Post Archives: Quick Freshes for Homeschool Families

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-04-14 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Visit our River Houses calendar page (riverhouses.org/calendars) and print your own homeschool calendars for the entire year.

This is a special week that we mark each year in the River Houses: the week of the Nineteenth of April, the day the American Revolution began in 1775.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Oregon, and our countries are Nigeria 🇳🇬, Norway 🇳🇴, Oman 🇴🇲, and Pakistan 🇵🇰. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌔 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is gibbous and waxing, heading toward full on the 19th. You can dial up this week’s constellations and explore the moon’s features with your homeschool star atlas and world atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 14 April) — Today is the 104th day of 2019; there are 261 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Today is also the birthday of the great Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598), who produced the first atlas of the world. 🌍

Monday (15 April) — On this day in 1912, the passenger liner R.M.S. Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, two hours after striking an iceberg. More than 1500 passengers and crew died in the accident. 🚢 Today is also the birthday of the great Renaissance painter and polymath Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519). 🎨 Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for the third week of April is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Concord Hymn,” for the beginning of the American Revolution. Print your own River Houses Poetry Calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

Tuesday (16 April) — On this day in the year 73, the Jewish fortress of Masada fell to the Roman army after several months of siege. ✡️ And on this day in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for protesting segregation in Alabama. 📃

Wednesday (17 April) — On this day in 1524, the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano (1485–1528) became the first European to sail into what is now New York harbor. ⚓️ Today is also the birthday of the great American novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder (1897–1975). 🖋

Thursday (18 April) — On the evening of this day in 1775, Paul Revere and a network of alarm riders fanned out from Boston to warn the surrounding countryside that British troops were marching overnight to seize the colonists’ stores of arms and ammunition in the nearby town of Concord. Join us today for a special reading of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous American poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.” 🏇 And on this day in 1906, a major earthquake and fire destroyed much of San Francisco, California.

Friday (19 April) — The American Revolution began on this day in 1775 when British troops fired on the local militia on Lexington Green and then advanced to Concord where they met with growing resistance and were driven back to Boston. By the end of the day, 49 Americans and 73 British soldiers had been killed. ⚔️ And, there’s a full moon tonight, so that means we’ll have a report on student research projects from the River Houses Lunar Society (riverhouses.org/lunar-society). 🌕

Saturday (20 April) — Over the course of this day in 1775, 15,000 men from towns across Massachusetts and adjacent parts of New Hampshire and Rhode Island surrounded Boston and bottled-up the city’s British garrison, beginning an eleven-month siege that ended when British troops evacuated the city on 17 March 1776. 🎆 Today is also the birthday, coincidentally, of American sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850–1931), whose first important commission was the Minuteman statue that stands today at Concord’s North Bridge.

Sunday (21 April) — After a week of war commemorations, spend a few peaceful homeschool minutes with the great “Alleluia” of American composer Randall Thompson, born on this day in 1899. 🎵 Tradition says that on this day in 753 B.C., the legendary king Romulus founded the city of Rome. 👑 And on this day in 1836, Texas forces under Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army commanded by General Antonio López de Santa Anna in the Battle of San Jacinto.

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May the light of reason shine upon our land, and dispel the gloom of ignorance forever.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called Pocock’s Everlasting Songster (Gravesend, 1804). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Ordinarily we post a Weekly World River from one of our countries-of-the-week, but we make one exception each year: in honor of the Nineteenth of April, this week’s World River is always the quiet Concord River, just west of Boston, which has figured prominently in the American imagination for more than 200 years. You can read more about it in the comprehensive Concord River entry in Wikipedia or on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week, or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Lively springs: This is one of our regular “Quick Freshes” posts looking at the homeschool week ahead. Add your name to our River Houses mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get these weekly messages delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. You can also print your own River Houses calendars of educational events (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us. 👍

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-04-07 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Visit our River Houses calendar page (riverhouses.org/calendars) and print your own homeschool calendar for the entire year.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Minnesota, and our countries are the Netherlands 🇳🇱, New Zealand 🇳🇿, Nicaragua 🇳🇮, and Niger 🇳🇪. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌒 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is a waxing crescent — a good time for stargazing! You can dial up this week’s constellations and explore the moon’s features with your homeschool star atlas and world atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 7 April) — Today is the 97th day of 2019; there are 268 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Today is also the birthday of the great English poet William Wordsworth (1770–1850). 🖋

Monday (8 April) — On this day in 1820, the famous ancient statue now known as the Venus de Milo was discovered on the Greek island of Milos in the southern Aegean Sea. 🏛 Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for the second week of April is Delmore Schwartz’s “Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day,” a deeply philosophical high-school-level poem for spring. 🌸 Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

Tuesday (9 April) — Today is the birthday of the great engineer with the great name: Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859). (You may be cool, but you’ll never be Isambard-Kingdom-Brunel-in-a-top-hat-smoking-a-cigar-in-front-of-the-biggest-chains-in-the-world cool.) 🚢 And on this day in 1865, Confederate general Robert E. Lee formally surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.

