Come along on our homeschool tour of North American birds and pick up some great science and natural history lessons along the way. This week: the Swifts and Hummingbirds, aerial acrobats all.
🇺🇸 🇫🇷 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: Yorktown 1781
Invite your homeschool students to remember the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, on this day in 1781.
🌍 🇧🇬 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak in Bulgaria
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 Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak in Bulgaria.
🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS – October 2023
Our October 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 five items this month, on outdoor education and homeschooling; curriculum analysis; physical activity; digital technologies in homeschooling; and homeschool parental support.
🗓 🦢 HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Cygnus Term
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, October 16th, is the cross-quarter day of Cygnus Term, our fall term in the River Houses. How are things going in your homeschool?
🖋 🍏 🍎 WONDERFUL WORDS: After Apple-Picking
“I am overtired / Of the great harvest I myself desired.” (Our dreamy homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for apple season.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 15 October 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Nautical novels, splendid surrenders, pomological poems, ancient tombs, ingenious inventors, tiny birds, African rivers, a toast to peace, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Maryland, Brunei, Burundi, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Maryland, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, and Burundi. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🏹 🧵 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: 1066 and All That
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066: the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England. Why not use this occasion to introduce your homeschool students to one of the most famous objects that has survived from the Middle Ages: the Bayeux Tapestry.
🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Alpheratz and Andromeda for October
Make the acquaintance of the young double star Alpheratz in the constellation Andromeda this month — one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere sky — and make it your homeschool friend for life.
🌐 HOMESCHOOL GEOGRAPHY: The Prime Meridian
On this day in 1884, the north-south line running through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England, was established as our planet’s Prime Meridian: the line of 0º longitude.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Cuckoos, Roadrunners, Anis, and Goatsuckers
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American birds and pick up some great science and natural history lessons along the way. This week: the Cuckoos, Roadrunners, Anis, and Goatsuckers. (All birds with funny names!)
🎵 🍎 WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): My Orchard in Linden Lea
“I be free to go abroad / Or take again my homeward road / To where for me the apple tree / Do lean down low in Linden Lea.” (A bonus homeschool poem-of-the-week, from William Barnes and Ralph Vaughan Williams, for apple season and Vaughan Williams’ birthday.)
🌎 🇧🇴 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Historic City of Sucre in Bolivia
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 Historic City of Sucre in Bolivia.
⛏ 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.
🖋 🌹 WONDERFUL WORDS: “The Frosts were her condition”
“The Tyrian would not come / Until the North — invoke it.” (Our autumnal homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Emily Dickinson, for all late bloomers.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 8 October 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Solar eclipses, prime meridians, late bloomers, fossil days, famous Italians, new stars, mighty rivers, a toast to the Navy, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Massachusetts, Bolivia, Brazil, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Massachusetts, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, and Brazil. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for October
Our homeschool review of the educational wonders that you and your students can watch for in the northern hemisphere night sky during the month of October.
🕊️ FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Pigeons and Doves
Come along on our homeschool tour of North American birds and pick up some great science and natural history lessons along the way. This week: the familiar Pigeons and Doves.
🚀 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE: Remembering Space Pioneer Robert Goddard
Robert Hutchings Goddard, the inventor of the liquid-fueled rocket and the father of modern space flight, was born on this day in 1882 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Invite your young homeschool scientists to learn about him this week.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for October: “Silhouettes” and “Pollution”
Calling all homeschool photographers! The Wikimedia Commons Photo Challenge is a great way for enthusiastic homeschool photography students to develop their skills and gain some recognition for their work. This month’s themes are “Silhouettes” and “Pollution.” Take a look!
🌍 🇧🇪 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Neolithic Flint Mines of Belgium
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 Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes in Belgium.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The General 000s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our annual homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the General 000s.
🌰 🌽 🍎 WONDERFUL WORDS: “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”
“Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find / Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, / Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from John Keats, for fall.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 1 October 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Calendrical confusion, animal authors, perfect games, ancient mines, momentous battles, Belgian rivers, a toast to Autumn, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Connecticut, Belgium, Bhutan, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Connecticut, Belgium, Belize, Benin, and Bhutan. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!