Memorial Day

In the Old Dominion, we live in a very diverse community that includes many military families stationed at various bases throughout our state. As homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to teach our children the importance of the sacrifices of men and women in the Armed Forces who have fought to protect our rights and privileges as United States citizens. These resources on Memorial Day can help you teach your students to be thankful for the sacrifice of those who lost their lives securing our freedoms.

“No, After You”

Karen Ehman, writing for Proverbs 31, shares her thoughts on John 15:13 through the devotional, No, After you.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (NIV)

Focusing Your Family on Memorial Day

This resource center for writers, TeacherHub, shares about Memorial Day and could be a good way to start a family discussion on the importance of remembering the sacrifices of those who died for our freedoms. This webpage has downloadable pdfs of full writing prompts for students from kindergarten through high school.

You will find resources about Memorial Day at Mr. Donn’s site for Kids and Teachers. The links for teachers include the National Education Association’s Memorial Day lessons, The Learning Network at the New York Times, a free PowerPoint presentation, and free clip art, among other resources. For kids, you will find interactives and activities.

This infographic introduces an overview of Memorial Day and 26 accompanying quotes on heroes, courage, and heroism attributed to United States fallen warriors.

What are the laws governing the display and care of the flag of the United States of America? This infographic covers the law, when and how to display the flag, how to fold a flag, as well as the standards of respect for the flag.

You can find a Memorial Day observance near you with this list from Virginia.org for Memorial Day events.

Books, Crafts, Poppies, and Remembering

This list of books from Pragmatic Mom could help your younger students understand and commemorate Memorial Day. Each book is reviewed and includes a suggested age range. Included on this page are several poppy flower craft projects.

You can download these Memorial Day themed worksheets to help your preschooler practice using scissors.

This poppy flower and flag coloring sheet ties the common themes of the American flag, the word “remember,” and a row of poppies to encapsulate the ideals of Memorial Day.

Poppies are a symbol of remembrance and these poppy flower crafts will teach your preschooler to associate the poppies and their connection to honoring our war heroes.

Check out this cupcake liner poppy craft.

Check out this suncatcher poppy craft.

Have your child paint an American Flag in honor of Memorial Day with pompoms and clothes pins.

Why and How to Observe Memorial Day

The National Education Association has lesson plans on graphing our history of sacrifice, Americans at war, Women Aviators of World War II, as well as other resources geared for students in 6th through 8th grades.

Set your LEGO builders to work creating a LEGO flag for your Memorial Day decorations.

Our war heroes died to preserve the rights of United States citizens–rights described by the Bill of Rights. You can use these resources on the Bill of Rights to teach your students about these amendments.

You can download these patriotic-themed mazes for your Memorial Day studies.

There are several free Memorial Day crafts to choose from on this webpage by 123Homeschool4me.

Remembering the Sacrifice

The National Educators Association website has lesson plans, background resources, videos, and puzzles about the Memorial Day holiday for the high school student.

TeachHub has suggestions for focusing your student’s attention on the meaning of Memorial Day. You will find an internet scavenger hunt, writing challenges, and a suggested interview with a living hero, among others.

You can challenge your students to learn and memorize the Bill of Rights. Here is a video easily explaining them and a Bill of Rights article* using three ways to memorize them (speaking, hearing, and seeing).

These resources from the Veteran’s Administration offer a variety of topics for researching or planning activities for Memorial Day.