NANC DID IT! Thanks, everybody for your terrific input....I really had such good names to work with..but this is it! Nanc... thank you so much!!Remember I asked you all for ideas that I can include in my preschool classes in order to teach them PATRIOTISM (man was THAT a pain in the neck to color!!) at an early age? Well, it's all happening, and I'm using ALL your ideas in writing my curriculum (thanks!), but I need more help:
I NEED A NAME FOR THE CLASS!
I'll teach them the Pledge of Allegiance and patriotic songs, tell them about Geo. Washington and the cherry tree, I'll tell them about Betsy Ross, and I'll have naturalized citizens tell the kids how lucky they are to be BORN here.....I'll talk about AMERICA every week for thirty minutes. The name has to be something that'll please the parents of the little girl with OBAMA on her yellow T shirt, too. Not saying those people don't love America and won't appreciate the class's motives, but......... HELP!
Today, I got the white gloves the flag bearers will wear when we walk in with Old Glory and put her up on the wall to stay! Tell your local preschools they need to do the same!
z
65 comments:
Simply call the class "American Values."
However, please do not use the term Dissent in conjunction with the word Patriotism. If a libtard parent brings that up, just say no.
My wife is a ninth grade world history I teacher.
Best of luck with this...I agree with Steve's idea. BTW, thank you for stopping by and offering your kind words. I will blogroll you...
B'Shalom, Yehudi
Z,
Just call it American Patriotism I, as this may well be their first time at hearing and experiencing anything like this.
WEll done .
WVDOTTR
America -- Land That I Love!!!
Short and sweet, folks...
Preschool Patriots?
patriOT TOTS? Awful! Thanks..now I need more!
Yehudi...I thank you and have blogrolled you, too. Blessings. z
Amerischool? (what? it's short and sweet!)
Americlass? That's not bad, Pops! you're getting me thinking...
A great endeavor Z, all the best with it!
How about the title of my blog, ‘American Interests’..lol… or ‘We love America’, Class of America?
Although, ‘America Values” is good too; here you would hone in on what ought to be shared values by all Americans. Identifying with objects, settings or characteristics and past individuals that are deemed important and valuable to American society. Apart from the obvious individuals, you can highlight things like freedom, democracy, individualism, competition, wealth creation, and religious based faith.
Watch those ideological values, might bring you unstuck with some parents…
~Otto
American Interests
My America
Our America
Kids America
Amerikids
I also like Preschool Patriots
Also sort of like We Love America
This doesn't have to stay preschool. It can move on up the grades.
Hi Z,
"Yankee Doodle Dandies". Or,
"Uncle Sam's Kids".
This way for them they're part of the American experience. They are four year olds, they have to be able to feel part of the whole story. Participants.
Pris
cj..I love KidsAmerica...going to mull that one over seriously! thankz!! Oh..just checked and there's an org. called that..
Well..it's not like anybody would care, but I wish this would catch on and the name could, too!
Patritots!? ha! how's that?
Pris, that's funny! I'd just written down Yankee Doodle Dandies on a piece of paper for my School Bd...but it's too long! Great minds again!
"American Traditions"
Patritots sort of grows on one, but you have to say it out loud to get the meaning of it. People reading it are going to read Pat rather than Pate until the word becomes known. (I know pat is an OK alternative but most of us say pate).
Whatever you call it, it is a good thing.
The boys could be "The Minutemen" and the girls are "The Daughters of the Revolution." At an age where they are TOTALLY lumped together this could be a meaningful way to illustrate the positive differences between boys and girls and the different roles they played during the Revolution. I also liked "Preschool Patriots." Lynn Cheney's books cater to this crowd! Good luck!
Morgan
BTW Z...Way to go!!!!
Morgan
How about The Right Wing Indoctrination Half Hour?
It wouldn't work because the parents voting for Obama wouldn't know how to pronounce the "I" word.
Morgan
Ducky...why is patriotism only RIGHT WING?
Is it really 'right wing' to teach them the pledge, or My Country Tis of Thee or tell them about Betsy Ross or have an immigrant explain how lucky they feel to be here legally?
Is THAT 'right wing'?
