I'm single handedly going to make our children PATRIOTIC!
(well, not ALL of them, but at least the children at the preschool! ) I've given up my 'music teacher' hat and am going to let someone else do music from now on. I had an idea (uhoh..LOOK OUT!)
I am going to teach PATRIOTISM. The flag is going back up in the classrooms again (nobody knows why they were removed but we know it wasn't to be unpatriotic!) and I'm going to do a thirty minute class once a week. Here's the rub:
I NEED IDEAS! Betsy Ross, George Washington and the cherry tree, Honest Abe studying by candlelight.........Anything from American history/lore that you think might be fun for kids. Give me ideas and I can make it kid-friendly. It could be a song, a story, an item in history that might fascinate the little ones.
I NEED IDEAS! Betsy Ross, George Washington and the cherry tree, Honest Abe studying by candlelight.........Anything from American history/lore that you think might be fun for kids. Give me ideas and I can make it kid-friendly. It could be a song, a story, an item in history that might fascinate the little ones.
PLEASE help me out. I'd love to get some ideas from you good readers and friends and look forward to hearing them! Thanks so much!
(and recommend this to private schools near you. We could start a trend!)
z
44 comments:
Great idea Z! Incorporate the music lesson with it, tying in famous American composers and musicians like George Gershwin, Aaron Copeland, Louis Armstrong, etc...
You can find great literature to te into it as well. Casey At The Bat and Johnny Appleseed are two of my favorites, and you can get the Disney animated shorts to watch with the study.
Good Luck with the project. Sounds Awesome!
Fantastic advice, Salubrina. Thanks, and thanks for stopping by!
Casey at the Bat and Johnny Appleseed.. PERFECT!
And traditionally American composers.....right! I'll be teaching them patriotic songs, too...I can't wait!
Serve Pepper Pot soup.
Campbell's makes a delicious approxiamation, but you'll likely have to have it shipped in from Canada.
Or, you could get the kids to scrounge up the ingredients, like the legend of the soup.
Great idea! Lynn Cheney has a series of good patriotic books that you can read to kids. Also the traditional American songs that you can get them to sing with you. Songs like, America The Beautiful, Our Country Tis'afee (However that's spelled), Oh Susanna (kids LOVE to sing to that).
Lynn Cheney's collection includes stories like Paul Bunyan and his ox Babe and other GREAT American stories and fables.
Morgan
z,
How about having the kids draw pictures and make cards periodically as a project, to send to our soldiers serving in theater?
As for history teaching that is fun, I really think ABC Schoolhouse Rock has some good songs- and that way you don't have to give up your "music teacher hat". Let them learn the Preamble, by singing it. Have you heard the Animaniacs songs about the 50 states? Good stuff. YouTube it.
Do a unit on Art Ensemble of Chcago's "Urban Bushmen" or maybe some Mingus like "Fables of Faubus".
Follow the instrumental lessons with some vocals, Billie Holliday's "Strange Fruit".
Then segue into a history lesson on Jefferson's moral turpitude in not selling his slaves.
This should help balance the subliminal conservative indoctrination they are getting every day.
Ducky, subliminal conservative doctrine is what they're needing. It hasn't been in America in twenty years.
Thanks, everybody..fabulous ideas....really!
Wonderful idea. History doesn't have to be dry or boring.
The Center for Civics Education is an excellent resource, Z. I believe they are located in California, too. Their URL is: http://www.civiced.org/
Great Idea ...
have a parade once a month and teach them to remove their hats and place their hats in hand over their hearts!
we get so sick of seeing grown men sitting with their hats on at parades when the honor guard passes by.
we see more and more men even wearing their hats in RESTAURANTS while eating also.
small children are great to remind adults of what is the right thing to do - it will also shame an adult into doing it.
This is fab, Z!!! I, too, was thinking of Lynne Cheney's books for children. They are wonderfully written and illustrated. I bought them for my own library! I'll keep thinking.
Hats off to you, Z!
