Monday, July 01, 2013

Fourth of July Ideas???

So, quite suddenly, it's the 4th of July this week. Totally snuck up on me.

For most every holiday, I've written up "deliberate mother's guides" on Power of Moms offering ideas for making the holiday meaningful and fun with our kids. But every year, we seem to be travelling during this time and I haven't gotten around to doing a guide for the 4th of July. We typically have a great time up in Ashton, Idaho with Jared's family enjoying the wonderful small-town parade and old-fashioned celebrations (watermelon-eating contest, gunny sack races, three-legged races, etc.) and ending the day by putting on our own fireworks show. But I have to admit, I haven't done much with my kids as far as helping them understand the real meaning of the holiday. They've got some great points of reference since we saw the original "Old Glory" flag at the American History Museum in DC and the very balcony where the Declaration of Independence was read in Boston along with lots of other wonderful historic stuff during our recent road trip. But I'd like to bring it all together for them, somehow, and help them feel more gratitude for this great country we live in and the sacrifices of those who helped make it great.

Anyone got favorite links and ideas to share with me? I'd love suggestions of good websites/movies/etc that can help children understand a bit more about our founding fathers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, etc.

When I was looking for an interesting podcast to help me keep going on my long, hot run this morning (it's SO HOT here! And the air conditioning isn't working well. Great...), I found this great podcast that helped me really think about the beauty and challenges of our Constitution. Super interesting if you want to listen to it: http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/constitution-usa

7 comments:

Rob and Emily Clark said...

I came across this idea a couple weeks ago, and love the format:

http://www.prageruniversity.com/History/The-4th-of-July-Declaration.html

Märta Harr said...

Saren,
Thanks for sharing with my family!

Re: 4th of July - my family LOVES Brite Music, Take your Hat Off. It is available here http://www.britemusic.com/take-your-hat-off-book-and-cd. It is so good for young kids! They will be singing cute songs of the Preamble, praising George Washington, and explaining big words like "insure domestic tranquility" quickly! I pull it out mid June every year. We love this music almost as much as we love Alexander's Amazing Adventures! :) Order one quick so you can listen for the month of July.
For older kids, Hillsdale College has some great online classes on the Constitution (Free) https://online.hillsdale.edu/

Jill said...

Ditto "Take Your Hat Off" from Brite Music.

Also, I found this in my feedly reader about ideas for celebrating the Fourth of July: http://lifeasmom.com/2013/07/planning-for-the-4th-of-july.html

I love all the women who share on the web. Such goodness.

And thank you for the link to KUER! I found a podcast about astronomy I plan to listen to in the morning. My kids are currently enthralled with space and planets. :)

Tracy said...

I just found your blog through Memmories on Clover Lane. I'm excited to follow along!

Rebecca said...

One summer in Charlottesville, Virginia on the 4th of July I was lucky enough to attend a Naturalization Ceremony that President Bush presided at on the lawn at Monticello. That was truly so meaningful and made me feel so grateful to be an American. I had previously attended a naturalization ceremony in Salt Lake City presided over by Judge David Sam and it was amazing as well. They are generally open to the public. Ever since I have thought that attending a Naturalization Ceremony would be a wonderful, patriotic tradition for my family.

Tiffany said...

Each month, I bring out different books to put in the family room for the children to read. July always brings out our patriotic books. Pretty simple, but considering my two little boys are throwing scrunched up paper "bombs" at each other while one says, "I'm fighting for England, you are fighting for America. We want to be free." I'm thinking they are at least beginning to understand history in their own little way...

Jenny said...

I found this on another blog- 20 fun facts about the 4th of July.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2013/07/twenty-interesting-things-about4th-of-july/

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