![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
![[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.
📚 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 ’em 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: 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)
![[Dewey Decimal System]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dewey-decimal-classes-150x79.jpg)
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!)
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Literary 800s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Literary 800s.
📚 🦉 LIBRARY LESSONS: The Macaulay Library of Natural History
Invite your homeschool naturalists to explore the sights and sounds of birds all over the world through the online collections of the Macaulay Library at Cornell University.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Artistic 700s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Artistic 700s.
📚 🌼 WONDERFUL WORDS: May and the Poets
“Come, ye rains, then if ye will, / May’s at home, and with me still; / But come rather, thou, good weather, / And find us in the fields together.” (Our literary homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Leigh Hunt, for the merry month of May.)
🎂 🎭 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL! (Shakespeare, That Is)
Happy birthday to the Bard! Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday this week with some free teaching materials from Shakespeare’s birthplace itself.
🇺🇸 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Teaching the American Revolution
Explore an excellent collection of original documents and ready-made discussion questions on the American Revolution, all ready to go for you and your homeschool students.
📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: Thomas Jefferson’s Book Collection
April 13th 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 help you.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Technological 600s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Technological 600s.