Back when I was a tyke, there was no 'pre-school', but in the early grades we had a big flag, the pledge and American music; esp
Stephen Foster..my favorite was the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Along with Johnny Appleseed & Paul Bunyan, we enjoyed Pecos Pete tall tales. As for "subliminal conservative indoctrination", must not have been any, or else it didn't work. :)
this is a very good idea. when i was in elementary school we had the flag in our classrooms and said the pledge every morning. but the ritual was never explained to any of us. it was just a requirement we followed. even some of the teachers looked bored with it.
starting with young children is a really good beginning. good luck with this, hon!
ah, ducky... you're just an unhappy camper it seems.
bb-idaho..maybe you're just a late bloomer? You'll catch on..stick around!!(Smile)
Wow, these are all SUCH good ideas...I knew I would get some great stuff..
Give me more!! (greedy, capitalist pig Conservative that I AM!)
Don't forget songs by George M. Cohan: "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "You're A Grand Old Flag."
Flag etiquette and the reasons behind it? Just a few easy ones?
http://www.americanheritage.org/
I have used some ideas from this site!
it looks like if you put that hat on any child's head from your picture z you oughta put a smile on their face. i know i would like to have one. whatever methods you come up with please do not even hint at the idea you can burn the flag!!!.. he he... let em wear it!!!
Hi Z,
Great idea! More power to you.
They need to know about the beauty of eighteenth century architecture and interior decoration. Mount Vernon, Monticello, Independence Hall, Colonial Williamsburg, the James River Plantations, Charleston, SC. Old Savannah, GA. The Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, CT, Old Sturbridge Village in MA, etc.
They need to know about the 17th-century Brick Church built for the Roanoke colony near Williamsburg in Tidewater Virginia. They need to know about Plymouth Colony and the Mayflower Compact, The Massachusetts Bay Colony, about Roger Williams and how he came to split with the Puritans and wander through the wilderness to found the State of Rhode Island. They need to see illustrations of the Hoxey House on Cape Cod (possibly the oldest extant dwelling in the USA). The social and religious differences between the New England Colonies, the Virginia Colony and what the Spanish produced in Saint Augustine, FL–––the very earliest Old World settlement we have. Fort Matanzas made entirely from blocks of coquina in the late 1500's is a great wonder all by itself.
The styles and nature of furniture (all handmade) from the late sixteenth through the early nineteenth century beautifully illustrate the nature and quality of life in early America. The same is true of household artifacts like pewter, pottery, the work of early silversmiths, and farm implements, etc.
A study of early methods of agriculture, the kinds of food available, and methods of cooking help us understand what things were like as well.
A study of the many different forms of Christianity including The Quakers the Shakers and the the Mormons and also the various early Communes like Oneida and Amana.
They need to know about Powhatan, Pocahantas and Captain John Smith and about Squanto's (Tisquantum's) invaluable help to the Pilgrims.
They need to know about The Louisiana Purchase, Louis and Clark. The heavy Spanish influence in California.
They need to know about the incredible bravery and strength of the pioneers and what they accomplished against seemingly insuperable odds.
They need to know about the ingenuity and inventiveness of Franklin and Jefferson, and great inventors, Eli Whitney, Elias Howe, Robert Fulton, Marconi's telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers, etc.
We needed to know about pour Anglo-European heritage and how much we owe to the great men across the pond–––the USA didn't emerge from a vacuum.
There's so much to know that most of us learned that children are not being taught today, it sears the brain like lightning to think of it.
Good luck to you with this ambitious project.
At the very least, get them to read Johnny Tremaine by Esther Forbes and the Kenneth Roberts books–––IF you can still find them.
Read Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott,
Find and share illustrations of painting by Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley, Charles Wilson Peale and other great portraitists.
This project might work best if you can infuse the facts with color, intrigue and a sense of drama.
And a random sampling of American Poetry wouldn't hurt either.
There's so much more, but it doesn't help to put too much into one post.
The history of the development of the Industrial Revolution is great study all by itself.
And on and on...
~ FreeThinke
Brooke...AMAZING idea, flag etiquette..particularly because we're reintroducing the flag into the classrooms. I'm going to have them hold off til I start this thing and make a big deal about putting it up, you know?
FT; They're preschoolers, but I sure agree that Americans should know of the loveliness you're describing. Did you know Thomas Jefferson even invented the Lazy Susan!?
Will definitely check out the links you've listed, folks.
And I love the idea of a little early American poems, too..
this is going to be GREAT! "MORE, please!"! (That's Dickens, right!?)
