If you've read St. Patrick: A Truth Story, you will learn the true meaning of St. Patrick's Day. It's so much more than rainbows, leprechauns, and a pot of gold.
Through homeschooling, we get to share these celebrations and their rich meanings. We get to explore things so much deeper than if our children were in a public school.
My children are older now, but these three simple activities stuck with them - and I think they will stick with your children, too.
*This post has been adapted from March, 2012 - my children were 7 and 10 at the time.
Make it a simple week with Poetry, Music and a Sweet Treat. Listen to the music and recite the poem each day - save the sweet treat for the end of you week. Simple!
A Poem for St. Patrick's Day
Copywork and memorization were always important in our homeschool. For every special day we had a poem to memorize, and it had to be copied.
Our favorite for St. Patrick's Day is The Dear Little Shamrock. I've created a printable of the poem for you so you can hang it in your school area, memorize, and recite together.
Download The Dear Little Shamrock
(I always loved using my Notebooking Pages subscription for lined copywork pages - they have them for every holiday!)
Music for St. Patrick's Day
The following are five Irish folk songs. Play one for your child each day - ask them to listen quietly - how does the music make them feel? What instruments - if any - do they hear? What voices do they hear?
Point out to your children that folk songs are a way a culture passes along its stories from generation to generation. Folk songs tells us a lot about a people.
(Remember, I'm a music teacher, so I love this! If you need musical help, come visit me at SQUILT Music!)
Sweet Treats for St. Patrick's Day
Miss B loves to work in the kitchen. I showed her this project (remember she was 11 at the time) from Pinterest and she did the rest... I think the shamrocks turned out pretty cute.
If you decide to make these little goodies, we put the kiss-topped pretzels in the oven for five minutes at 200 degrees. This was just enough time for them to be melty... then stick the three green M&Ms in... put in the refrigerator to firm up and then use icing for the stem.
EASY!
Simple, right?
Have a wonderful time celebrating St. Patrick's Day!