“Dark and dull night, fly hence away, / And give the honor to this day, / That sees December turned to May.” (A modern Christmas masterpiece, with ancient words by Robert Herrick and new music by John Rutter, for Homeschool Holiday Music Month.)
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for December
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 December.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Skuas, Jaegers, Auks, Murres, & Puffins
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 Skuas and Jaegers, and the Auks, Murres, and Puffins, two widespread groups of oceanic birds.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Introducing John Rutter and His Carols
“How do you capture the wind on the water? / How do you count all the stars in the sky? / How can you measure the love of a mother? / Or how can you write down a baby’s first cry?” (Introducing the work of the great modern carol-composer John Rutter, for Homeschool Holiday Music Month.)
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for December: “Pastels” and “Footprints”
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 “Pastels” and “Footprints.” Take a look!
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: All Those Christmas Clichés
“I want the tree full of toys and tinsel, / I want the wreath on the red front door, / I want the elves in the yard and each sentimental card / Dripping glitter on the floor.” (The great Nancy LaMott wishes you a Merry Christmas.)
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Religious 200s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal system. This month: the Religious 200s.
🎵 📻 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: The Holiday Channel from WQXR
If you’d like to fill your homeschool with some beautiful background sounds this season, why not tune in to the 24-hour Holiday Channel from WQXR, the famous classical music radio station in New York City. It’s one of the easiest exercises in musical education you can do all year.
🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH is Here! Good Morrow, Masters All!
“Past three o’clock, / And a cold frosty morning, / Past three o’clock; / Good morrow, masters all!” (Welcome to Homeschool Holiday Music Month! Enjoy a sprightly late-night carol, and learn the traditional call of the winter watchmen.)
🖋 🗡 WONDERFUL WORDS: The Hunter Home From the Hill
“’Tis evening on the moorland free, / The starlit wave is still: / Home is the sailor from the sea, / The hunter from the hill.” (Our peaceful homeschool poem-of-the-week, from A.E. Housman, for the beginning of Orion Term.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 1 December 2024
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: New terms, new months, holiday music, annual almanacs, Dewey decimals, excellent engineers, Equatorial rivers, a toast to the chase, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Vermont, El Salvador, Estonia, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Vermont, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, and Estonia. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🗓 🎄 🎅 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL DECEMBER from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool December! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.
🗓 🗡 ORION TERM and the River Houses Homeschool Year
We divide the homeschool year into four three-month terms in the River Houses. Today is the first day of Orion Term, our winter term, named for the Great Hunter of the Heavens. Orion Term runs from December through February.
📚 HOMESCHOOL BOOKS: A New World Almanac for 2025
The annual World Almanac and Book of Facts is a one-volume desk encyclopedia that every homeschooling family should have.
📖 🦦 LOUISA MAY ALCOTT Gets a Visit From Horace the Otter
Our River Houses homeschool mascot, Horace the Otter, remembers the author of the popular American novel Little Women (1868) on the anniversary of her birth.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Sandpipers (Part II)
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 Sandpipers (Part II), familiar shorebirds all around the world.
🎵 🏡 THANKSGIVING MUSIC: “Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home”
“Through the air there’s a calling from far away, / There’s a voice I can hear that will lead me home.” (Some lovely music and words from Stephen Paulus and Michael Dennis Browne, for homeschool Thanksgiving.)
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Roger Williams National Memorial
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: the Roger Williams National Memorial in Rhode Island.
🎵 🍽 HOMESCHOOL THANKSGIVING: We Gather Together
Take two minutes this week to introduce your homeschool students to a beautiful four-hundred-year-old Dutch folk tune that has become an American Thanksgiving classic.
🦃 THANKSGIVING at the LIBRARY: Franklin Roosevelt Talks Turkey
President Franklin Roosevelt offers a stern admonition on how to prepare your turkey. (Oh, the things you can find in the library!)
📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARIES: Happy Birthday to Andrew Carnegie!
If you love libraries as much as we do, be thankful this Thanksgiving week for the life of Andrew Carnegie, born on this day in 1835. His philanthropy built more than 2500 libraries in cities and towns across the United States and around the world.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 24 November 2024
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Thanksgiving Days, American novelists, Alabama meteorites, shore birds, phamous philanthropists, Dominican rivers, a toast to two great fowls, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Rhode Island, Dominica, Egypt, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Rhode Island, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Egypt. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🎵 MUSICAL INTRODUCTIONS: Thomas Tallis, Master of Polyphony
Why not give thanks in your homeschool this Thanksgiving week for the life of Thomas Tallis, the grand master of early polyphonic music, who died on this day in 1585.
🖋 🦃 WONDERFUL WORDS: Delicious “Thanksgiving Magic”
“Oh, some like magic made by wands, / And some read magic out of books, / And some like fairy spells and charms / But I like magic made by cooks!” (Our delicious homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Rowena Bastin Bennett, for Thanksgiving!)