Homeschooling ABCs I was sold on the first mini class and started the 26 week course after that!  Thanks for showing us how to start and stay going.  We are excited with Homeschooling ABCs and feel comfortable knowing someone cares about our homeschooling experience being a success.  All the planning is already done for us and we really like the freebies and weekly schedule that make each lesson personal and fun!  Please tell us this will never end, LOL, no really I mean it!!!  Thanks Homeschooling ABCs! -- Debbie in Maryland

Unit Study on St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day can make a really fun unit study. You have the religious element of it for serious study and you also have the fun and silly side of the holiday for entertainment value. Add in a study on the color green, a study of snakes (St. Patrick reportedly drove the snakes from Ireland), and/or a geography unit on Ireland and you can have a unit that lasts the whole month of March. What fun!

GENERAL RESOURCES:

Check your local library for the following subjects: Ireland, Celts, St. Patrick, Catholicism, Potato Famine, Immigration of the Irish, etc.

Easter & St. Patrick's Day Thematic Unit


WEB RESOURCES:

Kids' Domain St. Patrick's Day
Family Corner
St. Patrick's Day site


PREPARED LESSONS:

Check out TeAchnology for a prepared lesson plan for St. Patrick's Day.

ACTIVITIES:

1. For little ones you could read the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and then have green eggs for breakfast. Its simple. Fix your normal recipe for scrambled eggs, and then before you cook them, stir in a goodly dose of green food coloring (liquid, not paste). Watch their faces when you surprise them at breakfast!!

2. Read up on the truth and fiction behind the legend of St. Patrick.

3. Here are are plenty of games for an Irish party. Some of them are very cute -- they've taken standard party games and jazzed them up for St. Paddy's day.

4. Here are some on-line games and some printable crafts that you could include.

5. Vocabulary: On-line Green Trivia Quiz

6. Handwriting: Have the child write an Irish blessing in their neatest handwriting.

7. Study about Ireland.

8. Home Ec: Learn to prepare a traditional Irish food.

9. Who were the Celtic people? Learn about Celtic food.

10. Religious studies: Read the Life and Times of Saint Patrick and learn about his relationship to God and Christianity.

11. Non-fiction Reading: Read St. Patrick's writings.

12. Music: listen to some traditional Irish folk music and also enjoy the video below!





13. Here are some fun Irish Trivia questions.

14. Biology: Study about snakes. Find out why Ireland has no snakes.

15. Geography: Study a map of Ireland. What products are produced in Ireland? What is their major export?

16. Politics/Civics: Why is Ireland divided into two distinct areas, Northern Ireland and Ireland?

17. History: What was the Great Potato Famine? When did it occur? Even though it happened in Ireland, how did it effect the United States?

18. Color recognition: Do some activities surrounding the color green. Cut out magazine pictures and make a green collage. Name or gather as many things in nature that are green as you can find. Have a green meal by only eating green food... or food colored green. How does the color green make you feel? You may wish to follow some of the activities in Have A Green Day!

BOOKS:

St. Patrick's Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting
St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons
A Leprechaun's St. Patrick's Day by Sarah Kirwan Blazek
Shamrocks, Harps, and Shillelaghs: The Story of the St. Patrick's Day Symbols by Edna Barth
Let's Celebrate St. Patrick's Day: A Book of Drawing Fun

[Hint: Hold down arrow buttons to turn carousel.]

Search the pages of our EasyFunSchool.com website
and the entire FamilyClassroom Network with the box below!