📸 PHOTO CHALLENGE for January: “Silos” and “Masks”

Calling all homeschool photographers! One of the independent projects we recommend for homeschoolers is the monthly Wikimedia Commons Photo Challenge. The January challenge is now open and the announced themes are “Silos” and “Masks.” You can see sample photos and learn how to submit your own entry here:

• ➢ Commons Photo Challenge – Open Themes (updated monthly)

The Wikimedia Commons Photo Challenge encourages people to take and submit high-quality images to the public Wikimedia Commons database, the source from which Wikipedia and many other websites (including ours) draw their images. Once you’ve registered and have submitted an entry, you can also participate in the selection of future themes and in the voting for the monthly winners.

If you have enthusiastic young photographers in your home academy, why not encourage them to sign up and submit an entry. Working on a specific theme over a period of a few weeks is a great way for students to develop both their technical camera skills and their visual composition skills. And if you submit a number of entries over time you can assemble a personal portfolio page to show off your work — that would be good experience in how to create a professional presentation of yourself for future employment or college admissions.

You can find more ideas for independent homeschool projects in a wide range of subject areas on our River Houses Lunar Society page.

What photographic, artistic, and scientific discoveries have you and your students been making in your homeschool this Orion Term? 😊

❡ Samples to study: You can find a complete archive of the themes, entries, and winners from previous months on the Wikimedia Commons Photo Challenge website. 🏅

❡ Explore more: The “Noted Personalities” section of your recommended world almanac includes a long list of “Artists, Photographers, and Sculptors of the Past.” Why not pick out a photographer or two to research each month, either online or on your next visit to your local library — it would be a great way to give your students a little extra artistic inspiration. 📸

❡ Whether they work together or apart: This is one of our regular “Lunar Society” posts about the many independent projects we recommend to homeschool students. Add your name to our weekly mailing list and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 📫

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

❡ Support our work: If you enjoy our educational materials, please support us by starting your regular Amazon shopping from our very own homeschool teaching supplies page. When you click through from our page, any purchase you make earns us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping us to keep going and growing! 🛒

❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