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I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
   went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
   bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

—Langston Hughes

Great homeschool teaching ideas and little lessons about the U.S. states and the nations of the world from the River Houses Homeschool Network. Print your own States & Countries Calendar on our main calendar page, and add your name to our River Houses homeschool mailing list to get these posts delivered right to your mailbox every week. 😊

🇺🇸 🌎 SUNDAY STATES: U.S. Territories, World Oceans, and More

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-us-territories

Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world each week with the River Houses. Our Sunday States & Countries posts will point the way.

Many homeschoolers like to review the U.S. states and the nations of the world each year, and our recommended homeschool reference library (riverhouses.org/books) includes a current world almanac, a world atlas, and a history encyclopedia that make these reviews fun and easy. We started our tour at the beginning of the River Houses year in September and are now approaching the end. We’ve completed all the regular states — it’s convenient to have 50 states to cover in a 52-week year! — so we’ll wind up our United States survey with the several small U.S. Territories and Possessions that are scattered around the globe. You can find them all listed in your almanac beginning on page 590:

Another important United States “territory” is our federal city, the District of Columbia, formed originally from parts of Maryland and Virginia, but by design not part of any state:

  • 🇺🇸 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA along the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia. Population: 693,972. Capital: Washington. Official bird: Wood Thrush (bird guide page 412). Website: dc.gov.

❡ Little lessons: You can teach a hundred little lessons with the state-of-the-week, using your reference library (riverhouses.org/books) as a starting point. Find the location of the state capital in your atlas each week. Look up the state bird in your bird guide. Read the almanac’s one-paragraph history aloud each week. Using each state’s official website (above), find and copy the preamble to that state’s constitution into a commonplace book over the course of the year. Practice math skills by graphing each state’s population and area. Look up the famous state residents listed in your almanac either online or at your local library. The possibilities are endless and they can be easily adapted to each student’s age and interests. Pick a simple pattern to follow for just a few minutes each week, and your little lesson is done. By the end of the year, without even realizing it, your students will have absorbed a world of new geographical and historical information, as well as a host of valuable reading and research skills. 😊

❡ Explore more: If you’re planning a comprehensive unit-study of one or more of the U.S. states, be sure to investigate the primary source materials for teachers available from the Library of Congress.

And since we’ve now finished up the world’s land areas — the nation-states and the non-national continent of Antarctica — this week we’ll cover what is actually the largest part of the earth’s surface: the oceans. The world’s five oceans, in order of size, with links to their Wikipedia pages, are:

  • 🌊 THE PACIFIC OCEAN between the eastern hemisphere to the west, and the western hemisphere to the east. Area: 60,060,893 sq. mi. Average depth: 14,040 ft.
  • 🌊 THE ATLANTIC OCEAN between the western hemisphere to the west, and the eastern hemisphere to the east. Area: 29,637,974 sq. mi. Average depth: 11,810 ft.
  • 🌊 THE INDIAN OCEAN south of the continent of Asia. Area: 26,469,620 sq. mi. Average depth: 12,800 ft.
  • 🌊 THE SOUTHERN OCEAN surrounding the continent of Antarctica. Area: 7,848,299 sq. mi. Average depth: 14,450 ft.
  • ❄️ THE ARCTIC OCEAN covering the north polar region. Area: 5,427,052 sq. mi. Average depth: 4,300 ft.

A wealth of information and many beautiful maps of the world’s oceans can be found in your current almanac and homeschool atlas as well (riverhouses.org/books).

What grand geographical discoveries have you made in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Plan an imaginary vacation: Here’s a fun exercise for your students: take one of the countries that we list each week and write out a family travel plan. How would you get there? How much will it cost? Will you need a passport? Where will you stay? Will you have to exchange your currency? How do you say hello the local language? What cities and attractions and landmarks will you visit? What foods will you eat? How will you get around (car, train, boat, mule)? Make a simple worksheet with blank spaces for the answers, have your students do the research, and start planning your world tour. ✈️ 🚞 🚗 🛳 🐎 😊

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Sunday States & Countries posts. Print your own River Houses States & Countries Calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us as we take a homeschool tour of the United States and the whole world over the course of the year. 🇺🇸 🌎

🇺🇸 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

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For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-hawaii-volcanoes

Every Wednesday we’ve been posting a World Heritage Site for you and your students to explore, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. The River Houses year is winding down, and we completed our tour of countries last week with Zimbabwe. For a final site this year, we’re going to select one inside rather than outside the United States — the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in our final state, Hawaii.