Wednesday (10 April) — Today is the birthday of William Booth (1829–1912), the founder of the Salvation Army.

Thursday (11 April) — Today is the birthday of the strange and wonderful eighteenth-century poet Christopher Smart (1722–1771). 🐈 It’s also the birthday of American educator and statesman Edward Everett (1794–1865), one of the most celebrated orators of his day, who had the misfortune of speaking for the two hours before Abraham Lincoln delivered his two-minute Gettysburg Address in 1863. 🇺🇸

Friday (12 April) — On this day in 1861, Confederate artillery opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, touching off the American Civil War. (For a quick review of the Civil War, turn to page 314 in your River Houses history encyclopedia.) ⚔️ And on this day in 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968) became the first human being ever to orbit the earth. (Find him also in your history encyclopedia on page 578.) 🚀

Saturday (13 April) — Today is the birthday of Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States. 🇺🇸 The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated on this day in 1943 by President Franklin Roosevelt, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth. 🏛

Sunday (14 April) — Today is the birthday of the great cartographer Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598), who produced history’s first atlas of the world. 🌍 And on this day in 1986, more than 90 people were killed when the heaviest hailstones ever recorded (more than two pounds each) fell on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh. ⛈

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May our passions never overturn our reason.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called Pocock’s Everlasting Songster (Gravesend, 1804). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: The Netherlands is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Amstel River, which flows through the Netherlands’ capital city of Amsterdam (which in turn takes its name from an ancient dam on this river). You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Amstel River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

AND DON’T FORGET: Friday the 13th comes on a Saturday this month! 🙀

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Lively springs: This is one of our regular “Quick Freshes” posts looking at the homeschool week ahead. Add your name to our River Houses mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get these weekly messages delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. You can also print your own River Houses calendars of educational events (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us. 👍

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-03-31 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Visit our River Houses calendar page (riverhouses.org/calendars) and print your own homeschool calendar for the entire year.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is California, and our COUNTRIES are Myanmar 🇲🇲, Namibia 🇳🇦, Nauru 🇳🇷, and Nepal 🇳🇵. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌘 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is a waning crescent — a good time for stargazing! You can dial up this week’s constellations and explore the moon’s features with your homeschool star atlas and world atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 31 March) — Today is the 90th day of 2019; there are 275 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ The great French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes was born on this day in 1596 📈 And on this day in 1774, Great Britain ordered the closure of the major trading port of Boston, escalating the tensions that would eventually lead to the American Revolution. 🇺🇸

MONDAY (1 April) — Monday is the birthday of the great English physician William Harvey (1578–1657), who first described the circulation of the blood in the human body. ❤️ It’s also the traditional date of the annual spaghetti harvest in Ticino, Switzerland. 🍝 Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for the first week of April is the Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, which opens with April showers. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

TUESDAY (2 April) — The United States Mint was established on this day in 1792. 💰 It’s also the birthday of the Danish novelist and children’s author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). 📚 And since this is the first Tuesday of the month, today we’ll invite you to browse a new Dewey Decimal class with your students on your next visit to your local library. This month: the Technological 600s.

WEDNESDAY (3 April) — Today is the birthday of the great English poet George Herbert (1593–1633). 🖋 It’s also the birthday of the American naturalist and author John Burroughs (1837–1921). 🌲

THURSDAY (4 April) — Today is the birthday of the American Quaker artist Edward Hicks (1780–1849), famous for his “Peaceable Kingdom.” 🎨

FRIDAY (5 April) — Happy First Contact Day! 🖖 On this day in 2063, a Vulcan ship will land near Bozeman, Montana, bringing to an end our long galactic childhood. 🚀 And since this is the first Friday of the month, we’ll post our regular monthly preview today of some of the astronomical events you and your students can be on the lookout for over the next few weeks. (No First Contact yet, alas.)

SATURDAY (6 April) — The Civil War Battle of Shiloh began on this day in 1862 near Shiloh, Tennessee. ⚔️

SUNDAY (7 April) — Today is the birthday of the great English poet William Wordsworth (1770–1850).

