I know I’m a little late on this post. It is Labor day weekend but actual labor day is Monday September 7th, 2020, or the first Monday in September. In the United Staes it is a federal day meaning that banks are closed. When we think of Labor Day it is more of a simple to the end of summer and the start of the school year and fall even though the fall solstice is not until September 22nd. Here in New York the weather is already getting chillier.

However, Labor day is actually the celebration of the working people. Think of it like an adult version of career day but you get time to be with your family. Labor Day originally came from the government municipals ordinances in 1885 and 1886. The Bill was first introduced to the New York Legislation but was the first to be passed a a law in Oregon on February 21, 1887. in the 10 months that followed, New York, Colorado, Massachusetts and New Jersey all had made Labor day a federal holiday. by 1890 Connecticut, Nebraska and Pennsylvania had done the same. 23 more states had followed, making it a holiday but on June 28, 1894, Congress has declared it a holiday for all states and territories including Washington D.C making it the first Monday in September.

The first holiday celebration, despite it not being an official holiday, was on September 5th 1882 in New York City. 10,000 workers took an unpaid day to march from City Hall to Union Square, creating the first unofficial Labor Day parade.

More workers across the country heard the news and it caught their attention, striking as working conditions were dangerous, wages were being cut and their union representatives were being fired. We don’t actually know if it was Peter J. McGuire or Matthew Maguire for the proposed holiday but credit is split between the two.

Labor Day is typically celebrated by parades, picnics, barbecues, fireworks and lots of gatherings.

A quick fun fact is the reason federal holidays fall on a Monday is actually due to The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968. The act changed all federal holidays to a Monday to ensure that workers will have a 3 day weekend. It was signed on June 28th, 1968 meaning Memorial day, Columbus day and Washington’s birthday all to be moved to the following Monday.

Now that is all the history, but being a homeschooler, even on holidays we learn right? So here is what we are doing in terms of learning about Labor Day:

Talking about all different jobs. Especially ones he has an interest in. No job is the same. Some have Unions like teachers, Garbage men, police and so on.

We used the link below for coloring pages and talking about which tools are used for what careers.

http://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/labor-day-0

And we watched this quick clip from the History Channel