![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/birds-tanagers-150x101.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 tropical Tanagers and the peculiar Western Spindalis.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for July: “Vending Machines” and “Waterside Structures”
![[Homeschool Photography Icon]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/camera-flash-emoji-150x150.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 are “Vending Machines” and “Waterside Structures.” Take a look!
📜 🇺🇸 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!
🌝 KNOW YOUR MOONS 🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑
![[Full Moon Stamp]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/us-moon-stamp-2016-150x150.jpg)
Celebrate the anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969 by teaching your homeschool students the phases of the moon this month. You can even use emojis to do it!
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Fort Laramie National Historic Site
![[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: Fort Laramie National Historic Site in Wyoming.
🖋 🇺🇸 WONDERFUL WORDS: William Emerson on “A Nation’s Strength”
![[Constitution Stamp 1987]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/we-the-people-stamp-1987-150x82.jpg)
“Not gold but only men can make / A people great and strong.” (Our patriotic homeschool poem-of-the-week, from William Ralph Emerson, for Independence Day.)
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Historical & Geographical 900s
![[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 Historical & Geographical 900s.
🗓 🎆 🇺🇸 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL JULY from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool July! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.
🏡 WELCOME! (Pinned Post)
![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/emoji-house-with-garden-150x150.png)
First time visitor? We post a wide range of easy-to-use educational ideas and “little lessons” that will enrich your homeschooling schedule all through the year. Please subscribe to our free homeschool newsletter! (It’s just one message a week with no spam.)
There’s a wealth of wonderful material here on the River Houses website — everything from homeschool astronomy to books and libraries to language and literature to geography, natural history, homeschool calendars, and more. The materials we’re developing are going to become the foundation for a new type of homeschool network made up of friendly local groups called “Houses” (just like in Harry Potter). Make yourself at home! 😊
🇺🇸 🥂 HOMESCHOOL TOASTING TRADITIONS the Whole Year Round
Why not begin the delightful tradition of offering a toast around your family table each week. This classic Independence Day toast is a perfect way to get started.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 29 June 2025
![[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: Independence Days, moon months, Continental armies, scientific masterpieces, undeciphered disks, Dewey decimals, Timorese rivers, a toast to a goose, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Wyoming, Tanzania, Togo, and More
![[Wyoming State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/wyoming-stamp-1982b-97x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Wyoming, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Togo.
🌠 JOIN A HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE PROJECT for International Asteroid Day!
You and your students can help astronomers study the shapes and orbits of real asteroids in space, right from the comfort of your little home academy. How cool is that?
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Wood-Warblers (Part II)
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/birds-warblers-ii-150x84.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 tiny and colorful Wood-Warblers (Part II).
🔭 ☄️ HOMESCHOOL ASTRONOMY: The Most Beautiful Objects in the Universe
Happy birthday to the great French astronomer Charles Messier (1730–1817), who cataloged some of the most beautiful nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies in the universe — so he could ignore them.
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Craters of the Moon National Monument
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho.
🖋 🚂 WONDERFUL WORDS: “It was late June”
![[Blackbird Stamp 1966]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/blackbird-stamp-uk-1966-150x90.jpg)
“And for that minute a blackbird sang / Close by, and round him, mistier, / Farther and farther, all the birds / Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.” (Our timely homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Edward Thomas, for late June and the birds of summer.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 22 June 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Cosmic catalogues, censored scientists, children’s authors, extraordinary explorers, momentous struggles, Syrian rivers, a toast to your local birds, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Idaho, Switzerland, Tajikistan, and More
![[Idaho State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/idaho-stamp-1982b-98x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Idaho, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, and Tajikistan. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🌳 🗺️ LOCAL & FAMILY HISTORY PROJECTS for Homeschoolers
![[Tree]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/tree-emoji-150x150.png)
Local history and geography, and family history (genealogy), are ideal educational subjects to explore in every homeschool, especially during the summer months.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Wood-Warblers (Part I)
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/birds-warblers-150x98.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 tiny and colorful Wood-Warblers (Part I).
🗓 ⛱ SUMMER IS HERE! (Astronomically Speaking)
![[Equinoxes & Solstices]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/equinox-solstice-150x100.png)
Summer is here! If you’re in the northern hemisphere, that is. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, winter is here! Happy June solstice to homeschoolers everywhere!
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Mount Rainier National Park
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week: Mount Rainier National Park in Washington.
🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS for June
![[Homeschool Research Icon]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/research-150x80.jpg)
Our June 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 four items this month, on homeschooling and college; homeschooling in Malaysia; the meaning of success in homeschooling; and homeschooling and music.
🖋 🏰 HAPPY FATHER’S DAY from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“A whisper, and then a silence: / Yet I know by their merry eyes / They are plotting and planning together / To take me by surprise.” (Our paternal homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, for Father’s Day, the third Sunday in June.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 15 June 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Father’s Days, brave battles, summer solstices, paternal poems, old schools, Great Seals, Swedish rivers, a toast to the men of Bunker Hill, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Washington, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and More
![[Washington State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/washington-stamp-1982a-104x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Washington, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, and Sweden. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
