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: Cocos Island National Park in Costa Rica.
🌠 🦁 HOMESCHOOL ASTRONOMY: Leonid Meteors for November
Take your young astronomers outside this week and look to the constellation Leo for the annual Leonid meteor shower.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 12 November 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Leonid meteors, magical movies, Gettysburg Addresses, wading birds, Costa Rican parks, Croatian rivers, a toast to freedom, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: New York, Costa Rica, Cuba, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: New York, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, and Cuba. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Algol and Perseus for November
Make the acquaintance of the variable star Algol this month — “the demon star” in the constellation Perseus the Hero and one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere sky — and make it your homeschool friend for life.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Lapwings, Plovers, and Jacanas
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 leggy Lapwings, Plovers, and Jacanas.
📚 🇺🇸 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.
🖋 🕊 THE ELEVENTH DAY of the Eleventh Month: We Will Remember Them
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: / Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. / At the going down of the sun and in the morning / We will remember them.” (Our commemorative homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Laurence Binyon, for Veterans Day and Armistice Day.)
🌎 🇨🇴 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Fortresses of Cartagena in Colombia
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 Port, Fortresses, and Monuments of Cartagena in Colombia.
🖋 🇺🇸 WONDERFUL WORDS: America’s Choosing Day
“These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships.” (An extra electoral homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Walt Whitman, for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.)
📚 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 SCIENCE & HISTORY: Happy Birthday to Marie Curie!
Happy birthday to the great Polish-French physicist, chemist, and two-time Nobel laureate Marie Skłodowska Curie, born on this day in 1867.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 5 November 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Veterans Days, falling stars, Dewey decimals, Mayflower compacts, celebrated chemists, Colombian rivers, a toast to remembrance, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Virginia, Colombia, Congo, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Virginia, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Kinshasa), and Congo Republic (Brazzaville). Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for November
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 November.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Stilts, Avocets, and Oystercatchers
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 long-legged Stilts, Avocets, and Oystercatchers.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for November: “Bicycles” and “Too Many to Count”
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 “Bicycles” and “Too Many to Count.” Take a look!
🖋 🍂 WONDERFUL WORDS: A Leaf-Treader
“I have been treading on leaves all day until I am autumn-tired. / God knows all the color and form of leaves I have trodden on and mired.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for the falling leaves.)
🌍 🇨🇫 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park in the Central African Republic
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: Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park in the Central African Republic.
🗓 🥧 🦃 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL NOVEMBER from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool November! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.
🏡 WELCOME! (Pinned Post)
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 add your name to our free mailing list! (Just one message a week and no spam.)
There’s a wealth of wonderful material here on our 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! 😊
🎃 🦇 👻 🏚 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL HALLOWEEN from Horace the Otter!
Horace the Otter, our River Houses mascot, hopes all his riverside neighbors and friends have a Happy Halloween!
🐦 BIRD-FEEDING SEASON is Here! (And so is Project FeederWatch!)
Setting up a bird feeder is one of the simplest and most educational homeschool activities you can do at any time of year. And by tracking the birds you see at your backyard feeder you can make a real contribution to science through Cornell University’s Project FeederWatch.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 29 October 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Spooky days, gunpowder plots, deciduous poems, religious reformations, drifting continents, African rivers, a toast to Hallowe’en, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: New Hampshire, Chad, China, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: New Hampshire, the Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, and China. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🌕 HOMESCHOOL “CITIZEN SCIENCE” PROJECTS for October
Our October full-moon report on the real “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!
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Limpkins, Rails, Gallinules, Coots, and Cranes
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 Limpkins, Rails, Gallinules, Coots, and Cranes.