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST, for First Contact Day: “Peace and long life.” 🖖 Response: “Live long and prosper.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called Pocock’s Everlasting Songster (Gravesend, 1804). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Namibia is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is Namibia’s Fish River, a major tributary of the Orange River, which is one of the principal rivers of southern Africa. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Fish River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Lively springs: This one of our regular “Quick Freshes” posts looking at the homeschool week ahead. Add your name to our River Houses mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get these weekly messages delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. You can also print your own River Houses calendar of educational events (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us. 👍

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Visit our River Houses calendar page (riverhouses.org/calendars) and print your own homeschool calendar for the entire year.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Wisconsin, and our COUNTRIES are Mongolia 🇲🇳, Montenegro 🇲🇪, Morocco 🇲🇦, and Mozambique 🇲🇿. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.) We’re testing out the relatively new state flag emojis. This should be the Wisconsin state flag — let’s see if it works: 🏴󠁵󠁳󠁷󠁩󠁿 (I just see a black rectangle. What do you see?)

🌖 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is gibbous and waning — a good time for moon watching and an increasingly good time for stargazing! You can dial up this week’s constellations and explore the moon’s features with your homeschool star atlas and world atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 24 March) — Today is the 83rd day of 2019; there are 282 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Today is also the birthday of the great Victorian artist and designer William Morris (1834–1896). 🖌 And the famous Hungarian-American magician Harry Houdini was born on this day in 1874. 🎩 Shazam!

MONDAY (25 March) — Monday is the birthday of the American agronomist and Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug (1914–2009), who may have saved more lives than any human being in history. For some notes on his importance, see pages 464–465 in your River Houses history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books). 🌱

TUESDAY (26 March) — On this day in 1812, the Gerrymander was born! ☑️ And on this day in 1830, The Book of Mormon was first published in Palmyra, New York. 📖 Three great writers were also born on this day: A.E. Housman (1859–1936), Robert Frost (1874–1963), and Tennessee Williams (1911–1983). 🖋

WEDNESDAY (27 March) — Today is the birthday of the early Christian bishop and scholar Jerome (347–420), whose Latin translation of the Bible, called the Vulgate version, was the standard scriptural text in the Western world for more than a thousand years. ✝️ And on this day in 1912, the Japanese government presented a gift of 3000 cherry trees to the United States to line the banks of the Potomac River and other sites in Washington, D.C., where they and their successors may still be seen today. 🌸

THURSDAY (28 March) — The great Italian painter and architect Raphael was born on this day in 1483. 🎨

FRIDAY (29 March) — Today is the birthday of two unrelated Waltons: the English composer William Walton (1902–1983) and the American businessman Sam Walton (1918–1992), the founder of Walmart. 💵

SATURDAY (30 March) — On this day in 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for about two cents an acre. 🏴󠁵󠁳󠁡󠁫󠁿

SUNDAY (31 March) — The great French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes was born on this day in 1596 📈 And on this day in 1774, Great Britain ordered the closure of the major trading port of Boston, escalating the tensions that would eventually lead to the American Revolution. 🇺🇸

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “To constancy in love and sincerity in friendship.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called Pocock’s Everlasting Songster (Gravesend, 1804). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Morocco is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Ziz River, which rises on the eastern slopes of Morocco’s snow-capped Atlas Mountains and then flows east until it passes into Algeria and vanishes in the Sahara desert. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Ziz River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Iowa, and our COUNTRIES are Mexico 🇲🇽, Micronesia 🇫🇲, Moldova 🇲🇩, and Monaco 🇲🇨. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌔 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is gibbous and waxing, heading toward full on the 20th. You can dial up this week’s constellations and explore the moon’s features with your homeschool star atlas and world atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 17 March) — Today is the 76th day of 2019; there are 289 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Erin go Bragh! (Ireland forever!) ☘️ On this day in 1776, British forces evacuated Boston after eleven months of siege. It was George Washington’s first victory in the American Revolution. 🇺🇸

MONDAY (18 March) — Today is the birthday of the great World War I poet Wilfred Owen (1893–1918). 🖋 And on this day in 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov (b. 1934) became the first person to walk in space (for 12 minutes). 🚀

TUESDAY (19 March) — According to tradition, this is the day each year when the swallows come back to Capistrano (the San Juan Capistrano Mission, that is, in Orange County, California).

WEDNESDAY (20 March) — Happy First Day of Spring! 🌸 Today is the March Equinox, also known as the Vernal (Spring) Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the Autumnal (Fall) Equinox in the southern hemisphere (where today is the first day of fall). 🗓 Today is also the birthday of Mister Fred Rogers (1928–2003), everybody’s favorite neighbor. 🏡 And, there’s a full moon tonight, so that means we’ll have a report on student research projects from the River Houses Lunar Society (riverhouses.org/lunar-society). 🌕

THURSDAY (21 March) — Thursday is the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), one of the greatest musical composers in history. 🎵

FRIDAY (22 March) — Today is the birthday of the English artist Randolph Caldecott (1846–1886), for whom the famous Caldecott awards for illustrated children’s books are named. 🎨 Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for the fourth week of March is Robert Frost’s melancholy meditation “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” for early spring. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

SATURDAY (23 March) — On this day in 1775 at St. Joseph’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech “Give me liberty, or give me death!” 🇺🇸

SUNDAY (24 March) — Today is the birthday of the great Victorian artist and designer William Morris (1834–1896). 🖌 And it’s also the birthday of the Hungarian-American magician Harry Houdini (1874–1926). 🎩 Shazam!

