After having spent about one-third of my life teaching my three children at home, I love reflecting on the amazing adventure of homeschooling. In 22 years of teaching, I experienced successes, failures, joys, tears and a myriad of other emotions and moments. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
My favorite homeschooling tasks are the memory makers; the ones my now-adult children still talk about around the holiday table. Famous Person Night certainly qualifies as a memory maker.
History of Famous Person Night
The idea of Famous Person Night was birthed from my own experience as a fifth grader in the Department of Defense overseas public schools. I was assigned an extension project: studying a famous individual, and then presenting my findings in the first person. I relished this assignment — pouring myself into research of Betsy Ross.
Later, my mother would help me make an authentic period costume, in preparation for Betsy Ross visiting the four different fifth grade classes in our school system. I entered into character easily, sharing important facts about this historical figure.
Continuing the Adventure
Years later, fresh from college and teaching fifth grade in the public schools, I decided to incorporate this famous person activity with my reading students. I was thrilled to see how easily they embraced this learning adventure! I learned so much from visits from Harriet Tubman, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Amelia Earhart and many others. This became a highlight of my students’ reading experience.
Passing it on to my Generation
As I began to educate my own children and see the value of group activities, I organized Famous Person Night as an event for our homeschool organization. I developed step-by-step instructions so parents could easily follow the directions in helping their children through the teaching process.
The beauty of this event for the homeschool family is that you can adjust your teaching to include all student levels. This is easily an event that the entire family can participate in. Not only do students learn in giving the presentation, but also in listening — everyone learns!
How could I ever forget leading my children in researching Babe Ruth, Geronimo, Elizabeth Blackwell, Leif Ericson, Sir Francis Drake and Chuck Norris? I loved when my daughter worked with a friend to study about Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. Their presentation began with my daughter being led in by her friend and working together much like the historical pair.
Famous Person Night was like a walk into the past. The evening was always filled with so much learning, fun, and togetherness. The perfect end to the evening was in sharing cookies and lemonade with other homeschool families and guests.
Tips for starting your own Famous Person Night
- Choose a date in mid fall or spring for your Famous Person Night.
- Invite other homeschool families to join in the event.
- Reserve a venue large enough to accommodate your participants and invited guests.
- Advertise the event with your homeschool organization.
- Parents: provide help and support for the learning process (research).
- Students: research and write out the presentation in advance.
- Plan and execute your costume.
- Practice, practice and practice!
- Invite friends and family to the event.
- Make presentations.
- Be prepared to ask (and answer) questions.
Although Cathy’s daughter was not yet reading, she learned about Betsy Ross and dressed in character to participate in Famous Person Night. In this photo, Cathy is conducting an interview with her.
Time for Another Famous Visit
Recently my daughter, who is now a second grade teacher, asked me to resurrect the famous person activity by visiting her classroom as the Statue of Liberty. Those seven and eight year olds were transfixed in their learning from Lady Liberty! The opportunities to apply this learning activity are varied.
Blast from the Past
A recent trip to Philadelphia opened the door to a visit to the Betsy Ross House. How special it was all these years later to to remember my own experience researching and presenting as the famous Betsy Ross. This was the learning adventure that would give birth to what we later called Famous Person Night.
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Cathy Flack has resigned her homeschooling adventures and is now the Administrative Assistant for the Natural Sciences Division at John Brown University. She lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, with her pastor husband, David. Their three children are all married and pursuing their individual careers. One of Cathy’s current passions is gardening for butterflies. You can connect with Cathy via Facebook.