My daughter, the mother of a pre schooler, recommends these online lesson plans.
http://www.mommynature.com/patriotic-theme-preschool-activities.html attp://www.mommynature.com/patriotic-theme-preschool-activities.html
If I were as smart as FJ, I would just leave you the hot link.:(
Z, show the children that we honor our founders and Presidents even on our money. And, in God We Trust is on our money too, of course. The eagle, on our national seal, representing strength etc.
Good luck with this Z. It's a wonderful undertaking.
Ducky - It's sad you think honoring America is reserved for conservatives.
Pris
Really nice idea, z! I've been looking at individuals from American history that have been 'reinvented' by the left. The other day I was reading the story of Martin Luther King who was actually a Christian and a Republican and who was resisted by the KKK who were Democrats. The Dems love to claim these freedom fighters for their own cause and kind of tweak the facts a little. There must be so many stories just like his.
its bout time girly!..raise that flag!!
Pris!! I was telling my hairdresser today about Ducky;s remarks and said "come to think of it, it's funny that he thinks patriotism is only for conservatives and I'm sorry I forgot to mention that" and YOU DID IT HERE~! You're SO right...isn't that odd? That IS what he said, essentially!
And i love the idea of showing a dollar bill and coin, etc...or the eagle, etc. SYMBOLS/ Great.
HEY, everybody: A QUESTION:
They've found Geo Washington's home where he supposedly cut the cherry tree down and said he wouldn't lie. They can't FIND the hatchet, so the "experts" think it might not have happened (can you believe that?)..but okay, let's say it NEVER HAPPENED.
Does that mean we DON'T TEACH IT? Isn't that like a parable in itself, true or not? I would still teach it because it's a part of American LORE and it's sweet and I know kids don't forget stories like that.
I'm thinking the Left would say "HOW can you teach something that DIDN'T HAPPEN (never mind their stance on global warming, right? but I digress...!), that's WRONG, Kids need THE TRUTH!"
Rubbish: it's a good story, it's sweet and it's edigying.
YOU AGREE WITH Z on this???
(that's ediFying!!) oops!
Just let them know that this is their country, warts and all, and let them know just how much there is to be proud of. Just tell them the truth.
Z,
Preschool is just the right time to "get 'em" before the poison of TV and the popular culture pickles their little brains.
PICTURES of the sites and period architecture I mentioned and of the great portraits of the period, and even landscapes of the Hudson River School and the Western Art of Frederick T. Remington speak volumes to children at the impressionable age. You wouldn't need to SAY much just let the wonder and beauty of the imagery speak for itself. It might prompt questions, which you could answer. A picture really is worth a thousand words.
Let them know about Mark Twain too.
Someone suggested Stephen Foster. I think his songs are an important part of Americana, and should be taught. Also the ragtime music of Scott Joplin and the sounds of Dixieland Jazz.
Just simple EXPOSURE to images and sounds can do wonders. Such things plant seeds in the minds of little children and pique their curiosity. Learning the details can come later.
Kids don't need "scholarship," they need STIMULATION.
I was lucky enough to have been immersed and virtually bombarded with all kinds of stuff I couldn't understand from earliest childhood–––trips to Museums of Art and Natural History, the Planetarium, restored historic homes, antiques shows, Carnegie Hall, the Opera, the Zoo, and of course all the skyscrapers and bridges of New York, which I could name with accuracy by the time I was four or five thanks to my Dad. He used to sit me on his lap from toddlerhood and read to me from the Encyclopedia. Because of that I saw pictures of many of the great cathedrals in Europe and Great Britain, and could recognize Salisbury, Ely, Westminster Abbey in England, Notre Dame in Paris, Chartres, Rouen, Rheims in France, St. Marks in Venice and the cathedrals in Milan in Italy and Cologne in Germany. The weird and wonderful quirks of Gothic architecture fascinated me. So did pictures of Spanish galleons and tall-masted clipper ships.
Children are never too young to learn, and the sooner we start exposing them to best we know, the better chance they have of growing up capable of independent thinking and the appreciation of a wide variety of the great wonders this world has to offer.
Just knowing the difference between the smooth, green, relatively old mountains in the eastern United States (Appalachians, Great Smokies, Adirondacks, White Mountains, etc.) and the steep, dramatic views of the relatively new Rocky Mountains in the west with the Mississippi Valley and Great Plains between does a lot to help orient children to the magnitude, variety and wonder of our land.
There is infinite good to celebrate in the best of human achievement everywhere.
~ FreeThinke
These kids are 3 to almost 5 years old. Some of the 3 yr olds are just starting to talk, but, thanks, FT....I hope I can get to the beauties and clevernesses you're describing!
Joseph Ellis’ book, His Excellency, George Washington doesn’t include mythical stories about our first president, but the information he does provide is well documented … and it would appear from the facts that Mr. Washington was an honest, decent human being. This isn’t to say that he was superhuman … that he did not exhibit the usual human tendencies, but even with that, he was a man worthy of emulation. Yes, he was part of the Virginia aristocracy. Yes, he was a slave owner. Yes, he was a businessman. Yes, he sought fortune through land ownership. He was, after all, a man of his time. But he was also courageous, humble, a man of integrity, a quality leader, both in the military and in politics, and a man who put all of his worldly possessions on the block toward the attainment of American democracy. So even if Mr. Washington never cut down his father’s cherry tree, or threw a dollar across the Potomac … he is a worthy topic for young children as they learn about civic virtue and the kind of men and women it took to forge this great nation. Let me also recommend to you the great Abigail Adams, wife and mother of presidents … a lady 120 years ahead of her time as an advocate of rights for the ladies and gender equality.
Youngsters may want to know why Mr. Washington was so great if he owned slaves. The answer is that Mr. Washington (the Englishman) did not enslave them – other Africans (and Muslims) did that … but were it not for the sweat and blood of African laborers in the Colonies, England might have given up it’s endeavor, and the language of North America might well be French. I think too many people give more attention to the fact of slavery than they do its contribution. Yes, slavery was an abomination. More white people ended up as slaves than Africans, but you don’t hear too much about that. Still, it is time we give credit to African slaves for their contribution to the success of the English colonies.
Semper Fi
"These kids are 3 to almost 5 years old." Oops, I think we are giving tons of advice which may be
a bit advanced. I agree with simple legends of Americana, like you mentioned, young George Washington's apple tree. My own kids when they were toddlers (how many years in an eon?) absolutely loved bedtime stories in which they
participated with the hero: just beginning to interface with the big
world, you know? So, marching around to Yankee Doodle, hand motions, quaker oats box 'drums'..even a little rudimentary square dancing to
Yellow Rose of Texas..not so much to teach or indoctrinate, but to give them a good and happy feeling about their heritage. 3-5 yrs should be a very happy time. You will do fine.
Excellent idea, Miss Z.
Get them involved, have costume parties, let them have a "Tea Party",.try the colonial dressing up.
I know one school here had the kids eat red,white and blue popcicles and make parades and so forth for Constitution Week, which is coming up Sept.17..be sure and mark it down.
WVDOTTR
Mustang, thank you. What you impart with this information is so inspiring, just the TONE of it not to mention the information, that this is something for me to strive for...the love of values and courage and all that made Washington great.
BB...SEE? I knew that if they'd correctly taught you, you'd be a conservative (that's a CHERRY tree, not APPLE!! HAHA..just kidding..I couldn't resist!). having said that, THANKS for the terrific input. Ya, the kids this young have to have more than just their ears involved, that's for sure!
WHich reminds me of a time we did a show and the kids were on the church altar (the preschool's a church preschool) and one little boy really decided to involve something other than his ears...(OY!)!!!
I'm definitely going to involve them, thanks...great advice. How many years IS an eon!?
WV...having them come in in costumes might be fun...involve the parents in finding something. GOOD idea!!
And they made lemonade popsicles the other day so I'm sure the teachers would do red/white/blue popsicles..Super!! Thanks.
What a wonderful idea Z! Having grown up abroad, i'd attend your classes if i lived there. :-)
They are so indoctrinated by the left in school, this is great!
You go girl!
Theme Song for O'Bama
I'm a Yankee Doo-Doo Dandy!
Deep and slippery dark and rich
I'll use anyone that's handy That's made Michelle's a pushy witch.
I'm a Yankee Doo-Doo Dandy
A Yankee Doo-Doo do or die.
Yankee Doo-Doo went to town
All puffed up and phony
A really Doo-Doo kinda guy.