Maybe it is. We never read BILLY HAS TWO MOMMIES at our school, either. So sue us.
Why do I consider it right wing? Because the right so often mistakes jingoism for patriotism and doesn't seem concerned about the difference.
Not looking for conflict,z, I would offer this criticism. Is this a meaningful educational experience for a pre-schooler? Do the have cognitive development to understand it? Does it really develop values or just parroting back a song they don't even understand?
That is what comes to mind and why I mention indoctrination.
I think that talks about American traditions seep in and linger in a child's mind. I think the ceremony we're going to create which will put the flags permanently in the classrooms (after our recent remodel when they came down for paint about a year ago) will show them the adults have awe and respect for the flag and will engender respect in them without beating their heads with it.
I've got to get to them before elementary teachers do things like giving them extra credit to march against a war their president deems right no matter what leftist "peace at any pricers" FEEL. If public school teachers can do that, I can do this.
This isn't about indoctrination and I'm sorry you feel that way, Ducky..this is about respect and fun and teaching songs that they'll never forget.
This isn't Hitler Youth as you seem to insinuate, this is American values and traditions and having fun learning them.
Ducky, by the way..i'm big on "just parroting".
I think we've robbed our kids by taking rote memorization out of school entirely. It gave people a love of the rhythm and beauty of language and helped them to learn to memorize less rote things and I know older people who take great pleasure in remembering poetry they learned, etc.
To this day, the tiny bit I remember from poems I did manage to learn gives me a lot of pleasure.
Yes, I suppose sending a little pre schooler to school with Obama on a tee shirt is just a fashion statement, too.
Or teaching a child anything is just indoctrination.
Please.
WVDOTTR
I'm with you 100% Z! These kids WILL remember some things from their young childhood and it's better if they remember the GOOD things! BTW what do you think of "The Minutemen" and "The Daughters of the Revolution"?
Do you know how many young ADULTS don't even know the story of Paul Bunyan or John Henry and couldn't tell you the first thing about Washington's crossing of the Delaware? Which is another brilliant kids book from Lynn Cheney.
Morgan
Morgan
I wrote this with the Duckster in mind:
"Do you know how many young ADULTS don't even know the story of Paul Bunyan or John Henry and couldn't tell you the first thing about Washington's crossing of the Delaware?"
Ducky we know that this isn't accidental. It was done to an entire generation of American students and people who think like YOU are entirely responsible for this educational malfeasance.
Morgan
WEE AMERICANS!
short AND sweet.
pardon the punny.
How about:
We The Children
No. Scratch that.
John Henry?
Which version?
Mississippi John Hurt (how many Americans have never heard John Hurt?)
Bill Monroe
Fred McDowell
Woody Guthrie (commie)
Paul Robeson (commie)
For that matter, how many Americans have the foggiest idea of our musical roots? The think "country" means Toby Keith.
For once you are absolutely right Duckster!!! Patriotism is right wing. We are the ones who love this country and the ones who defend her. We are the ones who made her great and we will be the ones who ensure her continuance. All the leftists that think patriotism is bad and that little kids can't understand the meaning of being a patriot can get the hell out!!! Have fun in France!
Why tell them about communists? These kids will learn about commies, venereal disease, garbage pickup schedules, blood borne diseases, and crime in due course. Z is teaching them the GOOD things about America!
Morgan
I see the Duck is showing his tail feathers again... Basic children's stories about America are simple HISTORY, not "right wing indoctrination."
I like the Kid's America, too.
I just want to say I think it's great that you're giving kids a chance to appreciate the greatest country to ever exist.
How's that for jingoism Duck?
did i win?
nanc!! YOU ARE THE WINNER!!
Horns blowing, flags waving, confetti falling!
I was on the phone with another school board member who'd just called and was reading HER some of the names..we loved so many of them, but....
WEE AMERICANS is IT as far as WE're concerned!
THANKS, NANC!!!! xxxx
I remember in high school we had to take a class called "Problems In American Democracy". PAD was a requirement to graduation.
Too bad we didn't have teachers like you back then.
P.S. I don't think what you call it as important as what you're doing. Good work.