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “To a light heart and a heavy purse.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called Pocock’s Everlasting Songster (Gravesend, 1804). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Mexico is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the beautiful Yaqui River in northwestern Mexico. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Yaqui River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Texas, and our COUNTRIES are Malta 🇲🇹, the Marshall Islands 🇲🇭, Mauritania 🇲🇷, and Mauritius 🇲🇺. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌒 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is waxing crescent — a good time for stargazing! You can dial up this week’s constellations and explore the moon’s features with your homeschool star atlas and world atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 10 March) — Today is the 69th day of 2019; there are 296 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Today is Harriet Tubman Day — a great day to celebrate freedom! 🎆

MONDAY (11 March) — Monday is the birthday of Vannevar Bush (1890–1974), one of the pioneering thinkers of the early computer age, who envisioned something like the World Wide Web all the way back in 1945. 🖥

TUESDAY (12 March) — Today is “Girl Scouts’ Birthday,” commemorating the establishment of the first American girl scout troop by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia, in 1912.

WEDNESDAY (13 March) — Today is the birthday of the American businessman, mathematician, and astronomer Percival Lowell (1855–1916), who inspired generations of science-fiction writers with his claim that there was an extensive network of canals on the surface of Mars. 👽

THURSDAY (14 March) — Happy Pi Day! (3/14, that is.) 𝝿 And happy birthday also to the great German-American physicist Albert Einstein (1879–1955). ⚛️

FRIDAY (15 March) — Beware the Ides of March! 🗡 On the ancient Roman calendar, the 15th of March is called the “Ides,” or midpoint, of the month. On the Ides of March in 44 B.C., the military dictator Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and several other Roman senators. This ultimately unsuccessful coup led to the consolidation of Rome as an Empire under Caesar’s successors and its decline as a Republic. 🖋 And speaking of bewaring, our homeschool poem-of-the-week for the third week of March is “The Ides of March” by Constantine Cavafy (1863–1933), for, um, the Ides of March! Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

SATURDAY (16 March) — Today is the birthday of James Madison (1751–1836), “Father of the Constitution” and the 4th President of the United States. 🇺🇸 And on this day in 1926 in a field in Auburn, Massachusetts, Robert Goddard (1882–1945) launched the first experimental liquid-fueled rocket. 🚀

SUNDAY (17 March) — Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Erin go Bragh! (Ireland forever!) ☘️ On this day in 1776, British forces evacuated Boston after eleven months of siege. It was George Washington’s first victory in the American Revolution. 🇺🇸

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “Sic semper tyrannis!” (“Thus ever to tyrants!” Said to have been uttered by Brutus as he stabbed the dictator Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.; also, the state motto of Virginia.)

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called Pocock’s Everlasting Songster (Gravesend, 1804). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Mauritania is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Senegal River, which flows along the border between Mauritania and Senegal. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Senegal River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

AND DON’T FORGET: Friday the 13th comes on a Wednesday this month! 🙀

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

✦ This is the first full week of LEO TERM, our Spring Term in the River Houses (riverhouses.org/2019-leo-term).

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Florida, and our COUNTRIES are Malawi 🇲🇼, Malaysia 🇲🇾, the Maldives 🇲🇻, and Mali 🇲🇱. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌘 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is waning crescent heading toward new on the 6th — a very good time for stargazing! You can dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 3 March) — Today is the 62nd day of 2019; there are 303 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ The Scottish-American engineer Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born on this day in 1847. 📞 And on this day in 1931, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was officially adopted as the U.S. national anthem. 🇺🇸

MONDAY (4 March) — The first session of the First United States Congress opened on this day in Federal Hall in New York in 1789, putting the Constitution into effect.

TUESDAY (5 March) — Today is the birthday of the great Flemish mathematician and cartographer Gerardus Mercator (1512–1594). 🗺 On this day in 1770, British troops shot and killed five protestors on the streets of Boston in what quickly came to be known as the Boston Massacre. ⚰️ And since this is the first Tuesday of the month, today we’ll invite you to browse a new Dewey Decimal class with your students on your next visit to your local library. This month: the Scientific 500s.

WEDNESDAY (6 March) — Today is the birthday of the great Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo (1475–1564). 🎨 It’s also the birthday of the great English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861). 🖋 And on this day in 1836 during the Texas Revolution, the Alamo fell. Remember!

