Moms Talk: Celebrating MLK Day

On Monday, schools, post offices and banks were closed to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

How do you talk to your kids about civil rights and MLK Day? Is it just another day off school, or do you recognize the holiday in some way? What are some of the questions your children ask? 

Jennifer AuBuchon
When the kids were younger, we read books and talked about it more than we do now.  

Today, I pointed out the field trip that Clayton sixth-graders took to Memphis, to see the motel where MLK Jr. was killed and to Little Rock, where they met two of the nine students who integrated Little Rock Central High School following the Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education, that was covered in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.  

We thought that was certainly a worthy educational experience. Wish our Mehlville students had opportunities to take trips like that! 

Jenny Wescoat
We have talked about MLK Day in the past, but I am just not on the ball this year! I expect that we will at least discuss it at dinnertime, but I did not plan anything formal.

I had thought I might look up some things online to share with the kids, too. I do think it's really important to remember and reflect on history, especially this specific aspect of American history. 

Karin Jackson
I don't know that we take the time to specifically discuss civil rights and Martin Luther King Day as a family, but we've had some specific opportunities spontaneously arise in the past to discuss these and similar issues with the kids. 

For instance, my 10 year-old daughter entertained a number of poignant questions after seeing The Help in theatre last summer.  We also traveled to Springfield, IL two summers ago to visit the Lincoln Library and their compelling tribute to slavery and the Civil War.  Life size images of African-American men, women, and children being sold at auction brought out difficult but necessary questions about our nation's history. 

Finally, our elementary school focused on black history this month, which took us on extra outings to the public library to check out stories about some of our American heroes - especially Colin Powell. 

I certainly appreciated my kids' inquisitive and analyzing minds processing these significant aspects to our country's history.

Lisa May
We do not have a formal talk on his birthday. We do acknowledge why they are off school. I did ask my kindergartener about him on Friday, and she said that he fought to not have separate drinking fountains. She was very upset to realize this was a reality at one point. 

We do discuss this throughout the year at different times. The children seem to learn some at school and some from our discussions. Personally, I love to learn about him. It would be hard to describe who he was in one or two sentences, as his message was far-reaching. 

I love the idea of the field trip that Jennifer mentioned. I think it is great that Clayton does that.