Our August 2023 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 homeschool nutrition, Missouri homeschool regulation, Chinese homeschooling, and more.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 13 August 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Strange signals, momentous amendments, colossal compositions, stout ships, August poems, frozen rivers, a toast to new worlds, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Hawaii and Antarctica
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week, as the year approaches its end, we visit Hawaii and Antarctica.
🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Vega for August and the End of the Homeschool Year
Make one last homeschool friend for the summer: our blue-white neighbor-star Vega in the constellation Lyra the Lyre, one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere night sky.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Our Annual Tour is Complete!
Our annual homeschool tour of the birds of North America is complete! Take a look back this week at all the wonderful feathered friends we made, and be sure to tune in next month for a new round of avian explorations for the new homeschool year that begins in September.
🌍 🇾🇪 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Socotra Archipelago in Yemen
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 Socotra Archipelago in Yemen.
🖋 🌠 WONDERFUL WORDS: A Star in a Stoneboat
“From following walls I never lift my eye, / Except at night to places in the sky / Where showers of charted meteors let fly.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for this month’s Perseid meteor shower.)
🇺🇸 HAPPY BIRTHDAY to General Nathanael Greene, “The Fighting Quaker”
Offer a homeschool toast to “The Fighting Quaker,” General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island, George Washington’s right-hand man and one of the great military strategists of the American Revolution. He was born on this day in 1742.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 6 August 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Perseid meteors, meteoric poems, marvelous museums, Mesoamerican calendars, celebrated generals, phamous physicists, Zimbabwean rivers, a toast to heroes, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Alaska, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Alaska, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
🌠 HOMESCHOOL ASTRONOMY: Perseid Meteors for August
Point your homeschool students to the constellation Perseus this month for the annual Perseid meteor shower, the lovely trail of debris left behind by Comet Swift–Tuttle.
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for August
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 August.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Accidental and Extinct Species (To Close the Year)
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 we wrap up the year with a look at a number of accidental and extinct North American birds from your bird guide’s appendix.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for August: “On Stage” and “Millet”
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 wrap up the current homeschool year) are “On Stage” and “Millet.” Take a look!
💰 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE LINCOLN CENT, “Born” This Day in 1909
The familiar Lincoln penny — you may have one in your pocket right now — first went into circulation on this day in 1909. It was struck to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
🌏 🇺🇿 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Samarkand in Uzbekistan
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: storied Samarkand in Uzbekistan.
🖋 🍻 WONDERFUL WORDS: To the Meteor Rolling Home
“Of thee we think, in a ring we link; / To the shearer of ocean’s fleece we drink, / And the Meteor rolling home.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Herman Melville, for his birthday and for this month’s Perseid meteor shower.)
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: On Beyond Dewey (To Close the Year)
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge as we take a year-long 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.
🗓 😎 ☀️ HAPPY HOMESCHOOL AUGUST from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool August! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 30 July 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Melville memorials, census commemorations, persevering publishers, poetical birthdays, Uzbekistani rivers, and a toast to the Meteor rolling home.
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Arizona, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Arizona, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, and Venezuela.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Blackbirds, Meadowlarks, Orioles, and Allies
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 and widespread Blackbirds, Meadowlarks, Orioles, Grackles, Cowbirds, and their allies.
🌎 🇺🇾 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Church of Atlántida in Uruguay
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 Church of Atlántida in Uruguay.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 23 July 2023
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Moth weeks, wild hares, Latin liberators, great comets, marvelous microscopists, universal languages, Uruguayan rivers, a toast to homecoming, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: New Mexico, the UAE, Uruguay, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: New Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay.
🖋 🔔 WONDERFUL WORDS: As Kingfishers Catch Fire
“Like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s / Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name.” (Our homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Gerard Manley Hopkins, for his birthday and for the halcyon days of summer.)
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Cardinals, Grosbeaks, and Allies
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 brilliant Cardinals and their allies, including the American Tanagers, Grosbeaks, and Buntings.
