Presidents' Day is Monday, February 19, 2018. Do you want to mark Presidents' Day in your homeschool but don't know how? Fear not! This week, we're sharing a lesson plan and resources for teaching about presidential portraits. This would be a great activity for Presidents' Day or for studying current events, since portraits have been in the news lately. 

The White House Historical Association has great a great Podcast about the presidency in history. The name of the Podcast is 1600 Sessions. Click here to listen to the audio file of their Podcast on presidential portraits, where they interview Betty Monkman, former White House curator, and William Kloss, art historian. 

Your local library may have a copy of William Kloss's book Art in the White House: A Nation's Pride. It is a beautiful, thick volume that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about White House's art collection. 

On Monday, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery unveiled Barack and Michelle Obama's official portraits. The Obamas' taste in art tends toward the modern, and their portraits reflected this. The Obamas were the first couple to have their portraits painted with a modern art twist. 

You can view the entire collection of presidential portraits on the White House Historical Association's Website. 

You can view Barack and Michelle Obama's newly released portraits here, and read the corresponding news article about them. 

Finally, download this fantastic guide from the National Portrait Gallery called the "Reading" Portraiture Guide for Educators. 

Put it all together, and here's your Presidents' Day Homeschool Lesson Plan:

• Listen to the 1600 Sessions Podcast on presidential portraits.
• View the collection of presidential portraits on the White House Historical Association's Website.
• Read the news article about the newly released Obama portraits.
• Choose two presidential portraits to analyze, using the reading portraiture guide.

This is such a fun, easy, and FREE way to celebrate Presidents' Day in your homeschool. Happy learning! 

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Valentine’s Day is Wednesday, February 14. This week for Hot Chocolate and Current Events, our weekly effort to help homeschooling families learn about the news, we are taking a look at this sweet holiday. In your holiday homeschool celebration, why not discuss Valentine’s Day as a current event? 

This week’s article tells about how much people are spending on Valentine’s Day this year:

http://www.cspdailynews.com/category-news/snacks-candy/articles/consumers-spend-nearly-196-billion-valentine-s-day

Read the article, then kick back with your family with a cup of hot chocolate for a sweet discussion. 

Why do people spend money on Valentine’s Day?
Is 19.6 billion total too much for one country to spend on Valentine’s Day? Too little?
Is $143.56 (the average) a good amount for a person to spend on Valentine’s Day?
Why do you think people are spending more money this year compared to last year? 
Why do you think consumers ages 25-34 will spend the most? 
What do you think of people spending money on their pets? 
If you had a Valentine’s Day budget of $1,000, how would you spend it?
On which holiday should we spend the most money? 
On which holiday should we spend the least money?
Name one new thing this article taught you about consumer spending habits.  

This week for Hot Chocolate and Current Events, we’re taking a look at the State of the Union address. 

Background
The United States Constitutions stipulates: The president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

Resources
You can watch the State of the Union on YouTube. There are also shorter excerpts or highlights of the speech available on YouTube. Here is a great set of State of the Union BINGO cards. 

Discussion Questions
Do you agree with President Trump’s overall view of the state of the union?
What was the most memorable line from his speech?
What do you think was his best recommendation? 
Who was your favorite citizen-guest the president honored? Why? 
Do you think the president's speech was unifying? 
What did you think of the speech overall? Why? ​