Brooke...yup
Cube and Kevin..THANKS
DUCKY: I might use a Woody Guthrie song but I wouldn't mention his COMMUNISM any more than I'd mention a founding father happened to be a Republican or Democrat.
And, would YOU mention COMMUNISM to PRESCHOOLERS and start selling it THAT EARLY? Man, the Left's GOT the remaining 16 years to turn our kids off this great country, isn't that enough for you?
EVERY kid deserves to love where he lives (especially if it's the one country most kids and their parents would kill to live in) and it's unconscienable what you Left are doing to them and I despise it. It's cheap, it's ugly, and it's unAmerican on many levels.
Sorry to sound off, but that's all true. That kids need a BUFFER to fight of the REAL indoctrination of their schools years is very sad.
i'd like to thank the academy.
of course it helps to think like a child most of the time...
*:]
Yeah, I agree every kid should love where he lives.
That's going to have a lot to do with quality city services as well as other factors, z.
Regarding loving where you live and Woody and his communism... would you have your class sing "This Land is Your land"? Great, great song but a bit populist.
unless it's coming from a "nobody should own land because it belongs to everybody" angle, pluckster.
nanc.."I'd like to thank the academy" LOL!!!!!!!!!
Ducky....THE COUNTRY! GET IT~!? Not their NEIGHBORHOOD, so much! GEEEEEEZ!!!!
not sure I'll do THIS LAND IS MY LAND...probably.
About "just parroting." It's exactly the way little kids learn. They don't understand much until they're older but what they learn to parrot at the right age stays with them and unfolds its meaning to them as they get older and think about it. This is part of the wisdom of an educational system that's been growing among Christian schools, that was originally inspired by a famous essay by Dorothy Sayers:
http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html
Congratulations on your pick. I think I like it.
Not to be a wet blanket, Z, but the cherry tree story is apocryphal–––not really true. It was dreamed up by one Parson Weems who may have had good motives, but was not strictly truthful in his ardent myth-making.
Does that matter? It is a cute story.
Washington never threw a silver dollar all the way cross the Delaware River either, and he sure a hell didn't STAND UP in the BOAT while making that historic crossing. But he was PAINTED in that pose, so I imagine he will always b e remembered that way.
He didn't have wooden teeth, either–––they were carved from whalebone or the skeleton of some other sea creature. And I learned that at MT. VERNON. ;-)
FreeThinke
z, they are pre-schoolers. The concept of country isn't well formed at that age.
I'd spend some time with basic geography. Just put up some maps and locate places they may have heard talked about in the news.
Why would even the most idiotic person try to disparage someone attempting to show and teach patriotism for their own country?
FT, I know all that, and they're still going to learn about honesty with that story. So sue me!
I'll be reading them fiction, too! Of course, I hate historical fiction, but the cherry true's cute and has become as much of American lore as Johnny Appleseed and Casey at the Bat, so it stays!!
DUCKY...thanks for your input. I'll make sure I discuss Poland and Georgia with the 3 year olds.
It'll be a great class and WEE AMERICANS is going to catch on. be hoping it doesn't, Ducky, you don't want a whole generation of America-lovers running loose, do you.
I had to laugh when I listened to Limbaugh yesterday (did I share this already on another article,because I rarely listen to him and think I'd already told this but I'll go again!)......He was talking about how the American athletes wrapped themselves in the flag and how they carried it with such pride, loving America!....he added "Man, this must be REALLY CONFUSING to American school children!"
You have to laugh...then cry!
Hm. Ducky's idea might accidentally be good, Z. Little kids are good at memorizing the names of the states and their capitals for instance. AND everything else on a map you might want to name for them.
The concept of country isn't well formed at that age.
Listen to duhkkky, apparently he knows something about educating children.
I suppose the prize is something along the lines of what we decided in our weight loss contest?
cj..very good point... Accidentally, maybe Ducky DID come up with something !! LOL!!
oh, gad, Elbro..the contest. I hate like a pig at lunch and we're going out with friends for dinner. and 3 days of vacation next week and THERE'S A POOL! DRAT, you would remind me now (Smile)
That was EXACTLY my thought about the prize.."THANKS SO MUCH! GOOD JOB!" stingy, aren't I?!!
xxx
All my ideas for a name include the words "vast" and "conspiracy" so those probably wouldn't go over too well.
