be more than you realize, and the WorldCat Library Finder will help you and your students locate them.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: A Dewey Decimal Introduction (To Begin the Year)
Teaching your students to use the library independently is one of the best educational gifts you can give them. Join us this week as we begin our year-long homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal system.
📚 SIX REFERENCE BOOKS for the Upcoming Homeschool Year
![[Horace's Homeschool Reference Library]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/horace-homeschool-books-150x100.jpg)
The beginning of a new homeschool year is a good time to build up your homeschool reference library. We recommend six standard reference books for every homeschool.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: On Beyond Dewey (To Close the Year)
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge as we take a homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal system. This month, as the homeschool year ends, we’ll take a quick look at the alternative Library of Congress Classification, commonly used in colleges and universities.
📖 🖋 THOREAU’S BIRTHDAY and Homeschool Journaling
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” (Happy birthday to the great American writer Henry David Thoreau, born on this day in 1817. Check him out at your local library this week.)
🌕 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE: Lunar Samples for Your Local Library
![[Apollo Moon Rover Stamp 1971]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/apollo-moon-rover-stamp-1971-150x95.jpg)
With help from your local librarians you might be able to bring some real moon rocks to your town, courtesy of NASA. It’s a homeschool project worth exploring!
📜 🇺🇸 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Independence Day and the Declaration
Be sure to add a visit to the National Archives and the Declaration of Independence itself (in person or online) to your homeschool Fourth of July calendar!
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Historical & Geographical 900s
![[Dewey Decimal Classes]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/dewey-decimal-classes-2-150x90.jpg)
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Historical & Geographical 900s.
📜 📚 SUMMER PROJECTS from the Library of Congress and National Archives
Explore some of the educational projects that are available to your homeschool students this summer (or at any time of year) from the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress. They’re just the thing to help your students develop independent study skills for college or career.
📺 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARIES for Your Homeschool Summer
Twelve multi-part masterpieces of the documentarian’s art that you and your homeschool students can watch together and discuss over the summer. (Or at any other time of year!)
