Tag Archives: patriotism

Helping Children Become Good Citizens

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come: Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is…)available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, www.patlambchristianauthor.com

Helping Children Become Good Citizens

Teachers in school simply cannot teach children all they need to become good citizens.  Not only do they not have the time to do so, but truthfully, no teacher can remain totally neutral in teaching children.  Eventually, personal opinions will show through in selection of material taught, tone of voice, facial expressions, and many other ways.  It is truly up to parents to teach their children when it comes to matters of patriotism and our country.

How can parents effectively teach citizenship?  First of all, good citizenship must be practiced by the parents.  Parents need to teach their children how our constitution came to be and even how our country was founded.  Finally, parents need to point out the propaganda that would destroy our country.

It is so easy for parents to say the wrong things in front of children.  Learning is often caught rather than taught.  The tone of voice parents use and comments such as “politicians are all crooks” must be guarded.  After all, if parents think government officials are crooks, why should children honor the laws they make?  On the other hand, if parents respect the law, children will be inclined to do so as well.

Unfortunately, it seems that much of our country’s true history is not being taught in many of our schools.  There is much information available in local libraries and the Internet that parents can use to make sure children get accurate information.  It is often difficult to sift out truth from opinion, but the ability to do so will be needed by children throughout their entire lives.  It is easy to get swept up in emotion and overlook facts. School teachers are human.  They can get swept up in emotion as easily as anyone else— often with good intentions.  

Of course, children will make up their own minds as they grow into adulthood.  Parents, however, need to make sure they have facts, set a good example, and help children discern the difference between truth and opinion.  


Teaching Children to Respect “Old Glory”

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is…. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, www.patlambchristianauthor.com)

Train up a child…

Teaching Children to Respect “Old Glory”

         My husband and I have been surprised on many occasions to note that many children do not know how to say the pledge of allegiance correctly.  I have noted children who do not know which hand to use.  Many young men do not know to remove their caps when the pledge is said.  I dare say that many probably do not know what the words “pledge” and “allegiance” truly mean.  Also, many children do not know what our national anthem is.  There are many adults, as well as children, who think “America, the Beautiful” is the national anthem. Children need to be taught these things.  It might help develop their respect for our flag if they knew the story of how our national anthem, the “Star Spangled Banner”, was written.

         Our national anthem was written by Francis Scott Key.  He was born in 1779 in western Maryland, just a few years after our Declaration of Independence was signed.  His family was very wealthy and owned an estate called “Terra Rubra”.  When he was ten years old, his parents sent him to a grammar school in Annapolis, Maryland, and he graduated at age 17. He then studied to be a lawyer.  He was a deeply religious man and was active in the Episcopal Church.  He was asked to help negotiate the release of a prisoner from the British during the war of 1812.  He was actually on a ship headed back for Maryland with the released prisoner when the British attacked Ft. McHenry.  The ship was stopped until the end of the attack on the fort and from the ship, the attack was observed.  It was from this ship that Francis Scott Key looked to see if our American flag was still standing after the British withdrew the attack.  He was happy to see the flag was still there and he took pen and paper and wrote the poem that became the words to the national anthem.

         The British had bombarded Ft. McHenry for 25 hours and finally decided they could not capture it and withdrew.  The poem written by Francis Scott Key was originally named “The Defense of Ft. McHenry”.  It was handed out as a handbill and the public fell in love with it.  It was renamed “The Star Spangled Banner” and became a song. It wasn’t until 1931 that it became the national anthem.

         After the war, Francis Scott Key continued to live a very religious life.  Because of his religion, he had been against the war of 1812, but he did serve in the war in the Georgetown artillery in 1813 because he loved his country so much.  On January 11, 1843, while visiting his daughter in Baltimore, he died of pleurisy.  There are monuments to him at Ft. McHenry, the Presidio in San Francisco, in Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland.

         If children can be helped to understand the love that Francis Scott Key had for our country and our flag, they will better love and respect them both.  There are many good books in public libraries that can be checked out to give more information about our flag and country.  It is worth the time and effort to use these with children.

Children Need to Learn Personal Responsibility

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, www.patlambchristianauthor.com)

Train up a child…

Children Need to Learn Personal Responsibility

         “The government should buy each of us an electronic dictionary.”

         “They’re all a bunch of crooks!”

         “The President should__________.”

         “The only jobs there are are those old crappy jobs.” 

“The government doesn’t give us enough money to live on, 

The above are all true comments heard in GED class when I was teaching.  They clearly indicate a lack of understanding of how our government is supposed to be a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”.  “We, the people,” not “They, the people” are responsible for what happens in our country.

         Children need to be taught at an early age to accept personal responsibility as citizens for self and others.  Without this teaching, people become like leeches, living off the lives of others.  

