The History of Mother's Day

Introduction

Mother's Day is a special day for mothers. In 2026, it is on May 10.

Main Body

Anna Jarvis started this day. She wanted to remember her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis. Ann helped sick soldiers in a war. The first official Mother's Day was in 1908. Anna wanted people to write letters and give white flowers. Later, companies started to make money from the day. They sold expensive flowers and cards. Anna Jarvis did not like this. She was angry because the day became a business. She tried to stop the holiday and the police arrested her. Anna Jarvis became sick and died in 1948. But the holiday stayed. Today, many people still celebrate Mother's Day with gifts.

Conclusion

People still celebrate Mother's Day today. They send cards and gifts, but Anna Jarvis did not want this.

Learning

⏳ The "Past" Pattern

To reach A2, you must speak about things that already happened. Look at these words from the story:

  • Start → Started
  • Want → Wanted
  • Help → Helped

The Simple Rule: To talk about the past, we usually just add -ed to the end of the action word.


💡 Examples from the text

  1. "Anna Jarvis started this day." (Action finished)
  2. "She wanted to remember her mother." (Feeling in the past)
  3. "The police arrested her." (Event that happened)

⚠️ One Special Word

Not all words follow the -ed rule. Look at this one:

Become → Became

"The day became a business."

(You must memorize these "special" words because they don't follow the rule!)

Vocabulary Learning

special (adj.)
different from others; unique
Example:She gave her mother a special gift.
day (n.)
a period of 24 hours
Example:Today is a bright day.
mothers (n.)
women who have given birth
Example:Mothers help their children.
sick (adj.)
not healthy
Example:He is sick and needs rest.
soldiers (n.)
people who fight in the army
Example:Soldiers protect the country.
war (n.)
a serious fight between countries
Example:The war lasted for years.
official (adj.)
approved by a government
Example:The official record shows the date.
write (v.)
to put words on paper
Example:She will write a letter.
letters (n.)
pieces of mail
Example:They received many letters.
white (adj.)
color without hue
Example:She wore a white dress.
flowers (n.)
plants with petals
Example:They gave her beautiful flowers.
companies (n.)
businesses that sell products
Example:Companies made money from the day.