![[The River Houses]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/arms-icon-100x100.png "The River Houses"){kind=icon}
“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.)
📚 Homeschool Books & Libraries: Little Lessons for the Whole Year
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Great homeschool teaching tips and wonderful little lessons on books and libraries from the River Houses Homeschool Network. Print your own homeschool calendars and planners on our River Houses calendar page, and subscribe to our free homeschool newsletter to get posts like these delivered right to your mailbox every week. 📫
❡ Discovering Dewey: This Homeschool Books & Libraries collection also includes our special series of monthly Learning the Library posts that introduce your students to the Dewey Decimal System. 📚
❡ Gotta find ’em all: Have you found all the libraries in your local area? There may be more than you realize, and the WorldCat Library Finder will help you discover them. Pick a convenient day and time and begin a regular pattern of visiting your favorite library on that day every week. It's one of the best ways to create a light structure for your homeschool year. 📚
🌕 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!
📜 🇺🇸 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!
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Historical & Geographical 900s
![[Dewey Decimal System]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dewey-decimal-classes-150x79.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.
📜 📚 SUMMER PROJECTS from the Library of Congress and National Archives
Explore some of the educational projects that are available to your homeschool students this summer (or at any time of year) from the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress. They’re just the thing to help your students develop independent study skills for college or career.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Literary 800s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Literary 800s.
📺 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARIES for Your Homeschool Summer
Twelve multi-part masterpieces of the documentarian’s art that you and your homeschool students can watch together and discuss over the summer. (Or at any other time of year!)
📚 🦉 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: The Macaulay Library of Natural History
Invite your homeschool naturalists to explore the sights and sounds of birds all over the world through the online collections of the Macaulay Library at Cornell University.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Artistic 700s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Artistic 700s.
📚 🌼 WONDERFUL WORDS: May and the Poets
“Come, ye rains, then if ye will, / May’s at home, and with me still; / But come rather, thou, good weather, / And find us in the fields together.” (Our literary homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Leigh Hunt, for the merry month of May.)
🎂 🎭 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL! (Shakespeare, That Is)
Happy birthday to the Bard! Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday this week with some free teaching materials from Shakespeare’s birthplace itself.
📚 BOOKS & LIBRARIES: A Free Course on Classic Children’s Literature
![[Hillsdale College]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/hillsdale-college-logo-150x150.png){kind=logo}
If you’d like to teach some classic children’s literature in your homeschool and are wondering how to go about it, this free online course from Hillsdale College in Michigan could be just the thing for you!
🖋 🕊 WONDERFUL WORDS: George Herbert’s “Easter Wings”
“O let me rise / As larks, harmoniously, / And sing this day thy victories: / Then shall the fall further the flight in me.” (A special soaring homeschool poem-of-the-week, from George Herbert, for Easter.)
📚 HOMESCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS: Thomas Jefferson’s Book Collection
April 13th is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, so why not spend some quality homeschool time this week learning about Jefferson’s famous library. A ready-made lesson plan from the Library of Congress will help you.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Technological 600s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Technological 600s.
📜 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.
📚 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.
🎉 📖 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.)
🇺🇸 PRESIDENTIAL ADVICE: “Drink not nor talk with your mouth full”
![[Washington Stamp 1932]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/washington-stamp-1932-133x150.jpeg)
“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.)
☀️ 🌍 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).
🔭 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE & HISTORY: The Starry Messenger
Remembering one of the great minds of history, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), on the anniversary of his birth.
🇺🇸 🦋 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY: Lincoln and Darwin (and Horace)
Our recommended homeschool history encyclopedia is just the thing you need on a notable anniversary like today: the birthday of both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin (in the same year, 1809).
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: Dewey Detectives at Home
![[Magnifying Glass]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/magnifying-glass-emoji-right-150x150.png)
Did you know there are secret Dewey Decimal numbers hidden in the books on your very own bookshelves? It’s true! Here’s how you can send your homeschool students on a treasure hunt to find them.
🖋 ❤️ WONDERFUL WORDS: “Unwind the solemn twine, and tie my Valentine!”
![[Emily Dickinson]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/dickinson-stamp-1971-96x150.jpg)
“Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine!” (Our romantic homeschool poem-of-the-week, from Emily Dickinson, for Valentine Week.)
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Linguistic 400s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Linguistic 400s.
🖍 HOMESCHOOL ARTS: Color Our Collections Week!
![[Color Our Collections]](https://riverhouses.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Color_Our_Collections_web-scaled-150x103.jpeg)
Download a whole year’s worth of free educational coloring booklets from libraries and museums all around the world. It’s one of the best educational art opportunities you can find for your homeschool.
📚 LEARNING THE LIBRARY: The Social 300s
Explore your local library and the whole universe of knowledge with our homeschool tour of the Dewey Decimal System. This month: the Social 300s.
