![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
![[Robert Frost Stamp]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/frost-stamp-96x150.jpg)
“‘Men work together,’ I told him from the heart, / ‘Whether they work together or apart.’” (Our encouraging homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for late-summer mowing, the Monarch butterfly migration, and all of us working together, whether we work together or apart.)
🗓️ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 14 September 2025
![[Weekly Homeschool Almanac]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/calendar-2-150x85.jpg)
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Star-spangled banners, Constitution Days, migrating monarchs, flying fish, children’s authors, ice men, Argentinian rivers, a toast to bravery and freedom, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Pennsylvania, Angola, Armenia, and More
![[Pennsylvania State Seal]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Seal_of_Pennsylvania-150x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Pennsylvania, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, and Armenia. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Deneb for September and the New Homeschool Year
![[Cygnus Star Chart]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/cygnus-chart-term-122x150.png)
Get the new homeschool year off to a stellar start by making a new friend this month: the giant star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan, one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere night sky.
⚔️ HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Marathon, 490 B.C.
![[Battle of Marathon]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/battle-of-marathon-stamp-2010-150x107.jpg)
The Battle of Marathon, fought on the eastern coast of mainland Greece in 490 B.C., was one of the most consequential battles in the history of the Western world. It’s an event every homeschool student should know.
🦢 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Ducks, Geese, & Swans (Part I)
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/birds-ducks-i-150x91.png)
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 Ducks, Geese, and Swans (Part I).
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: New Castle Court House Museum
![[Homeschool American Heritage]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/america-250-150x120.jpg)
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week: New Castle Court House Museum in Delaware.
🇺🇸 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Remembering 9/11
![[Star-Spangled Banner]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/star-spangled-banner-150x116.jpg)
On the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, why not invite your homeschool students to contemplate the Star-Spangled Banner, in Baltimore, New York, and London.
📚 LIBRARY LESSONS: Discovering Local Libraries With WorldCat
![[WorldCat]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/worldcat-logo-150x147.png){kind=logo}
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.
🖊️ 🍁 WONDERFUL WORDS: Song at the Beginning of Autumn
![[Elizabeth Jennings]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/elizabeth-jennings-110x150.jpg)
“But I am carried back against / My will into a childhood where / Autumn is bonfires, marbles, smoke; / I lean against my window fenced / From evocations in the air. / When I said autumn, autumn broke.” (Our transitional homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Elizabeth Jennings, for the coming fall.)
🌕 HOMESCHOOL CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECTS for September
![[Full Moon]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/full-moon-square-150x147.jpeg)
Our September full-moon report on the many “citizen-science” projects around the world that you and your students can participate in from the comfort of your little home academy. Pick one and get started today — it’s a great way to begin the new homeschool year!
🗓️ 🎉 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 7 September 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: New Years, new terms, seasonal poems, aquatic birds, great stars, brave battles, Algerian rivers, a toast to the future, and more to begin this wonderful homeschool year!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Delaware, Afghanistan, Andorra, & More (A New Year!)
![[Delaware State Seal]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Seal_of_Delaware-150x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. We begin this brand new homeschool year with Delaware, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, and Andorra. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for September (To Open the Year)
![[Homeschool Astronomy]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/emoji-telescope-large-150x150.png)
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 September.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Getting to Know Your Bird Guide
![[Birds of North America]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ng-birds-7-101x150.jpg)
Introducing our year-long homeschool tour of the birds of North America — come follow the flyways with us from coast to coast! This week, for the start of the new homeschool year: getting to know your bird guide.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for September: “Bricks” and “Gold” (To Begin the Year)
![[Homeschool Photography]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/emoji-camera-flash-2-150x143.png)
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 (to begin the new homeschool year) are “Bricks” and “Gold.” Take a look!
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: A Dewey Decimal Introduction (To Begin the Year)
![[Dewey Decimal Classes]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/dewey-decimal-classes-2-150x90.jpg)
Teaching your students to use the library independently is one of the best educational gifts you can give them. Join us this month as we begin our year-long homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal system.
🖊️ 🏡 “A HANDSOME HOUSE to lodge a friend” (For the New Homeschool Year)
![[Horace Stamp]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/horace-stamp-romania-1965-99x150.jpg)
“I’ve often wished that I had clear, / For life, six hundred pounds a year, / A handsome house to lodge a friend, / A river at my garden’s end.” (Introducing our first homeschool poem-of-the-week for the new school year, from Horace via Jonathan Swift — and it’s our official River Houses motto, too!)
🗓️ 📓 ✏️ HAPPY HOMESCHOOL SEPTEMBER from the River Houses!
![[Roman Calendar Mosaic]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/roman-calendar-september-150x146.jpeg)
Happy homeschool September and happy new homeschool year! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.
🗓️ 🦢 CYGNUS TERM and the New River Houses Homeschool Year
![[Cygnus Constellation Chart (1822)]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/cygnus-jamieson-1822-150x124.jpg)
We divide the homeschool year into four three-month terms in the River Houses. Today is the first day of Cygnus Term, our fall term, named for the Great Swan of the Heavens. Cygnus Term runs from September through November.
🏡 🎉 A NEW HOMESCHOOL YEAR BEGINS: Let the River Run!
Welcome to a beautiful brand new homeschool year in the River Houses! Let all the dreamers wake the nation.
🌬️ THE RIVER and the World
As the homeschool year comes to an end, we offer one final toast to students all around the world who are embarking on new voyages: “Fair winds and following seas.” 🥂
A new River Houses homeschool year begins tomorrow, September 1st, the first day of Cygnus Term 2025–2026.
🗓️ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 31 August 2025 (To Close the Year)
![[Weekly Homeschool Almanac]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/calendar-generic-150x88.png)
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Old years, new years, labor days, Horatian poems, bird guides, peace treaties, celebrated circumnavigations, world rivers, a toast to homeschooling, and more!
🐦 HOMESCHOOL NATURE NOTES: Getting Started with Bird Study and eBird
![[eBird]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ebird-logo-e1561917163517-150x91.jpg){kind=logo}
Bird study is one of the best subjects you can take up in a homeschool environment. Here’s a great way for you and your young naturalists to get started.
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: War in the Pacific National Historical Park
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week (to wrap up the current homeschool year): War in the Pacific National Historical Park in Guam.
🌋 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: The Last Days of Pompeii
![[Pompeii Stamp]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/pompeii-stamp-1989-150x122.jpg)
The ancient Roman city of Pompeii, now one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, was destroyed in an eruption of Mount Vesuvius on this day in the year 79.
🗓️ QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 24 August 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Old terms, old years, new terms, new years, earth-shattering kabooms, notable naturalists, splendid sluggers, starry streams, a toast to fair winds, and more!