Ways for the Kids to Honor & Learn About Martin Luther King Jr.

Credit: I am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Author Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos

Ways For The Kids to Honor & Learn about Martin Luther King Jr

Kids may be excited about having Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday off Monday. We all need a day off. Yet it’s essential, especially with the current state of affairs, that they understand the holiday’s significance.

While schools teach history on MLK, learning about who he was outside of school is just as important. And we may be celebrating differently this year minus parades and huge social outings, here is how kids can learn and honor this great human, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Watch:

The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. by Kid President

Kids listen to kids, and this video by Kid President (when can we vote for this genius?) shares Martin Luther King Jr’s story, and he has the gift of storytelling that even adults will appreciate.

Brain Pop Animated Video

In a little over 6 minutes, BrainPop Jr. shares an in-depth story on MLK Jr., which is told in a way that even the youngest of kids will understand and learn about one of the most important civil rights leaders of all time.

Selma Movie Directed by Ava DuVernay

Selma is a movie that focuses on three months of what has been stated as a “tumultuous” time. Sharing the story in 1965 of Montogomery marches for voting rights; this movie is a telling. Although not a history lesson on civil rights but of a pivotal time in the fight for civil rights, it feels unfortunately relative to the struggles that Black Lives Matter protests today. Most importantly, it shares a time of the life of the great Martin Luther King, Jr. The movie is PG 13 and features violence.

Free Printables of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Print out these free printables for your little one, courtesy of Crayola.

I am Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ordinary People Change the World)

This sweet picture book by historian Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos tells how, as a child, Martin Luther King Jr. was shocked at how unfairly Black people were treated. It shares how, as an adult, he made a difference with peaceful marches and powerful words. The beautifully illustrated book shares MLK’s “dream” and will inspire kids to not only understand who he was but know that they can make a difference.

I Am Martin Luther King Jr by Brad Meltzer

Listen to Brad Meltzer’s I am Martin Luther King Jr with Read Books Aloud by Ms. Melange.

Listen to MLK Jr. Inspired Tunes

If the kids need a break from the books than it’s time to break out the music and listen to some tunes. Oscar-winner for Best Original Song (2015), this tune from Common and John Legend, Glory is from the movie Selma and one of the most moving and powerful songs about civil rights struggle.

Stevie Wonder’s Happy Birthday is sung on many birthdays. Still, this song was written as a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and to this day, next to the traditional Happy Birthday melody is one of the most popular birthday songs sung around the world.

The Language Workshop For Children

After offering both group and private lessons for many years and analyzing the results over&nbsp;time, The&nbsp;Language Workshop for&nbsp;Children, founded&nbsp;in1973, has decided&nbsp;to emphasize private remote lessons at shorter intervals.&nbsp;Our skilled educators&nbsp;will&nbsp;focus their attention exclusively on the&nbsp;unique needs, learning style, and interests of your child.&nbsp;This allows a&nbsp;bond&nbsp;to develop&nbsp;between teacher and student, which&nbsp;has been&nbsp;shown to&nbsp;drastically improve retention.&nbsp; OUR METHOD&nbsp; Developed by the pioneers of language education for children, our programs bring decades of&nbsp;experience to your living room with individualized, active language classes. Each lesson is based on proven methods and materials perfected to capture your&nbsp;child&rsquo;s attention during the ages when he/she absorbs information the fastest. &nbsp;&nbsp; While other online language classes rely on videos for passive learning, we deliver interactive, and engaging lessons with native-fluent teachers. In addition, all our teachers are certified in the Thibaut&nbsp;Technique which has been featured&nbsp;in the New York&nbsp;Times, the&nbsp;Wall Street Journal, and many other well-respected&nbsp;publications.&nbsp;&nbsp; Our short one-on-one lessons give kids the chance to focus, hear pronunciation clearly, and practice speaking in their target language.  THE PROCESS&nbsp; First, students have a short meeting with our Director&nbsp;Francois&nbsp;Thibaut, in&nbsp;English, with&nbsp;their parent(s)&nbsp;present.&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut&nbsp;will determine&nbsp;the best course of study, including&nbsp;class length and&nbsp;frequency, the&nbsp;right&nbsp;teacher, lesson&nbsp;format and materials (or action games for younger students.) Then the learning&nbsp;begins!&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut will continually check in on your child&rsquo;s learning to assure they are getting the most&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;classes.&nbsp; OTHER OFFERINGS&nbsp; We can also help your child prepare for: the French subject tests for SAT, AP &amp; CLEP, the European DELF/DALF, the Canadian TEF and other standardized testing, college entry exams, studying or traveling abroad,&nbsp;cultural changes when moving abroad,&nbsp;and much more!&nbsp; &nbsp;

Broadway Dance Center Children and Teens

With more than 35 years of experience, Broadway Dance Center Children &amp; Teens provides young movers ages 3-18 with exceptional training. BDC delivers the finest all-around dance experience for students by offering a wide variety of styles and levels, performance opportunities, and the highest caliber dance instruction that only New York City and BDC Children &amp; Teens can provide. This studio is so much more than a training course for young dancers; it is a diverse, family-friendly community for budding creatives. It has an exemplary faculty who follow the vision to not only develop a dancer&rsquo;s love and ability in dance, but to do so in a nurturing and supportive way.

Speakitaly NYC

SPEAKITALY NYC offers stimulating and entertaining lessons for children 0 to 16 years through a wide combination of activities based on the communicative approach anchored in the Common European Framework of Reference: active learning (group work, role plays, etc.) and practice exercises aimed to improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Kids will start speaking and using Italian in a very natural way.&nbsp; Small classes capped at 6 students to make sure each one gets the needed attention and facilitate learners' progress.&nbsp; Our method is driven by a didactic method that is the result of constant updates, professional certifications and more than 10 years of experience in working with non-native speakers from different native languages and levels of knowledge. Our aim is to develop a range of Italian language skills while improving accuracy that will enable the students and participants to interact without stress or feeling rushed. We want to help those in the community really embrace not only the true culture in Italy but the Italian culture within New York City&hellip; Who doesn&rsquo;t love what Italy represents in the kitchen, in history &amp; in the arts? Speakitaly wants to support multilingual families who want to learn a new language or pass along their ancestor&rsquo;s heritage and culture. Raffaella, the founder said: "We see language awareness and intercultural sensitivity as the milestones for an inclusive society. Italian, like all other languages, is an enrichment and a growth in every way. Vi aspettiamo!"

Ways for the Kids to Honor & Learn About Martin Luther King Jr.