“Aerial view of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, September 2009.” (Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park includes some of the most active and most accessible volcanic areas in the world:

“This site contains two of the most active volcanoes in the world, Mauna Loa (4,170 m high) and Kilauea (1,250 m high), both of which tower over the Pacific Ocean. Volcanic eruptions have created a constantly changing landscape, and the lava flows reveal surprising geological formations. Rare birds and endemic species can be found there, as well as forests of giant ferns…. This property serves as an excellent example of island building through volcanic processes. Through the process of shield-building volcanism, the park’s landscape is one of relatively constant, dynamic change.“ (UNESCO World Heritage Centre #409)

World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected for recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than 1000 such sites have been recognized in over 160 countries, and we post one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list online at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and in Wikipedia.

What world treasures have you explored in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia includes national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. For an ideal little lesson, just write the name of the Weekly World Heritage Site on your homeschool bulletin board, find its location in your atlas, read UNESCO’s one-paragraph description aloud, look at a picture or two in your history encyclopedia, and you’re done. Over the course of the year, without even realizing it, your students will absorb a wealth of new historical and geographical information. 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool States & Countries posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌏

🇺🇸 🌎 SUNDAY STATES: Hawaii, Antarctica, and More

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-hawaii‎

Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world each week with the River Houses. Our Sunday States & Countries posts will point the way.

Many homeschoolers like to review the U.S. states and the nations of the world each year, and our recommended homeschool reference library (riverhouses.org/books) includes a current world almanac, a world atlas, and a history encyclopedia that make these reviews fun and easy. We go through the states in the traditional order of admission to the Union (almanac page 429), so this week’s state is — the last one!

  • 🇺🇸
    Hawaii State Quarter
    HAWAII (the 50th state, 21 August 1959) — The Aloha State. Capital: Honolulu. Hawaii can be found on page 568 in your almanac and on plates 46 and 142 in your atlas. Name origin: “Possibly derived from Hawaiki or Owhyhee, Polynesian word for ‘homeland’” (almanac page 430). State bird: Hawaiian Goose (Nene). Website: portal.ehawaii.gov.

❡ Little lessons: You can teach a hundred little lessons with the state-of-the-week, using your reference library (riverhouses.org/books) as a starting point. Find the location of the state capital in your atlas each week. Look up the state bird in your bird guide. Read the almanac’s one-paragraph history aloud each week. Using each state’s official website (above), find and copy the preamble to that state’s constitution into a commonplace book over the course of the year. Practice math skills by graphing each state’s population and area. Look up the famous state residents listed in your almanac either online or at your local library. The possibilities are endless and they can be easily adapted to each student’s age and interests. Pick a simple pattern to follow for just a few minutes each week, and your little lesson is done. By the end of the year, without even realizing it, your students will have absorbed a world of new geographical and historical information, as well as a host of valuable reading and research skills. 😊

❡ Explore more: If you’re planning a comprehensive unit-study of one or more of the U.S. states, be sure to investigate the primary source materials for teachers available from the Library of Congress.

We finished our tour of the nations of the world last week with Zimbabwe, so this week, to keep tropical Hawaii company, we’ll do polar Antarctica, the only non-national continent in the world:

  • 🇦🇶 ANTARCTICA, surrounding the South Pole and surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Population: Antarctica is the only continent that has never had a native human population. It is occupied today by about a thousand scientists scattered at various research stations across the continent (this number is lower in the winter and higher in the summer). Capital: Antarctica isn’t a nation-state, so it has no capital. The main research stations are located on the Antarctic Peninsula, at McMurdo Sound, and at the South Pole. Government: Antarctica is governed by an international treaty that went into force in 1961. You can read more about it on the comprehensive Antarctic Treaty System page in Wikipedia. Website: The Internet registration system has created the top-level domain of .aq for Antarctica, but I haven’t been able to find any websites that actually use it — perhaps you’ll be able to discover one! The United States research programs in Antarctica (www.usap.gov) are administered by the National Science Foundation; their website is full of information and even provides some live webcams of Antarctic scenery. ❄️

