Presidents' Day Lesson Plans

Most homeschoolers enjoy small unit studies on various holidays and Presidents' Day lesson plans can meet that need perfectly. Not only can focusing on Presidents' Day give you a break from your regular studies, but students can study a president or election in more depth, pulling out details they might not otherwise have learned.

Possible Topics for Presidents' Day Lesson Plans

There are many possible topics homeschoolers can cover for Presidents' Day lesson plans. With such a wide range of topics, you should be able to find something for any grade level.

Primary Grades

Ages of presidents when they took office
Choose one president and study his life
First President

There are many printables, coloring pages and children's books available for kindergarten through fifth grade available on sites like A to Z Homeschool, Education World and through your local public library.

Middle School

As students enter middle school, a more intensive study of Presidents' Day is possible. Some topics you might want to consider studying:

Major policies of any chosen president
How the Electoral College works
What powers the president has

High School

High school students are ready for essays that analyze a presidency. Some possible essay topics include:

Separation of powers
Executive Orders

The best topics come out of reading about a president's life and policies and seeing a pattern that the student wishes to study further. Essays are good for high school students because they will be expected to write an essay on the SAT and also many essays in college.

Ready-Made Lesson Plans

If you are looking for a quick and easy lesson plan to put together, then you'll want to check out some of the following resources:

Easy Fun School: This site offers lessons on various presidents in the form of unit studies. You'll also find many lessons on history, with some focusing on the presidents and history of the United States of America.
LaCelle Family Ministries: You'll find many resources for primary grades on this site, such a folding book that your child can make featuring presidents.
EdHelper: Although some areas of this site are by subscription only, others are completely free. You'll find a variety of activities for Presidents Lincoln and Washington as well as some more general Presidents' Day lesson plans.

You will also want to use resources, such as the chronological list of presidents, president fact list and list of vice presidents.

Implementing the Lesson into Your Homeschool Schedule

Although you may have the best of intentions about studying about past presidents on Presidents' Day and focusing on other lessons on other holidays, it can be hard to fit special studies into an already busy schedule. Planning time for unit studies before you start your school year can help. Remember, schools rarely finish a textbook all the way through, so if you don't finish every last page it isn't the end of the world. The main thing you should do is work consistently with your child to help her learn and to make sure it is learning that will last a lifetime. What is really more important - working one more sentence diagram or finding out that George Washington was once a great war leader?