THURSDAY (7 March) — Today is the birthday of the British astronomer and polymath John Herschel (1792–1871), one of the great scientists of the nineteenth century. 🔭

FRIDAY (8 March) — Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for second week of March is Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” contrariwise for John Herschel (whose birthday was yesterday) and Albert Einstein (whose birthday is next Thursday). Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

SATURDAY (9 March) — Today is the birthday of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), the father of “America.” 🌎 It’s also the birthday of the great American composer and pianist Samuel Barber (1910–1981). 🎵

SUNDAY (10 March) — Today is Harriet Tubman Day — a great day to celebrate freedom! 🎆

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST, for Harriet Tubman: “To life, love, and liberty.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called Pocock’s Everlasting Songster (Gravesend, 1804). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Mali in western Africa is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Bafing River, which forms part of the border between Mali and Guinea to the southwest. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Bafing River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Michigan, and our COUNTRIES are Lithuania 🇱🇹, Luxembourg 🇱🇺, Macedonia 🇲🇰, and Madagascar 🇲🇬. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌖 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is gibbous and waning — a good time for moon watching! You can dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 24 February) — Today is the 55th day of 2019; there are 310 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ On this day in 1803, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison, establishing the principle of judicial review. ⚖️

MONDAY (25 February) — The first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress, Hiram Rhodes Revels of Mississippi, was sworn in on this day in 1870. 🇺🇸 And today is the birthday of the great French impressionist painter and sculptor Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919). 🎨

TUESDAY (26 February) — Today is the birthday of the German-American clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss (1829–1902). 👖 It’s also the birthday of the great American songwriter and rock-and-roll pioneer Antoine “Fats” Domino (1928–2017). 🎹

WEDNESDAY (27 February) — Today is the birthday of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), one of the most popular poets of the nineteenth century. 🖋

THURSDAY (28 February) — Happy Dord Day! 🎉

FRIDAY (1 March) — Today is the beginning of LEO TERM in the River Houses. 🦁 It’s also the birthday of the great Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849). 🎵 Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for first week of March is an excerpt from “Aurora Leigh” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, for her upcoming birthday. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year. 🖋 And since this is the first Friday of the month, we’ll also post our regular monthly preview today of some of the astronomical events you and your students can be on the lookout for over the next few weeks. 🌠

SATURDAY (2 March) — Today is the birthday of Sam Houston (1793–1863), the first President of the Republic of Texas. ☆

SUNDAY (3 March) — The Scottish-American engineer Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born on this day in 1847. 📞 And on this day in 1931, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was officially adopted as the U.S. national anthem. 🇺🇸

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May the friends of our youth be the companions of our age.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Madagascar is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Namorona River, flowing from the central Madagascan highlands east into the Indian Ocean. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Namorona River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Arkansas, and our COUNTRIES are Lesotho 🇱🇸, Liberia 🇱🇷, Libya 🇱🇾, and Liechtenstein 🇱🇮. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌔 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is gibbous and waxing — a good time for moonwatching! You can dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🐦 THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT is underway this weekend! I hope you and your students are counting — along with thousands of other people across the country and around the world!

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 17 February) — Today is the 48th day of 2019; there are 317 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Today is also the birthday of the great Italian violinist and composer Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713).

MONDAY (18 February) — The famous American stained-glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany was born on this day in 1848.

TUESDAY (19 February) — Today is the birthday of the Polish astronomer and polymath Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), one of the truly great figures in the history of science. 🌞 And, there’s a full moon tonight, so that means we’ll have a report on student research projects today from the River Houses Lunar Society. 🌝

WEDNESDAY (20 February) — Today is the birthday of the great American photographer Ansel Adams (1902–1984). 📸

THURSDAY (21 February) — On this day in 1918, the last individual Carolina Parakeet — the only species of parrot native to the United States — died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo. 😔

FRIDAY (22 February) — Today is the birthday of George Washington (1732–1799), the first President of the United States. 🇺🇸 And speaking of presidents, on this day in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge delivered the first-ever radio address from the White House. 📻 Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for last week of February is John Keats’ “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer,” for the anniversary of Keats’ death in 1821. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

SATURDAY (23 February) — Today is the birthday of the great German-English composer George Frideric Handel (1685–1759).

