Washington's Birthday officially honors the life and work of George Washington, the first president of the United States. The day commemorates past presidents of the USA. Washington's Birthday is sometimes known as Presidents' Day. This is because while most states have adopted Washington's Birthday, some states officially celebrate Presidents' Day.

Some states pay particular attention to Abraham Lincoln, as his birthday was also in mid-February. In the weeks or days leading up to the holiday, schools often organize events and lessons for students about the presidents of the United States and George Washington in particular. It is a popular day for stores to start their sales.

Presidents' Day can be a day to learn a bit, of who we, as American people, are. This is so much more than memorizing the names of the presidents, knowing that Washington DC is on the east cost, beyond history and government facts; this holiday represent who “We the people…” really are.

Researching with our children about past presidents remind us how the United States of America was, and is continuing to evolve, to reflect on the system of government we have, wars, people, rights and even wrongs we, as a nation, have been part of. It important for our children to understand the eras surrounding the holiday we celebrate. This ability to construct understanding takes time, it is built upon as the years, and holidays pass. Our children need to try on ideas in their own minds, make their own theories, then connect to the possibilities of the future. They need to read history with adults so they can try on their thoughts through conversation.

If the beginnings of our country are not learned, slavery and Japanese internment swept from our literature because they are uncomfortable, WWI, WWII, gone with a generation, if we as adults let our children know half truths about Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Ivan IV of Russia, Pol Pot,…are we encouraging ignorance?

What if Presidents’ Day becomes a moment to learn, and discuss not just people but also the era in which they lived? If we focus on developing the thinking skills in our children to sift through history and make informed decisions about the future. Could our children initiate historical investigations and bring them to the dinner table? Could they raise questions and invent theories, could we learn something from them?

Let’s fill the gaps our children and we have about history. Maybe discovering a new fact about George Washington or Abraham Lincoln could be a dinner conversation starter?

R.R.Cratty

The best means of forming a manly, virtuous, and happy people will be found in the right education of youth. Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion, must fail.

-George Washington, letter to George Chapman, December 15, 1784

Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness.

-George Washington, First Annual Message, January 8, 1790

Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least, a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, even on this account alone, to say nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being able to read the scriptures and other works, both of a religious and moral nature, for themselves. For my part, I desire to see the time when education, and by its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise and industry, shall become much more general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might have a tendency to accelerate the happy period.

-Abraham Lincoln, March 9, 1832 First Political Announcement


source: examiner