I would be reluctent to include the apocrypahl accounts of cherry trees and silver dollars. You don't want the kids getting to high school and having their teachers convince them that all the patriotic stuff they learned in pre-school was nothing but fairy tales.
--Tio Bowser
Tio, I'm not sure any teacher would care or even know they were told that story by the time it's high school ! but, thanks for the advice!
I heard it when I was small, it kept me honest and impressed.......I probably won't shy away from it but it's just one story in a curriculum so vast I may never have to repeat a class's lesson in ten years! I've got plenty of stuff that IS true. thnks!
Well done nanc, and well done Z! It's a great name and an eveb better idea.
Morgan
How about Land of the Free? That way you can work in the national anthem as well?
OR take the best ideas here and have your kids decide with an election!
Vegas Guy...I already gave nanc the prize and I LOVE the name.
What, you want me to teach those preschoolers about America and INCLUDE DEMOCRACY? let them VOTE? are you NUTS? What kind of precedent is THAT for our public school system??? (Smile)
The prize was staggering and cherished, I know.. A BIG THANK YOU! :-)
Seiously Z, about Deomocracy. Teach them the simple difference between Constitutional Democracy (US), and true democracy.
Take the kid with the BEST crayons and magic markers and have the rest of the class vote on whether they want to take them away and divy them up. If you do this to three or four of the kids they will learn a healthy respect for LAWS that protect us from each other.
Morgan
Oh, MAN, Morgan..I LOVE that idea.
We'll take CHOOSING to SHARE, not DIVIDING WEALTH...let me think on this. I like it!!
Thanks Z. If done right, it's a GOLDEN opportunity to teach them a valuable lesson about a word--Democracy--that almost everyone misuses these days. You're better suited than I no doubt for this task. Hell if I did it the school would be inundated with parent's letters the next day!
Morgan
CRAYOLOCRACY!
Morgan, you're a genius. I really like that idea–––simple, straightforward, clean and direct to the [very great] point.
Call the the kids CRAYOLACRATS. ;-)
Don't think I WON'T do a little 'math lesson' with those crayolas for those crayolacrats!!
"If you have five crayons and your friend has none, and you give him one, how many do you have left?"
"Should I tell you to do that?"
"NO?" "You're RIGHT, that's YOUR crayon and you deserve to have what you want and to keep it."
"But, should you share if you can or want to to help your friend color?" "YES!" "right!"
How's your heart feel if I just make a law that says you have to give it away?
How's your heart feel if you give it because you WANT to?
Thanks anon.
Then after crayolocracy (great word!) Z could ask, "boys and girls, do wolves eat sheep?"
YES!
"If three wolves and ONE sheep vote on what they're eating for lunch, what's that called?"
DEMOCRACY!
"Wouldn't it be better if they had RULES before they voted?"
YES!
This could end up being a fun exercise. :-)
Morgan
Morgan, I don't even get THAT story!
??
"Wee Americans" is perfect!
Good job, Nanc!
"DEMOCRACY is the moral equivalent of two wolves and a lamb deciding what's to be eaten for dinner."
I dunno who said it first, but it's a very apt analogy. We were never intended to be a "democracy," thank God. It's a common misconception, but democracy in its purest and most direct form could only lead to disaster.
The people as a whole are not fit to govern themselves. They need elected duly-elected REPRESENTATIVES–––people who are wiser, more accomplished, better educated men of proven capability, who (supposedly) have the best interests of their constituents at heart.
The biggest flaw in our system is the way it was apparently possible under the Constitution for the Supreme Court to obviate and negate the will of the people, their representatives and the president anytime some mischievous agitating influence presents them with a "case."
As it stands now, the unelected SCOTUS has taken far more power unto itself than the other two branches combined now exercise.
SCOTUS can overturn and override just about ANYTHING they decide they don't like. The only hitch is that some ambitious legal terrorist has to "make a federal case out of it" before SCOTUS can rule.
RESULT?
SCOTUS has become the most highly politicized branch of government, and it AIN'T supposed to be POLITICAL.
How d'ya suppose THAT happened?
~ FreeThinke
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