Patriotism for Littles! FREEBIE RoundUP

JULY! The Fourth is right around the corner! 

Are you surrounded by children this week? 

Summer is the perfect time to introduce new songs and books to children. The 'informal' feeling of the season lends itself to performance and exploration. Do you have a family reunion to attend? How about gathering up all of the cousins to perform for the mature generation. 

I have a song that you can download right now and be ready to perform by the end of the week. Add some flags and you've got a memorable experience for children, parents -- entire families. 

Picture from Clyde, OH. Thanks to Principal Peggy Stickney for this extra-ordinary welcome! 

'Red, White and Blue.... I love you.' 
I wrote this simple 'zipper' song in the immediate aftermath of September 11th. To me, a zipper song, is one that once you have established the verse -- everything remains the same with the exception of one new 'lyric' (piece) that zips in for the next verse. 

This song has been performed around the US for a variety of patriotic occasions. Perform on Tuesday for the grandparents and then you'll be ready in September to honor the eleventh. 

 Young children have a hard enough time 'knowing' that they are from the state where they live, in addition to their hometown.... it can truly be beyond their grasp to grasp how they live in a COUNTRY as well. The Pledge of Allegiance is beyond many young ones. They may indeed be able to memorize it, yet what does it mean to a five year old? 

Singing a patriotic song is an entry spot into further discussion of what it means to be an American. 

 I hope that you can use it to honor this day. I hope that it offers you a new resource for your young children that can be used throughout the year to instill a sense of patriotic pride and for you to reflect on this day. 

Once the song began to have a life of its own, I began to think about bringing it to life in picture book format. Soon I began gathering the fabrics and designing the quilts. 

I make 16 quilts to create a 32 page picture book. 

It took years to bring the project to full fruition. 

It was interrupted twice by my diagnosis with Breast Cancer. 

In the end I was fortunate to persevere and bring the project to fruition. 

Once we got the book into print format, I submitted it for consideration for awards and received the Indie Award for Excellence! 

About that same time, as a result of my being able to take the book to NAEYC in California, I received an invitation to travel to Europe to visit a series of our Army bases in Germany and Italy. 

I taught my simple patriotic song to the children of our troops stationed abroad. 

And since then, I have been able to take the quilts and the book format to schools from coast to coast, teaching the song.  

I have included some of the classroom responses below. 

There are times when thoughtful teachers send me a memento of our time together. 

I am so grateful to receive snail mail with quilted patriotism. 

 Visit TeachersPayTeachers to get your copy.  

My legacy at this point is having my work used at schools near and far. 

Last week I was the guest Author-Illustrator for a day here in Door County. 

I had the opportunity to work with the children in preschool through 5th grade. 

Our day together launched a year long thread of patriotic activities in the elementary. 

The students will be writing letters to our troops. 

My song "Red, White and Blue" is slated to be be used in the Veteran's Day program 

and at other times of year as well.

As usual, I run around the building and take photos during my lunch. 

It was awesome to see some of our "Wobble Seats" already in their classrooms. 

You can read more about how I got involved as a distributor for WobbleSeat.com 

in this encyclopedia of an article about Alternative Seating. 

Here are some FREEBIES! 

Click the picture to hop over to Teachers Pay Teachers.

It is always a great kindness to leave feedback on a freebie.