![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
![[Boötes Star Chart]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/arcturus-122x150.png)
Introduce your homeschool students to the ancient orange giant Arcturus in the constellation Boötes the Herdsman this month, one of the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere’s night sky, and make it their friend for life.
📖 🖋 THOREAU’S BIRTHDAY and Homeschool Journaling
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” (Happy birthday to the great American writer Henry David Thoreau, born on this day in 1817. Check him out at your local library this week.)
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Emberizid Sparrows (Part II)
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/birds-emberizids-ii-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 diverse and ubiquitous Emberizid Sparrows (Part II).
🌍 🇹🇷 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Historic Areas of Istanbul in Turkey
![[Flag of Turkey]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/flag-turkey-150x100.jpg)
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 Historic Areas of Istanbul in Turkey.
🌕 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE: Lunar Samples for Your Local Library
![[Apollo Moon Rover Stamp 1971]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/apollo-moon-rover-stamp-1971-150x95.jpg)
With help from your local librarians you might be able to bring some real moon rocks to your town, courtesy of NASA. It’s a homeschool project worth exploring!
🖋 🕊 WONDERFUL WORDS: Liberty and Peace
“As from the East th’ illustrious King of Day, / With rising Radiance drives the Shades away, / So Freedom comes array’d with Charms divine, / And in her Train Commerce and Plenty shine.” (Our hopeful homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Phillis Wheatley, for independent America.)
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 7 July 2024
![[Weekly Homeschool Almanac]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/calendar-2-150x85.jpg)
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Peaceful poems, bright stars, American philosophers, moon phases, sliced bread, ancient civilizations, hot days, Tunisian rivers, a wish for wisdom, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Utah, Tonga, Turkey, and More
![[Utah State Flag]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/flag-utah-1913-150x94.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Utah, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, and Turkey. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🌝 KNOW YOUR MOONS 🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑
![[Full Moon Stamp]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/us-moon-stamp-2016-150x150.jpg)
Celebrate the anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969 by teaching your homeschool students the phases of the moon. You can even use emojis to do it!
🔭 WATCHERS OF THE SKIES: Homeschool Astronomy for July
![[Homeschool Astronomy]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/emoji-telescope-large-150x150.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 July.
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Emberizid Sparrows (Part I)
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/birds-emberizids-i-150x111.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 diverse and ubiquitous Emberizid Sparrows (Part I).
📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for July: “Bread” and “Manhole Covers”
![[Homeschool Photography Icon]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/emoji-camera-flash-2-150x143.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 “Bread” and “Manhole Covers.” Take a look!
📜 🇺🇸 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Independence Day and the Declaration
Be sure to add a visit to the National Archives and the Declaration of Independence itself (in person or online) to your homeschool Fourth of July calendar!
🌍 🇹🇬 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Koutammakou in Togo
![[Flag of Togo]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/flag-togo-150x93.png)
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: Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba in Togo.
🇺🇸 🥂 HOMESCHOOL TOASTING TRADITIONS the Whole Year Round
Why not begin the delightful tradition of offering a toast around your family table each week. This classic Independence Day toast is a perfect way to get started.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Historical & Geographical 900s
![[Dewey Decimal Classes]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/dewey-decimal-classes-2-150x90.jpg)
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Historical & Geographical 900s.
🖋 🇺🇸 WONDERFUL WORDS: William Emerson on “A Nation’s Strength”
![[Constitution Stamp 1987]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/we-the-people-stamp-1987-150x82.jpg)
“Not gold but only men can make / A people great and strong.” (Our patriotic homeschool poem-of-the-week, from William Ralph Emerson, for Independence Day.)
🗓 🎆 🇺🇸 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL JULY from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool July! 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 June 2024
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Independence Days, moon months, Continental armies, scientific masterpieces, undeciphered disks, Dewey decimals, Thai rivers, a toast to a goose, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Wyoming, Tanzania, Togo, and More
![[Wyoming State Flag]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/flag-wyoming-1917-150x105.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Wyoming, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Togo.
🌠 JOIN A HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE PROJECT for International Asteroid Day!
You and your students can help astronomers study the shapes and orbits of real asteroids in space, right from the comfort of your little home academy. How cool is that?
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Tropical Tanagers and the Western Spindalis
![[Homeschool Science & Nature Study]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/birds-tanagers-150x101.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 tropical Tanagers and the peculiar Western Spindalis.
🔭 ☄️ HOMESCHOOL ASTRONOMY: The Most Beautiful Objects in the Universe
Happy birthday to the great French astronomer Charles Messier (1730–1817), who cataloged some of the most beautiful nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies in the universe — so he could ignore them.
🌏 🇹🇯 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Ancient Sarazm in Tajikistan
![[Flag of Tajikistan]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/flag-tajikistan-150x75.png)
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 Proto-Urban Site of Sarazm in Tajikistan.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 23 June 2024
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Cosmic catalogues, children’s authors, asteroid days, extraordinary explorers, momentous struggles, Swiss rivers, a toast to your local birds, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Idaho, Switzerland, Tajikistan, and More
![[Idaho State Flag]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/flag-idaho-1957-150x118.png)
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Idaho, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, and Tajikistan. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🖋 🚂 WONDERFUL WORDS: “It was late June”
![[Blackbird Stamp 1966]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/blackbird-stamp-uk-1966-150x90.jpg)
“And for that minute a blackbird sang / Close by, and round him, mistier, / Farther and farther, all the birds / Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.” (Our timely homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Edward Thomas, for late June and the birds of summer.)