         Children need to see their parents go vote.  Children need to hear their parents talk civilly about the candidates and their policies.  Children need to understand that our founding fathers set up a government with checks and balances making the congressmen and congresswomen as responsible as the president for decisions that are made.

         I have found that very few of the students I have taught knew the three branches of the government: executive, legislative, and judicial.  They did not know that the Senate and House of Representatives make up Congress.  They did not know that there are two Senators from each state and that Representatives are elected according to population based on the census every ten years. Further, they did not know the meaning of checks and balances, a system set up by the founders of our country to make sure that no one branch of government has too much power.  Had they known about the system of checks and balances, they would have known that the president cannot be solely blamed for mistakes nor can he solely take credit for successes.  In fact, the president can do very little alone.  Understanding this fact would make more people take greater consideration in the Senators and Representatives they vote for.  

         Children need to be taught that all money coming from Washington, D.C., must first go there, and that taxpayers are the ones who send it there.  They need to be told that they have a responsibility to send money to Washington, D.C. and not just think of what they can get fromWashington, D.C.    In fact, right now other countries are helping fund our government, making us indebted to them.  Also, by the time our tax money goes to Washington and then comes back, it has dwindled a great deal due to the many expenses associated with counting, disbursement, etc.  It would be of more personal value to keep it home in the first place.  

         Unfortunately, many parents act as though they do not understand these facts.  If parents and grandparents do not understand, how can they teach the children?  Perhaps greater thought needs to be given before discussing our government in front of children. WE are the government.  We govern through the people we elect.  We have no right to say they are the government.  We need to write letters, attend meetings held by our voted-in officials, and encourage our elected officials to govern as it was originally intended.

         Let’s make sure our children understand the truth about our country.  If we start teaching our children about our government while they are young, perhaps they will know more when they grow up than one student I had who wrote in a paper about “President Busch”.  

Instilling Patriotism in Children

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by Pat Lamb (www.patlambchristianauthor.com) Check out my latest book, “My Thinking Book”, a devotional book for children.

Train up a child…

Instilling Patriotism in Children

         There may be no better time than Independence Day for parents to instill in children the attitude and feeling of patriotism. As children experience the beautiful fireworks displays and understand that the same thing is happening throughout our nation, they can’t help but think about what it means to be living in America.  Adults need to take advantage of this “teachable moment” to encourage the feeling of pride for country and help the children understand, as much as possible, the cost paid for our freedom by our forefathers.

         One way to give a better understanding of our forefathers is to check the Internet for information regarding some of those individuals.  Children will be interested to learn about some of the inventions of Ben Franklin.  He invented bifocals, the lightning rod, a grasping tool, and even a musical instrument using glasses filled with different amounts of water.  He designed a ship with compartments so that if one compartment sprung a leak, the leak could not sink the ship.  

         Only two of Thomas Jefferson’s six children survived into adulthood.  He had specific instructions as to what he wanted on his tombstone.  He wrote a political pamphlet in which he stated, “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time:  the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them.” He designed his home, Monticello, in detail and had it built on property inherited from his family. 

         At the age of 16, George Washington helped survey Shenandoah lands.  He was very interested in western expansion of our country.  It will fascinate children to learn that he invented wooden false teeth.  It has been said that we always see pictures of him with his mouth closed because of his wooden false teeth.

         There are many, many interesting things to learn about our founding fathers and our country if we just take the time to explore with the children.  A visit to the library will uncover many interesting books for the children to read during the summer months.  

         It is easy to develop an appreciation of the past history of our country.  What is not so easy is to develop a feeling of appreciation for our country now.  It is difficult as a teacher to help the children learn to respect authority of our government when they hear so much criticism from parents, grandparents, and others.  When children hear parents say, “They are all a bunch of crooks!” they wonder why, then, are they supposed to obey laws made by those “crooks”.  It was a real struggle in my GED classes to get students to understand that our government is “we”, not “they”.  

         We need to be very careful to discuss policies of our government without “badmouthing” the people making those policies. It is very difficult in times of frustration to separate what our politicians do from who they are.  We are commanded in the Bible to pray for our leaders and we should do just that.  Instead of venting our anger to those around us, we need to be finding ways to make the changes that we believe are needed in a respectful way.  

         Our country has had many problems since its beginning.  We need to help our children join us in praying for our country and deciding how we can be the best citizens possible.    

Children Need to Learn Personal Responsibility

Uncategorized, , , ,

by Pat Lamb (www.patlambchristianauthor.com)

Train up a child…

Children Need to Learn Personal Responsibility

         “The government should buy each of us an electronic dictionary.”

         “They’re all a bunch of crooks!”

         “The President should__________.”

         “The only jobs there are are those old crappy jobs.” 