SUNDAY (24 February) — On this day in 1803, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison, establishing the principle of judicial review. ⚖️ And today is the birthday of the American painter and illustrator Winslow Homer (1836–1910). 🎨

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May our friendships be independent of time and be matured by character.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Lesotho is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is northern Lesotho’s Malibamat’so River. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Malibamat’so River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Missouri, and our COUNTRIES are Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬, Laos 🇱🇦, Latvia 🇱🇻, and Lebanon 🇱🇧. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌒 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is waxing crescent — a good time for stargazing! You can dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 10 February) — Today is the 41st day of 2019; there are 324 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ It’s also the traditional Christian feast day of Saint Scholastica (ca. 480–543), the patroness of schools and education. 🎓

MONDAY (11 February) — Today is the birthday of the great American inventor Thomas Edison (1847–1931).💡

TUESDAY (12 February) — Two major historical figures of the nineteenth century were both born on this day in 1809: Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) and Charles Darwin (1809–1882).

WEDNESDAY (13 February) — Today is the birthday of the American artist Grant Wood (1891–1942). ⬩ It’s also the birthday of the American aviator Chuck Yeager (b. 1923), the first person to break the sound barrier

THURSDAY (14 February) — Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️ Here’s hoping your little home academy will be full of love on this day and every day throughout the year.

FRIDAY (15 February) — Today is the birthday of the Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galileo (1564–1642), one of the most important figures in the history of science. 🔭 It’s also the birthday of the American women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906). ⬩ Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for third week of February is Stephen Spender’s minor masterpiece “The Truly Great,” for the remarkable collection of important people born in February. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us.

SATURDAY (16 February) — This is the first day of the 2019 Great Backyard Bird Count! It’s an ideal homeschool activity, sponsored by Cornell University. Visit birdcount.org and join in the fun! 🐦

SUNDAY (17 February) — Today is the birthday of the great Italian violinist and composer Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713).

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST is our traditional naval offering for Valentine’s Day: “To the wind that blows, and the ship that goes, and the lass that loves a sailor.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Lebanon is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Litani River, the longest river in Lebanon. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Litani River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

AND DON’T FORGET: Friday the 13th comes on a Wednesday this month! 🙀

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Maine, and our COUNTRIES are North Korea 🇰🇵, South Korea 🇰🇷, Kosovo 🇽🇰, and Kuwait 🇰🇼. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌘 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is a waning crescent, heading toward new on the 4th — a good time for stargazing! You can dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 3 February) — Today is the 34th day of 2019; there are 331 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the moon on this day in 1966. ⬩ And today is the birthday of the American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894–1978).

MONDAY (4 February) — Calling all homeschool artists: it’s Color Our Collections Week! 🖍 On this day in 1789, the Electoral College unanimously chose George Washington to be the first President of the United States. 🇺🇸 Today is also the birthday of Joshua Abraham Norton (1818–1880), better known of Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, an American original. 👑

TUESDAY (5 February) — The largest gold nugget ever found, nicknamed the Welcome Stranger, was discovered in Moliagul, Australia, on this day in 1869. It contained more than 200 pounds of gold. ⬩ And since this is the first Tuesday of the month, today we’ll invite you to browse a new Dewey Decimal class with your students on your next visit to your local library. This month: the Linguistic 400s.

WEDNESDAY (6 February) — Today is the birthday of baseball great Babe Ruth (1895–1948). ⚾️ And on this day in 1959, Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments filed the first patent for an integrated circuit chip, the component that forms the basis for nearly all modern electronic devices, including the one you’re using now. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for that work in 2000.

THURSDAY (7 February) — Today is the birthday of two famous writers: the English novelist Charles Dickens (1812–1870), and the American novelist Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957).

FRIDAY (8 February) — The College of William and Mary, the second-oldest college in the United States, was chartered on this day in 1683. ⬩ And today is the birthday of the great Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907), the discoverer of the Periodic Table. ⬩ Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for second week of February will be a little ancient lyric from Sappho (ca. 630–570 B.C.), for Valentine’s Day. ❤️ Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

SATURDAY (9 February) — Today is the birthday of the English-American political philosopher and revolutionary Thomas Paine (1737–1809). 🇺🇸 It’s also the anniversary of the Great Meteor Procession of 1913. 🌠

SUNDAY (10 February) — Today is the Christian feast day of Saint Scholastica (ca. 480–543), the patroness of schools and education. 🎓 It’s also the birthday of the great Russian writer and Nobel laureate Boris Pasternak (1890–1960).

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May liberty never degenerate into licentiousness.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: North Korea is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Taedong River, which flows through the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Taedong River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Alabama, and our COUNTRIES are Jordan 🇯🇴, Kazakhstan 🇰🇿, Kenya 🇰🇪, and Kiribati 🇰🇮. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌖 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is gibbous and waning, an increasingly good time for stargazing! Dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 27 January) — Today is the 27th day of 2019; there are 338 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Today is also the birthday of the great classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791).

MONDAY (28 January) — On this day in 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after launch, killing all seven members of the astronaut crew. ⬩ It’s also the birthday of the great modern choral composer John Taverner (1944–2013).