Even though Antarctica has no native human population, it has had a rich history since the nineteenth century when its outlines were first descried. The “heroic age of Antarctic exploration” is a wonderful subject of study for any adventurous homeschooler. Your River Houses atlas (riverhouses.org/books) also has a great map of the Antarctic continent (plate 113) with extensive notes and annotations — it’s quite worthy of exploration itself! Even your River Houses history encyclopedia has a brief outline of Antarctic history as the very last item in its collection of national history profiles (page 599).

What grand geographical discoveries have you made in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Sunday States & Countries posts. Print your own River Houses States & Countries Calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us as we take a homeschool tour of the United States and the whole world over the course of the year. 🇺🇸 🌎

🇾🇪 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Historic Town of Zabid in Yemen

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For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-zabid

Yemen in the Middle East is one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today learning about one of Yemen’s World Heritage Sites: the Historic Town of Zabid.

Historic architecture in the town of Zabid, Yemen. (Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

The ancient settlement of Zabid is on the southwest coast of the Arabian Peninsula next to the Red Sea:

“Zabid is one of the coastal towns in the Tehama area west of Yemen, sitting on a rise above the river junction and the fertile flood plain. It is a circular fortified town with four remaining gates, and was supplied with water by extensive canals. It was already flourishing when Islam was established in the region in the 7th century. Its development is due to Ibn Ziyad (the founder of the Zyadite dynasty), who was sent to the region by the Caliph al-Mamun in 820 A.D. to quell a rebellion.

“The core of the town is its first mosque, Asa’ir. The Great Mosque lies to the west of the town [near] the souq. Zabid has the highest concentration of mosques in Yemen, some 86 in all, mainly simple brick structures but some with elaborate carved brick and stucco decoration. Fourteen of these date to the Rasulid period — all of them madrasas — and are the largest group of buildings from this period in Yemen.

“A network of narrow alleys spreads over the town and its vernacular buildings, typical of the southern Arabian Peninsula, give the town outstanding visual qualities. The houses, built of burnt brick, display similar plans with a reception room, murabba, opening onto an enclosed yard. The larger houses extend upwards to two or three storeys and have fine, elaborate interiors with skillfully carved brick walls, niches and ceilings.“ (UNESCO World Heritage Centre #611)

World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected for recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than 1000 such sites have been recognized in over 160 countries, and we post one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list online at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and in Wikipedia.

What world treasures have you explored in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia includes national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. For an ideal little lesson, just write the name of the Weekly World Heritage Site on your homeschool bulletin board, find its location in your atlas, read UNESCO’s one-paragraph description aloud, look at a picture or two, and you’re done. Over the course of the year, without even realizing it, your students will absorb a wealth of new historical and geographical information. 🇾🇪

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool States & Countries posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌍

🇺🇸 🌎 SUNDAY STATES: Alaska, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, and More

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-alaska

Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world each week with the River Houses. Our Sunday States & Countries posts will point the way.

Many homeschoolers like to review the U.S. states and the nations of the world each year, and our recommended homeschool reference library (riverhouses.org/books) includes a current world almanac, a world atlas, and a history encyclopedia that make these reviews fun and easy. We go through the states in the traditional order of admission to the Union (almanac page 429), so this week’s state is:

  • 🇺🇸
    Alaska State Quarter
    ALASKA (the 49th state, 3 January 1959) — The Last Frontier. Capital: Juneau. Alaska can be found on page 563 in your almanac and on plates 45 and 142 in your atlas. Name origin: “Russian version of Aleutian (Eskimo) word alakshak for ‘peninsula,’ ‘great lands,’ or ‘land that is not an island.’” (almanac page 430). State bird: Willow Ptarmigan (bird guide page 64). Website: alaska.gov.

