White House Holiday Unit Studies (A Homeschool Review Crew Post)

I adore a good unit study. It has always been one of my favorite ways to teach. I even enjoy pulling them out with my teenage son. Recently we had the chance to review the White House Holiday Unit Studies by Silverdale Press LLC.

The White House Holiday Unit Studies teach the history behind the following American Holidays.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Valentine’s Day

Labor Day

Veteran’s Day

Thanksgiving

Christmas

White House Holiday Unit Studies

Any unit study above will contain material for grades K-12, but each lesson has differing assignments for the grade levels. These are so great for families with multi-ages and you can use them over and over…year after year. They literally “grow” with the children.

The lessons contain portions to read aloud with your students. They are interesting and well-written. 

We personally love history so all of the back stories were fascinating. Something that I personally love using are primary sources. They might include transcripts of speeches, handwritten letters, videos or photographs.  I think it is always a good idea to hear or see exactly “from the horse’s mouth” so to speak.  The unit studies are full of primary sources…I think they add so much to the lessons.

There are also hands-on projects included. Don’t worry. I didn’t see one assignment for building a model of the Eifel Tower (though that would be strange considering our topics). You mommas who start twitching at the mention of paper mache and welding equipment can rest easy.

How We Used It

The very first lesson I chose to play with was the Veteran’s Day Unit Study.  I may or may not have ulterior motive. You don’t have to go very far in the family tree to find a passel of Veterans. In fact, I happen to a bedroom with an Air Force Vet. The Muffin (aka The Husband) is our resident veteran and I knew Josiah would enjoy this particular study.

Plus, it gives us brownie points with Dad.

The lessons are divided into K-6 and 7-12. And there are 3 lessons for each group. Personally, I was just a little disappointed when I realized that the 7-12 group didn’t get to make a poppy pin.  Josiah’s assignment for the first lesson was a Crossword Puzzle…but he happens to love crossword puzzles and was thrilled nobody asked him to make a poppy pin.

Spoilsport.

The final activity included ways to get involved in Veteran’s Day.  Some of the suggestions including interviewing a Veteran or taking a Veteran out for meal. Some my favorites included praying for our Veterans.

Of course, many of these were super simple for Josiah to achieve. Except I think that the Big Mac Dinner was paid for by the Veteran.

The lessons, themselves, are excellent. They are historically sound and move along nicely.

For example, we learned that Veteran’s Day was initially Armistice Day. We read through Wilson’s Fourteen Points speech and talked about President Eisenhower’s role in war as a General and then as president.

Something I haven’t mentioned, as of yet, is that all of the White House Holiday Units are told from the perspective of the Presidents, and their families.

So my next choice for review made perfect sense to me.

I am going to talk about the Valentine’s Day Unit Study.

One of my very favorite holidays is Valentine’s Day. I even have a beautiful pink little tree with pink lights that we place in our dining room window.  I try and send Valentine’s to loved ones and make my boys a heart-shaped pizza every Valentine’s Day.

When I saw that the Valentine’s Day Unit featured love letters from some of the Presidential couples I just swooned. I’m not sure about Josiah. He doesn’t swoon a whole lot.

This Unit has 5 lessons with the activities in each lesson divided between K-6 or 7-12.

After a brief history lesson on Valentine’s Day, we are introduced to our first couple, John and Abigail Adams. What is perfect about this lesson is that not only are we treated to the loving words of a devoted couple, but we get to read them through the eyes of history.

The activities in this unit first include answering a series of questions. These are for all ages with modification suggestions for the younger grades.

The next activity has grades K-6 using a portion of one of the letters (of your choice) as copywork.

The older grades are assigned a letter writing activity. They must write a fictional letter between John and Abigail Adams.

There are more Presidential letter writers, but I want to move on to one of the “weddings in the White House” lessons. I didn’t realize that there have been seventeen wedding in the White House. Most have been Presidential children.

However, it Grover Cleveland was the only sitting President to be married in the White House. He was courting his eventual wife, Frances, when he became President.

Part of the activities in this lesson is to study their portraits.

Another fun activity during the Unit is making President Kennedy’s favorite Waffles.

Yes, please! Josiah told me that this was one homework assignment he could really get behind!

My Thoughts

The other Unit Studies are just as thorough and as fun! I am really impressed with the quality of the whole kit and caboodle. They will certainly be put in circulation at our house.

They are all so well done. I loved all the beautiful graphics and photos included. I also felt that the reading moved smoothly and was interesting.

It’s a keeper!

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