The Preschool Patriotism Class..........unbelievable!

Most of you know I volunteer at a preschool. I have two classes, one has children from almost 3 to almost 4 yrs old...the other has almost 4 to almost 5. Which class they're in depends largely on their level of maturity. I taught music there for the last five years or so but, in September, I instituted the patriotic curriculum I'm developing week to week (thank goodness for the internet)! (some of you helped with ideas, remember?)

The patriotism class for the smaller children was too much for them BUT, they do know the Pledge of Allegiance now. Really well, too! It's the cutest thing.."I pwedge awegance to the fwag of de United States of Amewica..." you know how 3 year olds sound! (Sorry that sounds a tad like Barney Fwank! ha!)

BUT, the four year olds are a WHOLE different story. With them, I have persevered with the stories about America and I have been gratified beyond my wildest dreams and I thought you might enjoy hearing about what happened. This week, I had a RED LETTER DAY!

This week, I asked a lot of questions about past classes. You might say PRESCHOOLERS HAD THEIR FIRST POP QUIZ!! So far, I've covered George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Jackie Robinson, Johnny Appleseed, The Statue of Liberty, Betsy Ross, Helen Keller, The Wright Bros and Amelia Earhart, and Thomas Edison, among others. For Thomas Edison, I walked into the room, shut the lights, and said "I have an IDEA!" and flipped the lights on! They looked at me from their circle on the floor as if THEIR idea was that "Miss Z's flipped!" I did it again..."I have an IDEA!" On went the lights again. One of the kids caught on and said "I have an idea!" The rest joined in, laughing, and then I talked about the light bulb and Thomas Edison. They were intrigued.

When I did the Wright Brothers, I had only the boys get up and make like airplanes and swoop around the room after me! I had brought photos of that first plane at Kittyhawk.... Then I had the girls get up and be airplanes and I told them about Amelia Earhart. I have an Amelia in the class and she was dying for me to give her a picture of Amelia Earhart, so I did. She will never forget about Amelia Earhart!

When I did Helen Keller, I started the lesson by asking everybody to close their eyes and put their hands over their ears. I said "THIS is what Helen Keller lived like almost ALL of her life.. imagine?" They looked at me as if they just couldn't imagine that...I just had to be kidding them. So, I talked about her life and, as I talked, I'd suddenly stop and say "Close your eyes and cover your ears...!" After a few times of that, boy, did they get it. Then, I had one little girl get up and close her eyes and then I had another get up and had the first girl feel her face and hair to figure out who it was. Suddenly, all the children were doing this with their seat partners! They'll never forget THAT! But, you know? ....you just can't be sure if they'll remember once I leave the classroom, right? So, I tell you all of this because of what happened THIS WEEK.

I decided to quiz them!

Once, during our conversation this week, I had forgotten the Edison thing and actually said, innocently, "I have an IDEA..." and, before I could finish my thought, little Christopher jumped up and shut the light and opened it again! I wasn't sure what he was doing, but the kids all laughed and said "Christopher is Thomas Edison!" (I thought "They REMEMBERED the lights, and they remember Edison's NAME?") Then, I asked who was the lady who helped Helen Keller? "Annie Sullivan!" (THEY REMEMBERED THAT??) We talked about a lot of things we'd learned and I was feeling pretty darned good! One of the teachers said "You know, Miss Z, the children are really remembering a lot!" I complimented the children and left in a kind of glow of "Hey, these mornings are paying off...these children are learning about AMERICANS!"

SO, I was just about to leave the yard and get in my car when a mother of one of my children was coming in through the gate to pick her up. I said "You know, your Mimi is really bright! She remembers so much!" The mother said "OH, I have to tell you what happened at the Coffee Bean the other day! We were talking to someone and he brought up Babe Ruth and a baseball thing, and Mimi chimed in with 'Was he better than JACKIE ROBINSON?' I asked Mimi 'How do you know about Jackie Robinson?' and she said 'Miss Z told us'! Then, she told me all about Helen Keller and Amelia Earhart! This is terrific!"

Well....you can imagine how ol' Miss Z felt. I'm no teacher, I'm winging it, THIS WAS GREAT!

This week, I brought in a huge book of pictures from all over America. Every few pages, when they were really admiring a certain scene, I'd say "THIS is another beautiful place in AMERICA!" They were so excited to see the pictures of the deserts and snow and ranches and missions and farmlands and universities, and baseball stadiums, Lincoln's cabin, etc. They saw America this week! It's as easy as that to get them excited and informed!

This has been quite an experience and I hope more and more teachers start classes like this in preschools. We have to teach them to love America before they get to public school and don't hear much of this, right? Sow the seeds, folks!

OH, and they're learning Lee Greenwood's PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! They know the chorus perfectly and pump their arms into the air with "And I want to STAND UP NEXT TO YOU and defend her still today...." I wish you could hear them!

Tell your kids how great America is while they're young....Talk about American heroes and places! WE learned it, why shouldn't these NEW AMERICANS!?

z