❡ Little lessons: You can teach a hundred little lessons with the state-of-the-week, using your reference library (riverhouses.org/books) as a starting point. Find the location of the state capital in your atlas each week. Look up the state bird in your bird guide. Read the almanac’s one-paragraph history aloud each week. Using each state’s official website (above), find and copy the preamble to that state’s constitution into a commonplace book over the course of the year. Practice math skills by graphing each state’s population and area. Look up the famous state residents listed in your almanac either online or at your local library. The possibilities are endless and they can be easily adapted to each student’s age and interests. Pick a simple pattern to follow for just a few minutes each week, and your little lesson is done. By the end of the year, without even realizing it, your students will have absorbed a world of new geographical and historical information, as well as a host of valuable reading and research skills. 😊

❡ Explore more: If you’re planning a comprehensive unit study of one or more of the U.S. states, be sure to investigate the primary source materials for teachers available from the Library of Congress.

This week’s countries, with their official websites, are:

  • 🇻🇳 VIETNAM in southeastern Asia. Population: 97,040,334. Capital: Hanoi. Government: Communist state. Website: vietnam.gov.vn (in Vietnamese, Chinese, and English).
  • 🇾🇪 YEMEN in the Middle East. Population: 28,667,230. Capital: Sanaa. Government: “In transition” (almanac page 851). Website: www.yemen.gov.ye (in Arabic).
  • 🇿🇲 ZAMBIA in southern Africa. Population: 16,445,079. Capital: Lusaka. Government: Presidential republic. Website: www.parliament.gov.zm (in English).
  • 🇿🇼 ZIMBABWE in southern Africa. Population: 14,030,368. Capital: Harare. Government: Semi-presidential republic. Website: www.zim.gov.zw (in English).

These countries all appear in your current almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia as well (riverhouses.org/books). The almanac, for example, has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are index maps that will show you where each of the individual national and regional maps can be found; the history encyclopedia includes individual national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes.

What grand geographical discoveries have you made in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Read and think critically: The country links above go to official websites, which are not always in English and which may well be propagandistic in one way or another, thus offering older students a good opportunity to practice their critical reading and thinking skills. 🔍

❡ Plan an imaginary vacation: Here’s a fun exercise for your students: take one of the countries that we list each week and write out a family travel plan. How would you get there? How much will it cost? Will you need a passport? Where will you stay? Will you have to exchange your currency? How do you say hello the local language? What cities and attractions and landmarks will you visit? What foods will you eat? How will you get around (car, train, boat, mule)? Make a simple worksheet with blank spaces for the answers, have your students do the research, and start planning your world tour. ✈️ 🚞 🚗 🛳 🐎 😊

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Sunday States & Countries posts. Print your own River Houses States & Countries Calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us as we take a homeschool tour of the United States and the whole world over the course of the year. 🇺🇸 🌎

🇺🇿 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Historic Center of Bukhara in Uzbekistan

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-bukhara

Uzbekistan is one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today learning about one of Uzbekistan’s World Heritage Sites: the Historic Center of Bukhara.

The old city center of Bukhara in Uzbekistan. (Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

Bukhara was for centuries a major commercial and religious center along the trade route that connected Europe and the Far East:

“The Historic Centre of Bukhara, situated on the Silk Roads, is more than two thousand years old. It is one of the best examples of a well-preserved Islamic city of Central Asia of the 10th to 17th centuries, with an urban fabric that has remained largely intact.

“Bukhara was long an important economic and cultural center in Central Asia. The ancient Persian city served as a major center of Islamic culture for many centuries and became a major cultural center of the Caliphate in the 8th century.

“With the exception of a few important vestiges from before the Mongol invasions of Genghis Khan in 1220 and Temur in 1370, the old town bears witness to the urbanism and architecture of the Sheibani period of Uzbek rule, from the early 16th century onwards. The citadel, rebuilt in the 16th century, has marked the civic center of the town since its earliest days to the present.“ (UNESCO World Heritage Centre #602)

World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected for recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than 1000 such sites have been recognized in over 160 countries, and we post one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list online at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and in Wikipedia.

What world treasures have you explored in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia includes national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. For an ideal little lesson, just write the name of the Weekly World Heritage Site on your homeschool bulletin board, find its location in your atlas, read UNESCO’s one-paragraph description aloud, look at a picture or two, and you’re done. Over the course of the year, without even realizing it, your students will absorb a wealth of new historical and geographical information. 🇺🇿

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool States & Countries posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌏

🇺🇸 🌎 SUNDAY STATES: Arizona, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and More

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-arizona

Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world each week with the River Houses. Our Sunday States & Countries posts will point the way.

