Homeschool Learning Ideas for August
Do you want to introduce your kids to a variety of people and places, historical time periods, and interesting ideas? Here you’ll find a big list of August homeschool ideas. Choose a few to explore and see what sparks their interest.
As you read through these ideas, you may be inspired to search out additional people, places, or events to learn about in August!
This article is part of a series of monthly homeschool learning ideas. Each month offers suggestions for seasonal activities and homeschool projects, along with a list of topics relevant to the month.
The learning suggestions are grouped in the following categories:
- Read Aloud Book Suggestions
- Movie/Book Combos
- Poetry
- Classical Music
- Quotes
- Artists (birthdays in August)
- Athletes (birthdays in August)
- Authors (birthdays in August)
- Composers (birthdays in August)
- Engineers (birthdays in August)
- Inventors (birthdays in August)
- Presidents (birthdays in August)
- Scientists (birthdays in August)
- Interesting People (birthdays in August)
- Unusual Occupations
- Animals
- Plants (seasonal related)
- World Landmarks
- Games
- Crafts (seasonal related)
- Study Skills
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Where to Find Learning Resources
After you decide on a few people or topics you want to learn about in August, head to your local library to check out books, magazines, movies, and more related to your topics of interest. You may find that your library system is able to request additional material from other libraries as well.
Another free source of information is YouTube. There is a massive amount of educational content on YouTube and a quick search will turn up many options to learn about almost anything.
For relatively inexpensive and sometimes free resources related to many of these topics, check out Teachers Pay Teachers.
Read-Aloud Suggestions for August
August is a great time to read an adventure, a book set in an exotic location, or a coming-of-age type story. Here are a few suggestions for books to read together in August.
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Movie/Book Combos for August
If your child loves movies, but isn’t as keen to read, try reading a book that’s been made into a movie. Read the book together with the promise of a popcorn and movie-watching party when you’re finished! Or, if you think the movie will generate interest in the story, do it backwards for your child. Here are a few suggestions for August book and movie combos.
The Mysterious Benedict Society (not a movie, but a TV series on Disney+)
Read: 100+ Family Movie Night Suggestions
Poetry to Read in August
Read poetry aloud to explore the rhythm of the words. Here are some poetry suggestions to consider for August.
Late August by William Stanley Braithwaite
August by Annette Wynne
A Noon Scene by William Cullen Bryant
August by Lizette Woodworth Reese
Additional poems for August can be found at discoverpoetry.com.
Classical Music to Listen to in August
Choose a few pieces of classical music to listen to this month. Here are a couple of suggestions for August.
Mozart – Eine kleine nachtmusik
Quotes to Ponder in August
Summer feels endless and yet not long enough in August. Choose a quote to read and discuss in August. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadows.”
– Helen Keller
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes in the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
– John Lubbock
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”
– William Shakespeare
More August Homeschool Ideas…
Artists Born in August
Emil Nolde (German-Danish Expressionist painter)
Tom Thomson (Canadian landscape artist)
Andy Warhol (American visual artist known for his contributions to the pop art movement)
Athletes Born in August
Usain Bolt (running)
Wilt Chamberlain (basketball)
Tim Tebow (football)
Authors Born in August
Enid Blyton (Famous Five collection)
Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451)
Joanna Cole (Magic School Bus)
Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games series)
Karen Hesse (Harry Potter series)
Composers Born in August
Leonard Bernstein
Claude Debussy
Engineers Born in August
Neil Armstrong (aeronautical engineer, first person to walk on the moon)
John Logie Baird (Scottish electrical engineer who developed the first working color television)
Mary Golda Ross (Native American aerospace engineer)
Entrepreneurs Born in August
Warren Buffet (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway)
Brian Chesky (co-founder of AirBnb)
Adam D’Angelo (co-founder of Quora)
Mary Katharine Goddard (early American publisher and printer)
Travis Kalanick (co-founder of Uber)
Jimmy Wales (co-founder of Wikipedia and Fandom)
Inventors Born in August
Philo Farnsworth (inventor of an early television system and a small nuclear fusion device)
Steve Wozniak (developer of Apple computer and the first programmable universal remote)
Orville Wright (co-inventor of the world’s first motorized airplane)
Scientists Born in August
Alexander Fleming (microbiologist who discovered penicillin)
Temple Grandin (American animal behaviorist and autism spokeswoman)
Antoine Lavoisier (French chemist who discovered the role oxygen plays in combustion and helped construct the metric system)
Roger Penrose (Nobel Prize-winning English physicist)
Ernest Rutherford (New Zealand physicist known as the father of nuclear physics)
Erwin Schrödinger (physicist known for his work on quantum mechanics)
U.S. Presidents Born in August
Bill Clinton (42nd president)
Benjamin Harrison (23rd president)
Herbert Hoover (31st president)
Lyndon B. Johnson (36th president)
Barack Obama (44th president)
Other Interesting People Born in August
Louis Armstrong (American jazz trumpeter and vocalist)
Lucille Ball (American actress and producer)
Coco Chanel (French fashion designer and businesswoman)
Julia Child (American cooking teacher and author)
Katherine Johnson (American mathematician known for her role in calculating trajectories for crewed spaceflights)
Meriwether Lewis (American explorer, leader of the Lewis and Clark expedition)
John Locke (English philosopher and influential Enlightenment thinker)
Maria Montessori (pioneer in childhood education)
Mother Teresa (Catholic nun known for her work with the poor in Calcutta)
Alfred Lord Tennyson (British Poet Laureate)
William Wilberforce (British politician and abolitionist)
Find even more interesting people with August birthdays noted on ThoughtCo’s list of August famous inventions and birthdays.
Interesting Occupations to Learn About in August
Animals to Learn About in August
Blue dragon
Buffalo
Locusts
Plants to Learn About in August
Basil
Sunflowers
Wisteria
World Landmarks to Learn About in August
Games to Play in August
Crafts to Make in August
Embroidery hoop wall organizer
Study Skills to Work On in August
Organization: Before starting a new school year, encourage your kids to develop some systems that work to keep their physical things and digital items organized, as well as developing routines to organize their time well.
How to Be Organized for School (YouTube – Memorize Academy)
Planning & Organization (YouTube – Crash Course Study Skills)
Organization Tips + Tricks for Students (YouTube – Studyquill)
August Nonfiction Reads for Moms
Don’t forget to keep learning for yourself! Here are a few books to continue learning in the areas of time management, homeschooling, and Christian living.
First Things First by Stephen Covey: Prioritizing your goals.
Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley: Habits and rhythms for meaningful family life.
Rethinking School by Susan Wise Bauer: Guidebook for considering flexible educational models.
What to Learn in August
Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list. Nor is it a prescriptive list of things you should study in August.
Whether you take summers off or school year-round, choosing some of these topics to learn about in August will expose your kids to a variety of people, places, and ideas. If they find something or someone especially interesting, feel free to dive deep. If not, read a short excerpt, watch a short video, and move on to something else.
Your kids won’t necessarily know what they find interesting or exciting until they read, see, or hear something about it. Give them the chance to discover things that generate interest by providing a broad spectrum of learning opportunities this month.
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