Thanksgiving Week School Plans
Hymns
- Give Thanks to God for Good is He (284 in blue Psalter Hymnal, Psalm 136)
- Now Thank We All Our God (316)
- Whole-Hearted Thanksgiving (14, Psalm 9)
Memory Work
My version of holiday memory work is to read it aloud together once or twice daily during the season for years. This is how my mom had us memorize Luke 2, and I still know it. I think the repetition over time makes the memory work more permanent than hammering it word-perfect and leaving it. All the memory I worked on and worked on and knew and then “finished” I have forgotten. All that I revisited and learned in snatches or just heard over and over across the years, I have hidden in my heart and mind. So that’s the tactic I take for memory work in our home. It has the added benefit of removing all stress from it.
Poetry and Mottos
O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
~~William Shakespeare 1564-1616
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more–a grateful heart:
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose Pulse may be
Thy Praise.
~~George Herbert 1593-1633
Copywork & Art
Read this poem each day, and have the boys copy and illustrate a different couple of lines each day:
FIRST THANKSGIVING OF ALL by Nancy Byrd Turner Peace and Mercy and Jonathan,
And Patience (very small),
Stood by the table giving thanks
The first Thanksgiving of all.
There was very little for them to eat,
Nothing special and nothing sweet;
Only bread and a little broth,
And a bit of fruit (and no tablecloth):
But Peace and Mercy and Jonathan
And Patience, in a row,
Stood up and asked a blessing on
Thanksgiving long ago.
Thankful they were their ship had come
Safely across the sea;
Thankful they were for hearth and home,
And kin and company;
They were glad of broth to go with their bread,
Glad their apples were round and red,
Glad of mayflowers they would bring
Out of the woods again next spring.
So Peace and Mercy and Jonathan,
And Patience (very small),
Stood up gratefully giving thanks
The first Thanksgiving of all.
Picture Books
Food & Activities
- Thanksgiving Tree
- pumpkin scones & tea
- leaf raking & jumping, then hot chocolate
- leaf-shaped sugar cookies, frosted (cutting out & frosting will be an activity)
- On Thanksgiving Day, Winckler family tradition is to build a gingerbread house
I always forget to plan for Thanksgiving Week because we mostly take it off. We did just begin learning Now Thank We All Our God, so I guess that is something. Thank you for all of these ideas! I just might steal one…or three. :)
Question: Is the memory work for that week only? Or will you continue review it after? Just curious.
These are the only things we do during Thanksgiving Week (Monday-Wednesday), just about a 30m circle time or so.
The Scripture verses listed are verses out of paragraphs we have memorized (Colossians) or are memorizing (1 Thess). So they will get continually reviewed in our binder system, but I wanted to pull out those specific sentences to focus Thanksgiving Week.
George Washington’s speech we’ll just read and enjoy during this week, and maybe in 5 or 6 years it will be familiar. :)
And this year I am saving this, filing the hymns, recipe, books, etc. together, and I am totally doing exactly this every single year. :D This will be our third year for the Thanksgiving Tree, and about year 15 or more for Matt’s family to do a gingerbread house. :) Tradition.
[...] Geste credit for encapsulating this practical approach to memory work so succinctly in a recent post of hers.) I still haven’t completely decided on a poem because I haven’t a single volume of [...]