Many homeschoolers like to review the U.S. states and the nations of the world each year, and our recommended homeschool reference library (riverhouses.org/books) includes a current world almanac, a world atlas, and a history encyclopedia that make these reviews fun and easy. We go through the states in the traditional order of admission to the Union (almanac page 429), so this week’s state is:

  • 🇺🇸
    Arizona State Quarter
    ARIZONA (the 48th state, 14 February 1912) — The Grand Canyon State. Capital: Phoenix. Arizona can be found on page 564 in your almanac and on plates 38 and 142 in your atlas. Name origin: “Spanish version of Pima Indian word for ‘little spring place’ or Aztec arizuma, meaning ‘silver-bearing’” (almanac page 430). State bird: Cactus Wren (bird guide page 390). Website: az.gov.

❡ Little lessons: You can teach a hundred little lessons with the state-of-the-week, using your reference library (riverhouses.org/books) as a starting point. Find the location of the state capital in your atlas each week. Look up the state bird in your bird guide. Read the almanac’s one-paragraph history aloud each week. Using each state’s official website (above), find and copy the preamble to that state’s constitution into a commonplace book over the course of the year. Practice math skills by graphing each state’s population and area. Look up the famous state residents listed in your almanac either online or at your local library. The possibilities are endless and they can be easily adapted to each student’s age and interests. Pick a simple pattern to follow for just a few minutes each week, and your little lesson is done. By the end of the year, without even realizing it, your students will have absorbed a world of new geographical and historical information, as well as a host of valuable reading and research skills. 😊

❡ Explore more: If you’re planning a comprehensive unit study of one or more of the U.S. states, be sure to investigate the primary source materials for teachers available from the Library of Congress.

This week’s countries, with their official websites, are:

  • 🇺🇿 UZBEKISTAN in central Asia. Population: 30,023,709. Capital: Tashkent. Government: Presidential republic. Website: www.gov.uz (in Uzbek, English, and several other languages).
  • 🇻🇺 VANUATU in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Population: 288,037. Capital: Port-Vila. Government: Parliamentary republic. Website: parliament.gov.vu (in English).
  • 🇻🇦 VATICAN CITY, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. Population: 1,000. Capital: Vatican City. Website: w2.vatican.va (in Italian, English, and several other languages).
  • 🇻🇪 VENEZUELA in northeastern South America. Population: 31,689,176. Capital: Caracas. Government: Federal presidential republic. Website: presidencia.gob.ve (in Spanish).

These countries all appear in your current almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia as well (riverhouses.org/books). The almanac, for example, has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are index maps that will show you where each of the individual national and regional maps can be found; the history encyclopedia includes individual national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes.

What grand geographical discoveries have you made in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Read and think critically: The country links above go to official websites, which are not always in English and which may well be propagandistic in one way or another, thus offering older students a good opportunity to practice their critical reading and thinking skills. 🔍

❡ Plan an imaginary vacation: Here’s a fun exercise for your students: take one of the countries that we list each week and write out a family travel plan. How would you get there? How much will it cost? Will you need a passport? Where will you stay? Will you have to exchange your currency? How do you say hello the local language? What cities and attractions and landmarks will you visit? What foods will you eat? How will you get around (car, train, boat, mule)? Make a simple worksheet with blank spaces for the answers, have your students do the research, and start planning your world tour. ✈️ 🚞 🚗 🛳 🐎 😊

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Sunday States & Countries posts. Print your own River Houses States & Countries Calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us as we take a homeschool tour of the United States and the whole world over the course of the year. 🇺🇸 🌎

🇬🇧 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Ironbridge Gorge in the United Kingdom

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-ironbridge‎

The United Kingdom is one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today learning about one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites: Ironbridge Gorge.