TUESDAY (29 January) — Today is the birthday of Revolutionary war general Moses Cleaveland (1754–1806), the founder of Cleveland, Ohio. ⬩ It’s also the birthday of the great Russian writer Anton Chekhov (1860–1904).

WEDNESDAY (30 January) — Today is the birthday of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt (1882–1945). ⬩ It’s also the birthday of pioneering computer scientist Douglas Engelbart (1925–2013), inventor of the computer mouse and many other standard features of modern computers.

THURSDAY (31 January) — Today is the birthday of the great Austrian pianist and composer Franz Schubert (1797–1828). ⬩ It’s also the birthday of baseball great Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues. ⚾️ And on this day in 1930, Scotch Tape first went on the market.

FRIDAY (1 February) — On this day in 1942, the Voice of America, the official overseas radio service of the U.S. government, began broadcasting to territories in Europe controlled by the Axis powers. 📻 Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for first week of February is Robert Frost’s wintry classic “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year. ⬩ And since this is also the first Friday of the month, we’ll post our regular monthly preview today of some of the astronomical events you and your students can be on the lookout for over the next few weeks.

SATURDAY (2 February) — It’s Groundhog Day! ⬩ On this day in 1653, the city of New Amsterdam was incorporated. We know it today as the city of New York.

SUNDAY (3 February) — Calling all artists: it’s Color Our Collections Week! ⬩ The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the moon on this day in 1966. ⬩ And today is the birthday of the American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894–1978).

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May old friends never be forgot for new ones.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Kenya is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Turkwel River, which rises from Kenya’s Mount Elgon and flows into Lake Turkana. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Turkwel River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Illinois, and our COUNTRIES are Israel 🇮🇱, Italy 🇮🇹, Jamaica 🇯🇲, and Japan 🇯🇵. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a few minutes ago.)

🌕 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is FULL and there is a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE TONIGHT! Dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 20 January) — Today is the 20th day of 2019; there are 345 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ There will be a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE tonight (20–21 January), visible across all of North and South America. It will be a homeschool event not to be missed! 🌕 And fittingly, one of the first two men to walk on the moon, American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, was born on this day in 1930.

MONDAY (21 January) — Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States. Lift every voice and sing! ⬩ And, since there was a full moon this past night (and an eclipse!), that means today we’ll have a report on student research projects from the River Houses Lunar Society.

TUESDAY (22 January) — Today is the birthday of two great English poets: John Donne (1573–1631) and George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824). 🖋 And speaking of poets, our homeschool poem-of-the-week for last week of January is W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats,” for Yeats, who died 29 January 1939. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us throughout the year.

WEDNESDAY (23 January) — Today is the birthday of John Hancock (1737–1793), president of the Continental Congress and the most flamboyant signer of the Declaration of Independence. ☤ And on this day in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from the Geneva Medical College in New York, becoming the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.

THURSDAY (24 January) — On this day in 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill, California, touching off the great California Gold Rush. 🍏 And on this day in 1984, Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh, and 1984 wasn’t like 1984.

FRIDAY (25 January) — Today is the birthday of the great Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–1796), aye.

SATURDAY (26 January) — The world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan diamond, was found on this day in 1905 in the Premier mine near Pretoria, South Africa. 🏞 And on this day in 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park was established by an act of the U.S. Congress.

SUNDAY (27 January) — Today is the birthday of the great classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791).

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May we be rich in friends rather than money.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Italy is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the ancient Po River, the longest river in Italy. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Po River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Mississippi, and our COUNTRIES are Indonesia 🇮🇩, Iran 🇮🇷, Iraq 🇮🇶, and Ireland 🇮🇪. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a little while ago.)

🌒 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is a waxing crescent — a good time for both stargazing and moon watching! Dial up this week’s constellations with your recommended homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 13 January) — Today is the 13th day of 2019; there are 352 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ The National Geographic Society was founded on this day in 1888 in Washington, D.C.

MONDAY (14 January) — Today is Ratification Day. On this day in 1784 in Annapolis, Maryland, Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, officially ending the American Revolutionary War. 🇺🇸

TUESDAY (15 January) — Queen Elizabeth I of England was crowned on this day in 1559. For an illustrated outline of the historical period named for her, turn to pages 260–261 in your homeschool history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Our poem-of-the-week for the third week of January is James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (1900), for American minister and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., born on this day in 1929. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar at riverhouses.org/calendars and follow along with us throughout the year.

WEDNESDAY (16 January) — On this day in the year 27 B.C., the Roman Senate conferred the title “Augustus” on the general and de facto dictator Octavian, thereby marking the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire.

THURSDAY (17 January) — Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on this day in 1706. ⬩ One of the most important battles in the Southern Theater of the American Revolution, the Battle of Cowpens, took place on this day in 1781 near Cowpens, South Carolina.

FRIDAY (18 January) — On this day in 1788, the first convict ships from Britain, now known as the First Fleet, arrived at Botany Bay, Australia. ⬩ And today is the birthday of the Polish-British mathematician and historian of science Jacob Bronowski (1908–1974), creator of the pioneering documentary series “The Ascent of Man.”

SATURDAY (19 January) — Today is the birthday of the polemical American freedom-philosopher Lysander Spooner (1808–1887). ⬩ It’s also the birthday of the spooky American poet and short-story writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849).

SUNDAY (20 January) — There will be a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE tonight (20–21 January), visible across all of North and South America. It will be a homeschool event not to be missed! 🌕 And fittingly, one of the first two men to walk on the moon, American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, was born on this day in 1930.

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May you live all the days of your life.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Ireland is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the peaceful River Shannon, Ireland’s longest river. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the River Shannon entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊

Quick Freshes are our regular Sunday notes on the homeschool week ahead. Pick one or two (or more) of the items below each week and use them to enrich your homeschooling schedule! Print your own River Houses calendar for the year at riverhouses.org/calendars.

🇺🇸 OUR STATE-OF-THE-WEEK is Indiana, and our weekly COUNTRIES are Honduras 🇭🇳, Hungary 🇭🇺, Iceland 🇮🇸, and India 🇮🇳. (Our separate Sunday States & Countries post for the week went up just a little while ago.)

🌒 THE MOON at the beginning of this week is a sliver of a waxing crescent — a very good time for stargazing! Dial up this week’s constellations with your homeschool star atlas (riverhouses.org/books).

🗓 TODAY (Sunday, 6 January) — Today is the 6th day of 2019; there are 359 days remaining in the year. Learn more about different kinds of modern and historical calendars on pages 358–364 in your River Houses almanac (riverhouses.org/books). ⬩ Today is also the birthday of the American poet Carl Sandburg (1878–1967).

MONDAY (7 January) — On this day in 1610, Galileo Galilei first reported that he had discovered several previously unknown moons orbiting the planet Jupiter — we now called them the Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa. You can see them from your backyard with almost any small telescope. ⬩ Today is also the birthday of the African-American writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960).

TUESDAY (8 January) — Today is the birthday of two great British scientists: the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the principle of natural selection, and the physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking (1942–2018). ⬩ And in another sphere of human accomplishment: today is also the birthday of Elvis Presley (1935–1977). ⬩ Our homeschool poem-of-the-week for second week of January is Gail Mazur’s “Ice,” for homeschool dads and all wintertime learners. Print your own River Houses poetry calendar at riverhouses.org/calendars and follow along with us throughout the year.

WEDNESDAY (9 January) — On this day in 1923, Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva made the first successful flight in an autogyro.

THURSDAY (10 January) — On this day in the year 49 B.C., Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon river and approached the city of Rome with his army, touching off a civil war that led to the destruction of the Roman Republic and the eventual formation of the Roman Empire.

FRIDAY (11 January) — Today is the birthday of Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804), the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, whose portrait appears on our U.S. $10 bills. ⬩ It’s also the birthday of William James (1842–1910), one of the founders of the modern field of psychology.

SATURDAY (12 January) — Today is the birthday of the French author Charles Perrault (1628–1703), who gave the world Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and many other beloved fairy tales. ⬩ It’s also the birthday of the American journalist and author Jack London (1876–1916).

SUNDAY (13 January) — The National Geographic Society was founded on this day in 1888 in Washington, D.C.

🥂 YOUR WEEKLY TOAST: “May our laws guard our liberties, and liberty our laws.”

❡ Toasts can be a fun educational tradition for your family table. We offer one each week — you can take it up, or make up one of your own (“To North American dinosaurs!”), or invite a different person to come up with one for each meal (“To variety in toasting!”). Our current set of toasts are mostly taken from an old anthology called The Pic-Nic, a Collection of Recitations, and Comic Songs, Toasts, Sentiments, &c. (London, 1816). What will you toast this week?

🌎 EVERYTHING FLOWS: Honduras is one of our countries-of-the-week, so our Weekly World River is the Choluteca River, which flows through the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. You can chart its course in your recommended homeschool atlas (riverhouses.org/books), and you can read more about it in the Choluteca River entry in Wikipedia or perhaps on your next visit to your local library.

❡ Let the river run: Why not do a homeschool study of world rivers over the course of the year? Take the one we select each week (above), or start with the river lists in your almanac (pages 691–693), and make it a project to look them all up in your atlas, or in a handy encyclopedia either online or on a weekly visit to your local library. A whole world of geographical learning awaits you!

AND DON’T FORGET: Friday the 13th will be coming on a Sunday this month! 🙀

What do you have planned for your homeschool this week? 😊