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.
🗓 🌱 🐰 HAPPY HOMESCHOOL MARCH from the River Houses!
Happy homeschool March! Here are some little lessons, teaching traditions, and wonderful educational opportunities you and your students can watch for this month.
🗓 🦁 LEO 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 Leo Term, our spring term, named for the Great Lion of the Heavens. Leo Term runs from March through May.
🎉 📖 WONDERFUL WORDS: Happy Dord Day!
“Lexicógrapher. n.s. [λεξικὸν and γράφω; lexicographe, French.] A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words.” (A humorous homeschool holiday, for all lovers of words and dictionaries.)
🦜 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Parrots
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 Old World Parrots and the African and New World Parrots.
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Father Marquette National Memorial
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: the Father Marquette National Memorial in Michigan.
🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 23 February 2025
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons for the week ahead, including: Lunar eclipses, Grand Canyons, great poets, landmark decisions, funny words, ornithological poems, Luxembourgish rivers, a toast to the Great Hunter, and more!
🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Michigan, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, and More
Take a homeschool tour of the U.S. states and the countries of the world with the River Houses. This week: Michigan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Madagascar. Open up your atlas and almanac and follow along with us!
🔭 WONDERFUL WORDS: Watchers of the Skies
“Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes / He star’d at the Pacific — and all his men / Look’d at each other with a wild surmise — / Silent, upon a peak in Darien.” (Our visionary homeschool poem-of-the-week, from John Keats, for all homeschool stargazers.)
🇺🇸 PRESIDENTIAL ADVICE: “Drink not nor talk with your mouth full”
“Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad Company.” (The future President Washington has some advice for your homeschool students.)
🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Caracaras and Falcons
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 and fast-flying Falcons and Caracaras.
🚀 “THE RIVER HOUSES” is Still Exploring Mars!
NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars four years ago, and “The River Houses” went along for the ride — and so did ten million other earthly travelers.
☀️ 🌍 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE & HISTORY: Copernicus and His Revolutions
On Copernicus’ birthday, introduce your homeschool students to one of the most important books ever published: “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres” (1543).
🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Arkansas Post National Memorial
For America’s 250th anniversary, discover the history and landscape of the United States. This week: Arkansas Post National Memorial in Arkansas.