The Iron Bridge over Ironbridge Gorge. (Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

Ironbridge Gorge is one of the key sites in the origin of the Industrial Revolution that transformed the world in the nineteenth century:

“The Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage property covers an area of 5.5 km2 (550 ha) and is located in Telford, Shropshire, approximately 50 km north-west of Birmingham. The Industrial Revolution had its 18th century roots in the Ironbridge Gorge and spread worldwide leading to some of the most far-reaching changes in human history.

“The site incorporates a 5 km length of the steep-sided, mineral-rich Severn Valley from a point immediately west of Ironbridge downstream to Coalport, together with two smaller river valleys extending northwards to Coalbrookdale and Madeley.

“The Ironbridge Gorge provided the raw materials that revolutionised industrial processes and offers a powerful insight into the origins of the Industrial Revolution and also contains extensive evidence and remains of that period when the area was the focus of international attention from artists, engineers, and writers. The property contains substantial remains of mines, pit mounds, spoil heaps, foundries, factories, workshops, warehouses, iron masters’ and workers’ housing, public buildings, infrastructure, and transport systems, together with the traditional landscape and forests of the Severn Gorge.“ (UNESCO World Heritage Centre #371)

World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected for recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than 1000 such sites have been recognized in over 160 countries, and we post one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list online at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and in Wikipedia.

What world treasures have you explored in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia includes national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. For an ideal little lesson, just write the name of the Weekly World Heritage Site on your homeschool bulletin board, find its location in your atlas, read UNESCO’s one-paragraph description aloud, look at a picture or two, and you’re done. Over the course of the year, without even realizing it, your students will absorb a wealth of new historical and geographical information. 🇬🇧

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool States & Countries posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌍

🇺🇸 🌎 SUNDAY STATES: New Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and More

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For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-new-mexico‎

Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world each week with the River Houses. Our Sunday States & Countries posts will point the way.

Many homeschoolers like to review the U.S. states and the nations of the world each year, and our recommended homeschool reference library (riverhouses.org/books) includes a current world almanac, a world atlas, and a history encyclopedia that make these reviews fun and easy. We go through the states in the traditional order of admission to the Union (almanac page 429), so this week’s state is:

  • 🇺🇸
    New Mexico State Quarter
    NEW MEXICO (the 47th state, 6 January 1912) — The Land of Enchantment. Capital: Santa Fe. New Mexico can be found on page 579 in your almanac and on plates 38 and 142 in your atlas. Name origin: “Spaniards in Mexico applied term to land north and west of Rio Grande in the 16th century” (almanac page 430). State bird: Roadrunner (bird guide page 80). Website: www.newmexico.gov.

❡ Little lessons: You can teach a hundred little lessons with the state-of-the-week, using your reference library (riverhouses.org/books) as a starting point. Find the location of the state capital in your atlas each week. Look up the state bird in your bird guide. Read the almanac’s one-paragraph history aloud each week. Using each state’s official website (above), find and copy the preamble to that state’s constitution into a commonplace book over the course of the year. Practice math skills by graphing each state’s population and area. Look up the famous state residents listed in your almanac either online or at your local library. The possibilities are endless and they can be easily adapted to each student’s age and interests. Pick a simple pattern to follow for just a few minutes each week, and your little lesson is done. By the end of the year, without even realizing it, your students will have absorbed a world of new geographical and historical information, as well as a host of valuable reading and research skills. 😊

❡ Explore more: If you’re planning a comprehensive unit study of one or more of the U.S. states, be sure to investigate the primary source materials for teachers available from the Library of Congress.

This week’s countries, with their official websites, are:

  • 🇦🇪 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES in the Middle East. Population: 9,701,315. Capital: Abu Dhabi. Government: Federation of monarchies. Website: www.government.ae (in Arabic and English).
  • 🇬🇧 UNITED KINGDOM in western Europe. Population: 65,105,246. Capital: London. Government: Parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Website: www.gov.uk (in English).
  • 🇺🇸 UNITED STATES in North America. Population: 329,256,465. Capital: Washington, D.C. Government: Constitutional federal republic. Website: www.usa.gov (in English).
  • 🇺🇾 URUGUAY in southern South America. Population: 3,369,299. Capital: Montevideo. Government: Presidential republic. Website: www.gub.uy (in Spanish).

