When I was planning our Fourth of July study I found that it was more important to lay a strong foundation of the United States History for Jaxon that would lead up to the celebration. We have only touched on presidents in the past year during Presidents Day. I began our study when I found a great section in one of my Thematic Unit Books, My Country, focusing on what I considered an appropriate foundation for a 1st Grader. The section I pulled out was "The Star-Spangled Banner" based on an amazing book by Peter Spier. It also complemented his Social Studies book, Time for Kids Reader Fourth of July, with accompanying worksheets. During this study we discussed the history of the National Anthem, how it made people feel, and what it stands for. Unfortunately I have to admit my son had never heard the national anthem until this moment, nor had we discussed the pride of living in the United States and what it meant to be able to live with Freedom. I began by downloading and discussing the music from a site that is based on learning through music called Wee-Sing. They have created an entire album on American history. It is a great introduction for kids to hear patriotic songs.
I also included a range of American Symbols that represent our Country. We read F is for Flag while studying the history of our flag and what each star and stripe represents. This also opened the door for an entire study on learning the countries through their flags. We also read A is for America. This book introduced so many symbols, people, places and concepts that represent the history of America. It was a great addition to our study and complimented our Safari LTD super toob USA. We were able to match up close to all the figures included.
We decided to expand our lesson on symbols by visiting New York during the Fourth of July. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend it. To have the opportunity to visit some of the most famous symbols of our country at this time of year made for the perfect American History lesson. During our trip to New York we spent time at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
When we happened to come acrossed a re-enactment of a Colonial Band playing the National Anthem along with other patriotic songs at Castle Clinton National Monument on the Fourth of July it was a great addition to our studies.
Another great opportunity also included in the thematic unit was to learn the Pledge of Allegiance. I included a book we had previously bought during this time, I Pledge Allegiance. This book recites the Pledge of Allegiance and then explains to the child why it was created and what the true meaning behind each word and phrase means .
Since I always try to keep all of our lessons in a theme I ordered the Lego Architecture New York City Skyline Collection. This also gave Jaxon an activity when we were in the hotel room waiting for fireworks. I was a little concerned since they suggest ages 12 and up. Jaxon had no problem completing it on his own and loved making the connection between what he was seeing on his trip and the buildings they included.
To try to teach a child the understanding of emotions that people feel about America is extremely challenging. I don't think many children as young as Jaxon can appreciate or truly understand the meaning of patriotism and all it stands for. Sometimes we as adults take for granted the country we live in and all it offers us. I strongly believe that a child will first learn patriotism by their parents, leading by example. As most of our children will learn a great majority of their behavior by following our example. Our ancestors understood what freedom meant because a large majority of them experienced what it was like to lose that freedom or lived through the fear of having someone take their freedom away. This gave them the gift of patriotism for their country. A country that gave them the freedom to start a new life, a better life. They also have had to fight to keep our freedom so that our children could be raised in the freedom of the United States. I feel that most of us learn patriotism as we grow and experience things during our lifetime. For me I always thought I understood what it meant and then on September 11, 2001 my world was turned upside down. I had always had a false sense of safety and security in America because I had been allowed to feel that way. We were America the country of freedom how could anything every happen to us. Anything could happen to us any day any time. Yet we choose to give ourselves the freedom but that does not always mean that other countries will give us the same respect. That is when you realize so many lives people we didn't know but could so easily have been our mother, father, brother or friend are lost because someone tested our boundaries. On this trip we visited the 9/11 memorial and I cried. I cried for all the mothers, fathers, children and patriots who lost their lives that day. I did not know one person personally but they were Americans who lost their lives and that is what patriotism is about. As my son looked up at me and said "Mommy, why are you crying I had to explain to him that a lot of people lost their lives that day because someone didn't agree with our freedom!"