Constitution Day

On September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed by thirty-nine brave men who changed the course of history.  Constitution Day is observed every year on September 17th.  I certainly do not expect C and R to understand the constitution, but I think they are old enough to know that the constitution provides us with rights and freedoms.

This week we read We the Kids by David Catrow.  This picture book is a great introduction to the preamble to the constitution.  Catrow's funny illustrations help to explain what the preamble is, and there is a great glossary in the beginning of the book to help children understand the language of the preamble.  I am not going to pretend that C and R were interested in the language of the preamble.  More than once, I was told it was boring.  They did like the illustrations though.  Like I said, my goal was simply to introduce them to the constitution.

They did enjoy watching the Schoolhouse Rock video of the preamble on YouTube.  I recommend watching this with  your kids.  I love Schoolhouse Rock!

After reading the book, C and R made American flags.  We cut out seven red stripes and six white stripes (I did most of the cutting, but they did cut one or two stripes).  They glued the stripes to a large piece of paper.  Then they glued a blue rectangle in the top left corner and stuck fifty star stickers on the blue.  Our stars were tiny so, unfortunately, they are not proportionate to the flags, but the idea is there.

Don't forget to wear red, white, and blue tomorrow for Constitution Day!

I am linking this post to stArt at A Mommy's Adventures.

Happy Independence Day

C's flag:

R's flag:

Look closely at R's flag (if you click on the photo, you can enlarge it).  My husband pointed out that her flag pole looks like the face of a Native American man (you can clearly see his nose and chin) and the flag looks like a headdress.  I think it is amazing; that is all I see now when I look at it. 

Have a wonderful, safe, happy 4th of July!

The idea for this handprint flag came from Handprint and Footprint Art.

Comparing and contrasting American flags

Legend has it that Betsy Ross was secretly commissioned to create the first American flag in Pennsylvania. The first flag had thirteen stripes (seven red and six white) and thirteen stars in a field of blue.

C and R counted out seven red stripes and six white stripes andthen counted them all together to discover that 7+6=13. They counted the stripes on both flags (the Betsy Ross flag and the current American flag) and discovered that they have the same pattern of stripes.

We then counted thirteen white stars and placed them in a circle on a blue piece of paper. C and R quickly pointed out that the flags were different because our current flag has stars in rows while the Betsy Ross flag had a circle of stars. After thinking for a minute, C recognized that the stars are white on a blue background on both flags, and all of the stars have five points.

So, learning about Pennsylvania has also provided us with a great opportunity to learn about our flag with a bonus mathematics lesson.