These countries all appear in your current almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia as well (riverhouses.org/books). The almanac, for example, has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are index maps that will show you where each of the individual national and regional maps can be found; the history encyclopedia includes individual national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes.

What grand geographical discoveries have you made in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Read and think critically: The country links above go to official websites, which are not always in English and which may well be propagandistic in one way or another, thus offering older students a good opportunity to practice their critical reading and thinking skills.

❡ Plan an imaginary vacation: Here’s a fun exercise for your students: take one of the countries that we list each week and write out a family travel plan. How would you get there? How much will it cost? Will you need a passport? Where will you stay? Will you have to exchange your currency? How do you say hello the local language? What cities and attractions and landmarks will you visit? What foods will you eat? How will you get around (car, train, boat, mule)? Make a simple worksheet with blank spaces for the answers, have your students do the research, and start planning your world tour. ✈️ 🚞 🚗 🛳 🐎 😊

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Sunday States & Countries posts. Print your own River Houses States & Countries Calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us as we take a homeschool tour of the United States and the whole world over the course of the year. 🇺🇸 🌎

🇺🇬 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda

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For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-bwindi-park

Uganda is one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today learning about one of Uganda’s World Heritage Sites: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda. (Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

Bwindi Park is one of the richest areas of biological diversity in Africa:

“Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, covering 32,092 ha, is one of the largest areas in East Africa which still has Afromontane lowland forest extending to well within the montane forest belt. Located on the eastern edge of the Albertine Rift Valley and believed to be a Pleistocene refugium, the property is a biodiversity hotspot with possibly the greatest number of tree species for its altitude in East Africa. It is also host to a rich fauna including a number of endemic butterflies and one of the richest mammalian assemblages in Africa. Home to almost half of the world’s mountain gorilla population, the property represents a conservation frontline as an isolated forest of outstanding biological richness surrounded by an agricultural landscape supporting one of the highest rural population densities in tropical Africa. Community benefits arising from the mountain gorilla and other ecotourism may be the only hope for the future conservation of this unique site.“ (UNESCO World Heritage Centre #682)

World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected for recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than 1000 such sites have been recognized in over 160 countries, and we post one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list online at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and in Wikipedia.

What world treasures have you explored in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia includes national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. For an ideal little lesson, just write the name of the Weekly World Heritage Site on your homeschool bulletin board, find its location in your atlas, read UNESCO’s one-paragraph description aloud, look at a picture or two, and you’re done. Over the course of the year, without even realizing it, your students will absorb a wealth of new historical and geographical information. 🇺🇬

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool States & Countries posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌍

🇺🇸 🌎 SUNDAY STATES: Oklahoma, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and More

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For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-oklahoma

Tour the United States and travel the countries of the world each week with the River Houses. Our Sunday States & Countries posts will point the way.

Many homeschoolers like to review the U.S. states and the nations of the world each year, and our recommended homeschool reference library (riverhouses.org/books) includes a current world almanac, a world atlas, and a history encyclopedia that make these reviews fun and easy. We go through the states in the traditional order of admission to the Union (almanac page 429), so this week’s state is:

  • 🇺🇸
    Oklahoma State Quarter
    OKLAHOMA (the 46th state, 16 November 1907) — The Sooner State. Capital: Oklahoma City. Oklahoma can be found on page 582 in your almanac and on plates 40 and 142 in your atlas. Name origin: “Choctaw word meaning ‘red man,’ proposed by Rev. Allen Wright, a Choctaw-speaking Indian” (almanac page 430). State bird: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (bird guide page 352). Website: www.ok.gov.

❡ Little lessons: You can teach a hundred little lessons with the state-of-the-week, using your reference library (riverhouses.org/books) as a starting point. Find the location of the state capital in your atlas each week. Look up the state bird in your bird guide. Read the almanac’s one-paragraph history aloud each week. Using each state’s official website (above), find and copy the preamble to that state’s constitution into a commonplace book over the course of the year. Practice math skills by graphing each state’s population and area. Look up the famous state residents listed in your almanac either online or at your local library. The possibilities are endless and they can be easily adapted to each student’s age and interests. Pick a simple pattern to follow for just a few minutes each week, and your little lesson is done. By the end of the year, without even realizing it, your students will have absorbed a world of new geographical and historical information, as well as a host of valuable reading and research skills. 😊

❡ Explore more: If you’re planning a comprehensive unit study of one or more of the U.S. states, be sure to investigate the primary source materials for teachers available from the Library of Congress.