“The government doesn’t give us enough money to live on.

The above are all true comments heard in GED class when I was teaching.  They clearly indicate a lack of understanding of how our government is supposed to be a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”.  “We, the people,” not “They, the people” are responsible for what happens in our country.

         Children need to be taught at an early age to accept personal responsibility as citizens for self and others.  Without this teaching, people become like leeches, living off the lives of others.  

         Children need to see their parents go vote.  Children need to hear their parents talk civilly about the candidates and their policies.  Children need to understand that our founding fathers set up a government with checks and balances making the congressmen and congresswomen as responsible as the president for decisions that are made.

         I have found that very few of the students I have taught knew the three branches of the government: executive, legislative, and judicial.  They did not know that the Senate and House of Representatives make up Congress.  They did not know that there are two Senators from each state and that Representatives are elected according to population based on the census every ten years. Further, they did not know the meaning of checks and balances, a system set up by the founders of our country to make sure that no one branch of government has too much power.  Had they known about the system of checks and balances, they would have known that the president cannot be solely blamed for mistakes nor can he solely take credit for successes.  In fact, the president can do very little alone.  Understanding this fact would make more people take greater consideration in the Senators and Representatives they vote for.  

         Children need to be taught that all money coming from Washington, D.C., must first go there, and that taxpayers are the ones who send it there.  They need to be told that they have a responsibility to send money toWashington, D.C. and not just think of what they can get fromWashington, D.C.    In fact, right now other countries are helping fund our government, making us indebted to them.  Also, by the time our tax money goes to Washington and then comes back, it has dwindled a great deal due to the many expenses associated with counting, disbursement, etc.  It would be of more personal value to keep it home in the first place.  

         Unfortunately, many parents act as though they do not understand these facts.  If parents and grandparents do not understand, how can they teach the children?  Perhaps greater thought needs to be given before discussing our government in front of children. WE are the government.  We govern through the people we elect.  We have no right to say they are the government.  We need to write letters, attend meetings held by our voted-in officials, and encourage our elected officials to govern as it was originally intended.

         Let’s make sure our children understand the truth about our country.  If we start teaching our children about our government while they are young, perhaps they will know more when they grow up than one student I had who wrote in a paper about “President Busch”.  

Note: Check out my latest book: My Thinking Book__A daily devotional book for children concisely explaining basic teachings of the Bible. Available on my website: www.patlambchristianauthor.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble.

Instilling Patriotism in Children

parenting, Raising kids, ,

Train up a child…

 

Instilling Patriotism in Children

 

There may be no better time than Independence Day for parents to instill in children the attitude and feeling of patriotism. As children experience the beautiful fireworks displays and understand that the same thing is happening throughout our nation, they can’t help but think about what it means to be living in America. Adults need to take advantage of this “teachable moment” to encourage the feeling of pride for country and help the children understand as much as possible the cost paid for our freedom by our forefathers.

One way to give a better understanding of our forefathers is to check the Internet for information regarding some of those individuals. Children will be interested to learn about some of the inventions of Ben Franklin. He invented bifocals, the lightning rod, a grasping tool, and even a musical instrument using glasses filled with different amounts of water. He designed a ship with compartments so that if one compartment sprung a leak, the leak could not sink the ship.

Only two of Thomas Jefferson’s six children survived into adulthood. He had specific instructions as to what he wanted on his tombstone. He wrote a political pamphlet in which he stated, “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them.” He designed his Montecello in detail and had it built on property inherited from his family.

At the age of 16, George Washington helped survey Shenandoah lands. He was very interested in western expansion of our country. It will fascinate children to learn that he invented wooden false teeth. It has been said that we always see pictures of him with his mouth closed because of his wooden false teeth.

There are many, many interesting things to learn about our founding fathers and our country if we just take the time to explore with the children. A visit to the library will uncover many interesting books for the children to read during the summer months.

It is easy to develop an appreciation of the past history of our country. What is not so easy is to develop a feeling of appreciation for our country now. It is difficult as a teacher to help the children learn to respect authority of our government when they hear so much criticism from parents, grandparents, and others. When children hear parents say, “They are all a bunch of crooks!” they wonder why, then, are they supposed to obey laws made by those “crooks”. It has been a real struggle in my GED classes to get students to understand that our government is “we”, not “they”.

We need to be very careful to discuss policies of our government without “badmouthing” the people making those policies. It is very difficult in times of frustration to separate what our politicians do from who they are. We are commanded in the Bible to pray for our leaders and we should do just that. Instead of venting our anger to those around us, we need to be finding ways to make the changes in a respectful way that we believe are needed.

Our country has had many problems since its beginning. We need to help our children join us in praying for our country and deciding how we can be the best citizens possible.