Our March 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 two items this month, on homeschooling and citizenship; and homeschooling in Indonesia.
🎭 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY & LITERATURE: “Lend Me Your Ears!”
Why not wrap up this special Julius Caesar Week in your homeschool by viewing and discussing several versions of a famous Shakespearean speech with your students.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 16 March 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Vernal equinoxes, evacuation days, stirring speeches, magnificent musicians, literary birthdays, spring poems, Moldovan rivers, a toast to unity, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Iowa, Mexico, Monaco, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Iowa, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, and Monaco. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🖋 🗡 WONDERFUL WORDS: The Ides of March
“And if you can’t curb your ambitions, / at least pursue them hesitantly, cautiously. / And the higher you go, / the more searching and careful you need to be.” (Our admonitory homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Constantine Cavafy, for the Ides of March. Beware!)
🗓 🗡 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: “The Ides of March are come”
Remembering the Ides of March, the famous date on which the Roman politician, general, and dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.
📡 JOIN A CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECT for Einstein’s Birthday
You and your young science students can join the search for undiscovered pulsars in deep space, right from the comfort of your own homeschool living room. (Really!) How cool is that?
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Shrikes and Vireos
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 predatory Shrikes and the plain but voluble Vireos.
🌕 HOMESCHOOL CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECTS for March
Our March 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!
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in Texas.
🌞 🌏 🌕 WONDERFUL WORDS: “The stellar gauge of earthly show”
“Is such the stellar gauge of earthly show, / Nation at war with nation, brains that teem, / Heroes, and women fairer than the skies?” (An extra astronomical homeschool poem-of-the-week, a sonnet-masterpiece from Thomas Hardy, for this week’s lunar eclipse.)
📜 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: A Free Course on the Book of Kells
Here’s a treat for homeschool history and art students: a free course on one of the world’s most famous books, The Book of Kells, from Trinity College in Ireland.
🗡 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY & LITERATURE: ”Beware the Ides of March“
Let Shakespeare help you and your students remember one of the most famous dates in ancient history: the Ides of March in 44 B.C.
🌞 🌏 🌕 TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: 13–14 March 2025 (Thursday–Friday)
Invite your young homeschool astronomers to view the total lunar eclipse coming up on 13–14 March 2025 (Thursday–Friday night).
🎻 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Introducing Barber’s Adagio and Agnus Dei
Today is the birthday of the great American classical composer Samuel Barber (1910–1981). Introduce your homeschool students to one of his most famous works this week and give them a new treasure for life.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 9 March 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Lunar eclipses, unheeded warnings, Einsteinian birthdays, rocket revolutions, Martian mysteries, Maltese marshes, a toast to cleverness, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Texas, Malta, Mauritius, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Texas, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Mauritania, and Mauritius. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🖋 🔭 WONDERFUL WORDS: When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer
“Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, / In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.” (Our contrary homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Walt Whitman, for John Herschel and Albert Einstein.)
🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Sirius and Canis Major for March
Make the acquaintance of the brilliant nearby star Sirius, “the dog star,” in the constellation Canis Major this month — the brightest star in earth’s night sky — and make it your homeschool friend for life.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Tyrant Flycatchers and Becards
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 Tyrant Flycatchers and the Becards.
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for March: “Hiking” and “Newspapers”
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 “Hiking” and “Newspapers.” Take a look!
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: De Soto National Memorial
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: De Soto National Memorial in Florida.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Scientific 500s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Scientific 500s.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 2 March 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Leonine terms, lunar eclipses, amazing artists, skeptical poems, brilliant stars, Dewey decimals, time warps, Malaysian rivers, a toast to the Alamo, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Florida, Malawi, Mali, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Florida, Malawi, Malaysia, the Maldives, and Mali. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🖋 🏔 WONDERFUL WORDS: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
“The river is moving. / The blackbird must be flying.” (Our imagistic homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Wallace Stevens, for the earliest birds of spring.)
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for March
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 March.