History Of Thanksgiving Homeschool Ideas

Here are some excellent history of Thanksgiving homeschool ideas to use with your kids this fall. Not only can you use these thoughts to help incorporate the holiday into your homeschool classroom, but maybe you’ll be able to teach your kids something new about this favorite fall tradition. Thanksgiving is a great holiday to use as a teaching tool in your homeschool.

History Of Thanksgiving Homeschool Ideas

Study Ancient Roman and Greek Thanksgiving Traditions.  Thanksgiving dates back many more years than simply the discovery and founding of the colonies that later became the United States of America. In fact, one of the best things to study in regards to the history of Thanksgiving is to look at ancient Rome or Greece and their day of Thanks celebrations. From the Greek myths regarding the gift of food from the harvests of the fall, to the Roman games and parades that celebrated the end of the harvest seasoning a day of Thanks was a common holiday dating back centuries before anyone set foot on the American continent. Take the time to read the Greek mythology accounts, learn about the foods served at their celebrations or even the history of parades for special harvest events.

Discuss why Thanksgiving Day fell during fall months.  A great one for your list of history of Thanksgiving homeschool ideas is to talk about how the harvest time of year was a time of being thankful. You can talk about or share the history of farming and harvest and how various elements could potentially keep a healthy harvest from happening. A day of thanks each fall was about celebrating another season of planting and harvest that brought food into storage to survive the harsh winter months. Advances in farming and harvesting made huge changes in the fear each year of no harvest.

Your kids may enjoy these Celebrate the Harvest Printables

Share how other countries celebrate Thanksgiving and why. Thanksgiving is not a celebration only in the United States.  Many countries celebrate at various times between August and November. While not all countries call this day Thanksgiving Day as we do, they do acknowledge it as a day of thanks for a successful harvest. Canada celebrates a few weeks before the United States, and even countries like England, Liberia and Italy all have various Thanksgiving traditions annually.

Talk about why it became a national holiday. Take the time to discuss how President Lincoln was actually the first president to include this holiday on the national calendar.  Prior to his declaration, Thanksgiving was celebrated and considered a holiday, but it wasn’t until 1863 that he declared the last Thursday of November to be henceforth known and celebrated as Thanksgiving Day.

Think outside the box when you are working on some history of Thanksgiving homeschool ideas.  It doesn’t have to just be about the actual “first Thanksgiving”, Plymouth Rock or even the Pilgrims and Indians. Dig a bit deeper and work with your kids on learning about how other cultures have been celebrating the end of harvest for centuries.  Look back at ancient times for clues as to how some of our own traditions have been handed down through many cultures.

If your looking for more on Thankgiving these Unique Thanksgiving Homeschool Lessons may help.