FT
Z -- this is a great idea you've got!!! As the papa of two 5-year-old hardcore patriots I would say that the largest contributor to their patriotic lives would be our own example. Since the girls were born we have ALWAYS brought them to vote with us. While we are voting we explain what we are doing and why we do it. When we see someone in uniform we point them out to the girls as a hero and tell them that they are the reason we have freedom. Every time we see a flag we say how much we LOVE the American flag. Now as we drive down the highway they point out each and every one they see to us and every time we make a point to say how we love that American flag. These are things that aren't exactly classroom oriented but the whole idea is that the best way to teach them is by your own example. For instance, after you do introduce your flag you could stop a couple of times a day just to say how much you love that American flag. And if one of your kids wears red, white , and blue you could make a big deal saying how it reminds you of the flag that you love. Pretty soon you'll notice red,white, and blue creeping into many clothes wore to class. Go to your local recruitment office and ask what help they could offer to bring soldiers into your class and maybe they would even come and present the colors for them in dress uniforms. Work on teaching them all the individual service songs for the Army, Navy, Air force, and Marines. The Disney dvd that has Johnny Appleseed and Casey at Bat also has the stories of Paul Bunyan and John Henry. Good luck!!!
Incog, did I know you were raised abroad...email me!
Pops! WHAT a FANTASTIC idea! I'll get a soldier in for sure. We have a navy recruitment office very close by..( the one Code Pink tries to bug all the time )
I love this idea...thanks SO much.
Well...I'm going to make a list of all these fantastic thoughts and create a curriculum. AND, we're not going to just get those flags back into the classrooms, we're going to have a march and music and hands over our chests and make a HUGE thing over it!
I can't wait! And, thank goodness it's a religious preschool because we can actually say GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
:-)
Then segue into a history lesson on Jefferson's moral turpitude in not selling his slaves.
you do know duhhkkky that it turns out it was Thomas' brother Randal that had sex with the slaves and not our former President?
Is that right, Elbro?? I hadn't heard that!
I think I'll skip that story in the preschool...Ya think!?:0)
Maybe I'll just tell them about John Edwards, or Clinton, or Jesse Jackson, McGreevey, or Spitzer.....oh, no. I don't want to do too much LIBERAL INDOCTRINATION!
haaa!!!
Z, there's an old Bugs Bunny cartoon about patriotism....I mean OLD. But it's a good one. It incorporates everything from the founding fathers to Civil War...to WWII, I think.
and the music!!
My kids were spellbound.
Good on ya Z, no one does patriotism like you Americans.
MK, that was then and this is now.
I hope more people try to bring it back!
I meant his brother Randolph
The central charge against Jefferson was disproved by DNA evidence. The libs used it as an example of presidential dalliances in support of Clinton during his impeachment.
Joseph Ellis was exposed as a liar. Two months after the reports findings a correction was published. The co author a pathologists said they never proved it...what they meant to say was that Jefferson could have been the father. There were 25 Jefferson males alive when Sally Hemmings had her child, 7 of them lived at Monticello.
Randolph is a more likely candidate because he socialized with the slaves. He would play the fiddle and dance with the slaves.
The Hemmings rumor was based on two sources. Oral history from Hemmings relatives and the attacks of a journalist who was a Jeffersons political enemy.
When Jefferson didn't appoint him to a postmaster job, the journalist (a drunk who had spent some time in jail) published an article accusing Jefferson of fathering Sally Hemmings child, Thomas. It was then assumed that Jefferson had fathered her other children.
But the study proved specifically that Thomas was not Jeffersons child. The test actually ruled out any Jefferson was the father of Thomas.
Then to continue the smear the accusation was made that Jefferson had fathered Hemmings last born Estan. Estan is the only Hemmings child that could be tied to some Jefferson. Estan was concieved 5 YEARS after the accusation by the journalist when Thomas Jefferson was 64.
So I guess Thomas Jefferson waited 5 years to engage in the scurrilous conduct he was accused of by the journalist. (end sarcasm)
Even after it was disproved the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation issued a report, reporting to acknowledge that Jefferson fathered all 6 of Sally Hemmings children. I've read that guided tours of Monticello also claim that TJ fathered all six of her illegitimate children.
and just like the left salves their consciense over slavery by still making these claims, I suppose their collective guilt is somewhat assuaged by voting for Obama.
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