Celebrating Work Labor Day Unit Study
There are a variety of ways that you can celebrate workers, model a good work ethic, and appreciate the labor that goes along with everyday life to help your children develop a healthy attitude toward work. With Labor Day just around the corner, consider incorporating some of these Labor Day ideas into your homeschool.
Explore the history of Labor Day and discuss the events that led to its establishment and what the goals were. This New York Times article features some interesting historical articles about the first Labor Day parade and more. Ducksters’ breakdown of the history of Labor Day is great for younger students.
While Labor Day now broadly celebrates American workers in a variety of industries, a vast majority of the hard laborers in the 19th century were involved in the factory scene in some way. Visit and tour a local factory for a first-hand look at how factories operate. Check out FactoryToursUSA to find a factory tour near you. In Virginia, featured factory tours include Rt. 11 Potato Chips, Rowena’s (bakery), and Wood Brothers Racing.
Even though Labor Day is intended to pay homage to the people in our communities that work hard to keep things going, not everyone has the day off. Consider taking treats or small gifts to your community workers who are still on the job. You might try this recipe for fireman’s cookies and take them to your local fire department. Police officers and hospital workers are some other groups of workers whose workplace never shuts down either!
Labor Day and Professions
Labor Day is about celebrating workers in all professions, so this is a great time to explore some jobs that align with your child’s interests and create your own mini unit study. Visit the library to find age-appropriate books and resources on a wide variety of professions. You can find videos of different professions online if you’d like. Be sure to screen any videos you share with your children and supervise their screen time as necessary, but resources like videos of construction work, auto repair, architecture, cooking, pet grooming, etc. can be great additions to a unit study about the job. Maybe you know a mechanic, restaurant manager, landscaper, small business owner, etc. who would even be able to give your family a tour of their workplace.
Teaching your children to value hard work can be one of the most difficult parts of parenting, but it’s one of the most rewarding things you can teach them. Check out this blog post from Club 31 Women on the benefits of teaching our children the value of work.
Megan Mora Fuentes
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