![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
![[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. This week: Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.
🖋 🇺🇸 WONDERFUL WORDS: “Here once the embattled farmers stood”
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood, / Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, / Here once the embattled farmers stood / And fired the shot heard round the world.” (Our patriotic homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Ralph Waldo Emerson, for the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775.)
🗓 🦁 HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Leo Term
We divide the homeschool year into four three-month terms, and the midpoint of each term (following old calendrical tradition) is called the “cross-quarter day.” Today, April 15th, is the cross-quarter day of Leo Term, our spring term in the River Houses. How are things going in your homeschool?
🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS – April 2025
![[Homeschool Research Icon]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/research-150x80.jpg)
Our April 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 six items this month, on government regulation of homeschooling; homeschooling in the Philippines; homeschooling in Canada; alleged maltreatment of homeschool students; U.S. homeschooling trends; and public perceptions of homeschoolers.
🗓 🇺🇸 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 13 April 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 Revolutions, patriotic poems, marvelous messengers, cross-quarter days, polymathic painters, little birds, historic rivers, a toast to heroes, & more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Oregon, Nigeria, Oman, and More
![[Oregon State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/oregon-stamp-1982a-101x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Oregon, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, and Oman. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🌕 HOMESCHOOL CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECTS for April
Our April 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!
🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Regulus and Leo for April
![[Leo Star Chart]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/leo-regulus-chart-122x150.png)
Make the acquaintance of “the little king” Regulus in the constellation Leo the Lion this month, one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere night sky, and make it your homeschool friend for life.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Chickadees, Titmice, & Allies
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/birds-chickadees-150x99.jpg)
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 friendly and familiar Chickadees, Titmice, and their allies.
🐦 HOMESCHOOL NATURE NOTES: Watching Bird Migration with BirdCast
Introduce your young homeschool scientists to the wonderful BirdCast website. Track the birds that are migrating across the United States every night.
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Voyageurs National Park
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.
🖋 ☀️ WONDERFUL WORDS: Calmly We Walk Through This April’s Day
![[Heraclitus]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/heraclitus-stamp-1961-129x150.jpg)
“May memory restore again and again / The smallest color of the smallest day: / Time is the school in which we learn, / Time is the fire in which we burn.” (Our Heraclitean homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Delmore Schwartz, for April days.)
📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: Thomas Jefferson’s Book Collection
April 13th is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, so why not spend some quality homeschool time this week learning about Jefferson’s famous library. A ready-made lesson plan from the Library of Congress will help you.
🖋 🎨 HOMESCHOOL ARTS & LITERATURE: Wordsworth’s Lake District
![[William Wordsworth Commemorative Stamp (1970)]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wordsworth-stamp-1970-89x150.jpg)
On William Wordsworth’s birthday, why not introduce your homeschool students to the famous Lake District of England, a region that has inspired writers and visual artists for more than 200 years.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 6 April 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: American Revolutions, April poems, splendid speakers, cute birds, leonine stars, opening salvos, Nicaraguan rivers, a toast to the plow, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Minnesota, the Netherlands, Niger, and More
![[Minnesota State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/minnesota-stamp-1982a-96x150.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Minnesota, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, and Niger. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🖖 HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: Happy First Contact Day!
“Sure on this shining night / I weep for wonder wand’ring far alone / Of shadows on the stars.” (On this day in the year 2063, in a remote area near Bozeman, Montana, a Vulcan survey ship will make first contact with the human race. Perhaps some of today’s homeschoolers will be there to see it.)
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for April
![[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 April.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Larks and Swallows
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/birds-larks-150x94.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 terrestrial Larks and the aerial Swallows.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for April: “Meadows” and “Camelids”
![[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 “Meadows” and “Camels, Alpacas, and Llamas.” Take a look!
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in California.
🍝 HOMESCHOOL HOLIDAYS: The Annual Spaghetti Harvest in Switzerland
The annual spaghetti harvest in Ticino, Switzerland, is one of Europe’s great cultural traditions. Every well-educated homeschooler should know about it!
🖋 ☔️ WONDERFUL WORDS: “Whan that Aprill…”
“And smale foweles maken melodye / That slepen al the nyght with open ye / (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages).” (Our ancient homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Geoffrey Chaucer, for April showers.)
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Technological 600s
![[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 Technological 600s.
🗓 ☔️ 🌸 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL APRIL from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool April! 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 March 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Spaghetti harvests, April poems, alien visitors, famous painters, American authors, Dewey decimals, Burmese rivers, a toast to long life and prosperity, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: California, Myanmar, Nepal, and More
![[California State Bird & Flower]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/california-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: California, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, and Nepal. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