This week’s countries, with their official websites, are:

  • 🇹🇲 TURKMENISTAN in central Asia. Population: 5,411,012. Capital: Ashgabat. Government: Authoritarian presidential republic. Website: turkmenistan.gov.tm (in Turkmen, Russian, and English).
  • 🇹🇻 TUVALU in the southern Pacific Ocean. Population: 11,147. Capital: Funafuti. Government: Parliamentary democracy. Website: CIA World Factbook entry (in English).
  • 🇺🇬 UGANDA in eastern Africa. Population: 40,853,749. Capital: Kampala. Government: Presidential republic. Website: www.statehouse.go.ug (in English).
  • 🇺🇦 UKRAINE in eastern Europe. Population: 43,952,299. Capital: Kiev. Government: Semi-presidential republic. Website: www.kmu.gov.ua (in Ukrainian and English).

These countries all appear in your current almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia as well (riverhouses.org/books). The almanac, for example, has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are index maps that will show you where each of the individual national and regional maps can be found; the history encyclopedia includes individual national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes.

What grand geographical discoveries have you made in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Read and think critically: The country links above go to official websites, which are not always in English and which may well be propagandistic in one way or another, thus offering older students a good opportunity to practice their critical reading and thinking skills.

❡ Plan an imaginary vacation: Here’s a fun exercise for your students: take one of the countries that we list each week and write out a family travel plan. How would you get there? How much will it cost? Will you need a passport? Where will you stay? Will you have to exchange your currency? How do you say hello the local language? What cities and attractions and landmarks will you visit? What foods will you eat? How will you get around (car, train, boat, mule)? Make a simple worksheet with blank spaces for the answers, have your students do the research, and start planning your world tour. ✈️ 🚞 🚗 🛳 🐎 😊

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Sunday States & Countries posts. Print your own River Houses States & Countries Calendar (riverhouses.org/calendars) and follow along with us as we take a homeschool tour of the United States and the whole world over the course of the year. 🇺🇸 🌎

🇹🇳 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Archaeological Site of Carthage in Tunisia

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For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-carthage

Tunisia on the north coast of Africa is one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today learning about one of Tunisia’s World Heritage Sites: the Archaeological Site of Carthage.

A portion of the archaeological excavations at Carthage in modern Tunisia. (Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

Carthage was one of the most important cities of the ancient Mediterranean:

“Founded by the Phoenicians, Carthage is an extensive archaeological site, located on a hill dominating the Gulf of Tunis and the surrounding plain. Metropolis of Punic civilization in Africa and capital of the province of Africa in Roman times, Carthage played a central role in Antiquity as a great commercial empire. During the lengthy Punic wars, Carthage occupied the territories that belonged to Rome, which then destroyed its rival in 146 A.D. The town was rebuilt by the Romans on the ruins of the ancient city.

“[An] exceptional place of mixing, diffusion and blossoming of several cultures that succeeded one another (Phoenico-Punic, Roman, Paleochristian and Arab), this metropolis and its ports have encouraged wide-scale exchanges in the Mediterranean. Founded at the end of the 9th century B.C. by Elyssa-Dido and having sheltered the mythical love of Dido and Aeneas, Carthage produced a warrior and strategy-genius in the person of Hannibal, the navigator-explorer Hannon, and a famous agronomist, Magon. Carthage has always nourished universal imagination through its historic and literary renown.“ (UNESCO World Heritage Centre #37)

World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected for recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than 1000 such sites have been recognized in over 160 countries, and we post one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list online at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and in Wikipedia.

What world treasures have you explored in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia includes national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. For an ideal little lesson, just write the name of the Weekly World Heritage Site on your homeschool bulletin board, find its location in your atlas, read UNESCO’s one-paragraph description aloud, look at a picture or two, and you’re done. Over the course of the year, without even realizing it, your students will absorb a wealth of new historical and geographical information. 🇹🇳

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool States & Countries posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌍