![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
On this day in 1875, the meter was adopted as an international standard of measurement. That makes today World Metrology Day! Why not invite your students to take a few scientific measurements in your homeschool this week.
🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS for May
![[Homeschool Research Icon]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/research-150x80.jpg)
Our May 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 three items this month, on homeschooling trends in the United States; homeschool parents in Indonesia; and philosophical arguments against homeschooling.
🇨🇦 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC & HISTORY: “To find the hand of Franklin”
To understand a complex and beautiful piece of art or music, your students must first learn a great deal about the world — names, places, people, and events that may seem at first to be unrelated.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 18 May 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: American philosophers, maritime mysteries, graduation poems, inimitable investigators, Swedish naturalists, desert rivers, a toast to blissful days, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Colorado, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, and More
![[Colorado State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/colorado-stamp-1982a-102x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Colorado, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé & Príncipe, and Saudi Arabia. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🖋 🌟 WONDERFUL WORDS: Hymn to the North Star
“A beauteous type of that unchanging good, / That bright eternal beacon, by whose ray / The voyager of time should shape his heedful way.” (An extra astronomical homeschool poem-of-the-week, from William Cullen Bryant, for Polaris, our Great Star for the month of May.)
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Mockingbirds, Catbirds, and Thrashers
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/birds-mockingbirds-150x86.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 loquacious Mockingbirds, Catbirds, and Thrashers.
🖋 🍃 WONDERFUL WORDS: Robert Frost’s “Birches”
![[Robert Frost Stamp (1974)]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/robert-frost-stamp-1974-97x150.jpg)
“One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.” (Our youthful homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Robert Frost, for springtime play and growing up.)
🚀 HOMESCHOOL ASTRONOMY: Skylab, America’s First Space Station
Do you have a future astronaut in your homeschool? Then why not take a few minutes this week to learn about Skylab, America’s first space station, launched on this day in 1973.
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Scotts Bluff National Monument
![[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: Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska.
📚 🦉 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: The Macaulay Library of Natural History
Invite your homeschool naturalists to explore the sights and sounds of birds all over the world through the online collections of the Macaulay Library at Cornell University.
🌕 HOMESCHOOL CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECTS for May
Our May 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!
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 11 May 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Mother’s Days, space stations, horse races, dendrological poems, student projects, ancient instruments, Rwandan rivers, a toast to every mom, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Nebraska, Rwanda, Saint Vincent, and More
![[Nebraska State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/nebraska-stamp-1982a-100x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Nebraska, Rwanda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🚂 AMERICAN ICON: The Golden Spike of 1869
Teach a little homeschool history lesson today on the anniversary of the completion of the North American transcontinental railroad in 1869.
🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Polaris and Ursa Minor for May
![[Ursa Minor Star Chart]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/polaris-ursa-minor-chart-135x150.png)
Make the acquaintance of the pole star Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor this month, one of the most important stars in the northern hemisphere sky, and make it your homeschool friend and sky-mark for life.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Thrushes
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/birds-thrushes-150x112.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 melodious Thrushes.
🖋 🪺 WONDERFUL WORDS: Anne Bradstreet for Mother’s Day
“Great was my pain when I you bred, / Great was my care when I you fed. / Long did I keep you soft and warm / And with my wings kept off all harm.” (Our ornithological homeschool poem-of-the-week, from the early American poet Anne Bradstreet, for Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May.)
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Great Basin National Park
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States with your homeschool students. This week: Great Basin National Park in Nevada.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Artistic 700s
![[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 Artistic 700s.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 4 May 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Migrating birds, golden spikes, American explorers, tall buildings, fallen forts, marvelous musicians, Romanian rivers, a toast to the early bird, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Nevada, Portugal, Russia, and More
![[Nevada State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/nevada-stamp-1982a-100x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Nevada, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, and Russia. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for May: “Flowers” and “Flags”
![[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 “Flowers” and “Flags.” Take a look!
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for May
![[Homeschool Astronomy]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/emoji-telescope.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 May.
🐦 WHAT BIRDS ARE MIGRATING Through Your Neighborhood?
May is Bird Migration Month in the River Houses. Here’s how you can find out what birds are migrating though your homeschool neighborhood this month (or any month of the year).
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Sylviid Warblers and Allies
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/birds-sylviids-150x99.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 Sylviid Warblers, Leaf Warblers, Grasshopper-Warblers, and Old World Flycatchers and Chats.
📚 🌼 WONDERFUL WORDS: May and the Poets
“Come, ye rains, then if ye will, / May’s at home, and with me still; / But come rather, thou, good weather, / And find us in the fields together.” (Our literary homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Leigh Hunt, for the merry month of May.)
