On This Day in American History – Brand New! January Calendar

Friends, I am so excited to share with you this brand new set of calendars for you and your children: On This Day in American History!

For the past two years, I have had an idea rolling around in my brain to create a calendar for each month that highlights one event from American History.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to complete this idea until now.  I have had bits of ideas jotted on scrap pieces of paper floating around my school room for 2+ years.

2023 will be the year this idea all comes together! Yahoo!

The goal of these On This Day calendars is to expose our children to American History in little bite-size chunks.  We have a fascinating history here in America, and it is our duty (and joy!) to teach that history to our children.

Let me show you how I picture these calendars being used.

On This Day in American History Monthly Calendars

I believe it is valuable and a worthy use of our time to study American History in our homeschools.  Whether or not you are studying American History as a formal subject this year, you can use these monthly calendars in your homeschool to discover interesting facts about our United States.

Each day, I will share an event that occurred in U.S. History.  It might be the birth of a famous American, a notable event during a time of war in which America was engaged, an American invention, an event related to music or art, or state specific.

I will then list several activities that you can do to supplement the idea presented for the day.

Only one American History event is lister per day, despite having a multitude from which to choose.

You might choose to do this monthly calendar activity with your children, where you all talk about, research, and/or ponder the event.  There might be a quick video to watch or a paragraph to write answering an opinion question.  There might be words to define or research using the given links, which you call all do together as a group.

If you choose to do this as a group project, I would encourage you to place all of the written work in one notebook.  How fun it will be to look back on this project in the coming years!

This would make a wonderful Plus 1 for after your Bible time each morning!

You might also choose to assign the On This Day in American History activities to your child for independent work.  Again, I would encourage you to have your child write all of his answers in one notebook which will serve as a “Notebook of Knowledge.”

You can print the pdf or send it to your child in an email for them to access, or you can send them straight here to Mama’s Learning Corner each day.

A note about links used in these posts: While I have carefully reviewed every site and video to which I am linking, please use your own parental discretion.  I cannot be responsible for material found on other websites.

Here is an Example:

Note that the whole activity is designed to take less than 10 minutes.  Of course, you and your children might find the day’s event fascinating and want to explore it even more.  Please go down all of those fun rabbit trails if that is enjoyable for your homeschool!

January 5, 1933, marks the day that the construction of the Golden Gate bridge began.  This is an example of what you would see in the blog post (and the calendar) for January 5th:

EXAMPLE  ⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇

January 5 – Golden Gate Bridge Construction Begins

Construction officially started on the Golden Gate Bridge on January 5, 1933.  A ground breaking ceremony occurred 6 weeks later on February 26, 1933, with a joyous crowd of over 100,000 people in attendance.

To do:
1.) To understand how electricians keep the Golden Gate bridge operating, you can watch this video: The Golden Gate Bridge Presents: Forged in the Fog. Sadly, they don’t play the actual fog horn!  The up close views of the Bridge are fascinating, however.
2.) Each vehicle is charged a fee to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.  Determine the cost of a regular car (2-axles) to cross the Bridge using a License Plate Account.  Use this page to help you calculate: Golden Gate Bridge Tolls & Payment.  Is a vehicle charged a toll both ways (coming and going)?
3.) Answer in a few well-written sentences: Why do you think the Golden Gate Bridge requires a toll to cross?  For what do you think the toll money should be used?
4.) How easy is it to build a bridge?  Choose a medium (popsicle sticks, blocks, LEGO, pencils, etc.) and see if you can build a functioning bridge.

How to Access On This Day in American History

There will be two ways to access the On This Day in American History monthly calendars:

1.) You can stop by Mama’s Learning Corner each day to find the event and the activities for you and your children to complete.  You will find only that day’s event listed and there won’t be access to a cumulative calendar or the answers.

OR

2.) You can purchase the monthly calendar, which contains the activities for the entire month including any needed downloads, as well as the answers to the applicable questions that are asked each day.

OR

3.) Sign up for daily emails during the month of January. The email with a link to the day’s event will arrive in your inbox by 5 A.M. Eastern time!

Should you buy the .pdf at the beginning of the month?

Yes, you should IF:
– You are a planner and would like to know what days and events will be listed for the month.
– You would like a hard copy of the calendar to put in your Homeschool Mom Notebook or print and give to your child to work through independently.
– You would like to pre-load the links into your child’s device for him to access throughout the month.

No, you should not IF:
– It is not an inconvenience for you to come to my website each morning to see the day’s selection.
– You do not mind “flying by the seat of your pants” when it comes to planning.  You desire to use this in a much more loosey-goosey way (which is totally fine, of course!).
– You are not sure you want to commit to using the calendar throughout the month.  (Again-totally fine if that’s the case!  Some seasons cannot bear One. More. Thing. no matter how worthy it is.)

If you’re an All Access Pass member, you can log into your account, and then click on the Famous People, History, and Geography Page.

You will see all of the On This Day in American History calendars at the very top of the page.

On This Day in American History January Calendar

If you would like to get started in January, you can purchase the January Calendar so you can plan your homeschool days.

With your purchase, you will have access to a webpage that includes the entire month.  It is behind a paywall, so you will have to log in to your account to access the page.

You also have the option of downloading a .pdf version that will have clickable links.  The .pdf version also includes the downloads that are needed for January as well as the answers to the questions that are asked each day.

You can purchase the whole month of January here:

Not interested in purchasing the January Calendar? Sign up for free daily emails!

Receive the day’s event delivered to your inbox each morning by 5 A.M. Eastern time during the month of January!

Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill is a Christian mom to 5, ages 19 to 7. She homeschools her children in the classical education tradition and is currently in her 15th year of homeschool. She creates engaging worksheets and hands-on printable activities for Preschool and Elementary age children to supplement their daily studies.

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