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Whether you’re following the homeschool curriculum’s scope and sequence to the letter or unschooling and winging it, you may want to incorporate holidays like Presidents’ Day into your child’s homeschool lessons.
Presidents’ Day 2021 falls on February 15th this year, so if you’re looking for a way to tone things down after the sugar-high that is Valentine’s Day, the following 7 homeschool lessons for Presidents’ Day should keep kids engaged and interested.
Celebrating Presidents' Day during COVID
Everything has been different over the last several months. That likely won’t change for quite some time and Presidents’ Day 2021 is no exception. Due to COVID, public gatherings and celebrations may not take place in 2021. If you do go out, it’s important to take heed of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggestions for safer celebrations during the winter holidays — maintain a safe social distance, gather only outdoors and be sure to always wear a mask in public.
1. Take a virtual field trip with your kids.
Usually, people gather for Presidents’ Day parades across the country, but this year, because of the pandemic, consider a virtual event to mark the day. George Washington’s Mount Vernon will host a virtual birthday party for the nation’s first president on their website on February 22nd.
Presidents' Day homeschool lessons and activities
Give your kids context for Presidents’ Day by teaching them about its origins and beginnings.
2. Learn about the history of the holiday with your kids.
There was never really any great interest in honoring the countries leaders when Presidents’ Day was first established. In the late sixties, likely after one too many employees calling out ‘sick’ on Monday after a wild weekend, congress proposed The Uniform Monday Holiday Bill. According to the Britannica website, the bill was designed as a way to increase productivity by offering workers more three-day weekends throughout the year.
Once passed in 1971, the bill initially became known as Washington’s Birthday, and then Presidents’ Day. Both Lincoln and Washington had birthdays near the time Rutherford B. Hayes signed the bill into law on January 31, 1879. Thus, President’s Day became a federal holiday.
Older kids can benefit from more interactive activities to learn about our presidents, such as watching events like debates and inaugurations:
3. Kick-off your homeschool lesson for Presidents’ Day 2021 by watching the Inauguration of Joe Biden.
Election results have repeatedly called into question by Biden’s predecessor in recent weeks. There is bound to be quite a bit of news activity surrounding the new president’s swearing-in ceremony. Watching the inauguration would be a great activity for your homeschooled teen to kick off a President’s Day unit study.
4. Compare and contrast the lives of two presidents.
Venn Diagrams allow students to discover similarities and differences between two people, places, or things. One interesting compare and contrast activity for older kids might be to compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. The two have very ironic and similar circumstances surrounding their lives and assassinations that may be of interest to middle school and high school students. The Uniontown High School online student newspaper lists the similarities between the two presidents and would make a great starting point for your student’s research.
Elementary grade lesson plans and resources for Presidents' Day 2021
Incorporate these ideas and utilize various resources to help bring your homeschool lessons to life.
5. Incorporate math into your Presidents’ Day homeschool activities with lessons about money.
Younger children will enjoy sorting coins by type and identifying the presidents on each coin. Education.com offers several free printable money worksheets. Teach your kindergartener the value of each coin and introduce them to presidents Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington in the process.
6. Add in copywork and dictation as part of your weekly homeschool activities.
Copywork allows children to help strengthen students’ grammar, usage, and mechanics skills. Compile a few famous presidential quotes to use as copywork for your student. You can either dictate to them or have them copy the passage from print.
Author and homeschooling expert Julie Bogart includes copywork and dictation as part of her Brave Writer Lifestyle curriculum. “Dictation, simply put, is the practice of reading a passage aloud to children while they transcribe it as accurately as possible on their own sheets of paper,” she wrote.
Presidential biographies bring the past to life for kids:
7. Learn about the presidents by reading their biographies.
The Who HQ series of books feature biographies of famous people as well as information about important historical sites.
Homeschooling mom and curriculum designer and creator Jessica Waldock incorporates the “Who Was” books into the homeschool unit studies she creates. In her George Washington unit study video, Jessica shows how parents can use her unit studies to create a comprehensive homeschool lesson plan. “These unit studies are great for the entire family; elementary up through high school,” she explains in the video. “There is something in there for everybody.”
There are several “Who Was” books from the publisher Who HQ and they regularly add new titles to their lineup. They also offer a variety of printables and activity sheets on the website. Currently, there are over 15 books available chronicling the lives of presidents and first ladies including Vice-President-elect, Kamala Harris.
