Do Your Kids Love Their Country?

I do like your suggestions very much, my family has always been very patriotic,  my father served in WWll.  My children were taught at a very early ages what our freedom means to us and how much we appreciate all of our service men and women.  We are making sure the grandchildren are taught the importance of our freedom as well.  We fly a USA flag every day, and always go way out decorating for the holidays.

By Sue on 7/7/2009 8:55:20 PM

My daughter is in a summer theatre and hoping to sing God Bless America at the River Sharks Stadium. Yes she does love her country. She also believes in her country and would love to support it in any way that she can when she gets older. She is only 8 right now.

By Susan on 7/4/2009 10:59:57 AM

My son is only 10 weeks, but I plan to teach him how important Independence Day is!

By WINDI on 7/2/2009 10:24:34 PM

Since we are Canadian's we celebrate Canada Day more so than Independance Day. We are proud of where we came from and our heritage. I am thankful for those who have served in the military/navy and airforce both in Canada and the USA. Without you, we would not have the freedoms and choices we have today!

By Dawn on 7/2/2009 2:37:16 PM

we decorate our front yard every year and have the kids participate. We explain what the flag means and why we celebrate the 4th. One special thing we do each 4th is we always get matching family red white and blue shirts and wear them to our family reunion and to the fireworks show. The day makes great reasons to discuss what freedom means to our family and friends. This year my kids ages 3, 8, 10 picked out our shirts and even got our dog a 4th outfit.

By Kathy on 7/2/2009 1:15:40 PM

Yes, my daughter does love her country. I have explained to her how very blessed and lucky we are.

By LESLIE on 7/2/2009 10:36:24 AM

yes my kids love there country  ;)

By Mary on 7/2/2009 10:09:50 AM

My son is with the 9/11 company at Fort Belvoir, VA outside Washington DC. He is the most patriotic person I know. He is ready to go to North Korea if need be. He has gone to Iraq, and God love him, came home in one piece. Anytime I see a person that's in the military, I thank them for all they have done and all they are going to do. He is 23 and has decided to make the military his life career.

By Diana on 7/2/2009 8:16:34 AM

When my daughter was around 6 i was putting out our flag and she looked at me and told me "mommy you see those stars and stripes well those are my hopes and my dreams. This is my america and no one can take that away. It brought me to tears. She knew then what this country ment to her then and she still does.

By Jennifer on 7/1/2009 9:12:07 PM

I am the mother of an Airforce Daugter & Son-in-Law, an Army ROTC son, and an other Army son that will be deployed by the middle of July for his second tour, only this time it won't be Iraq, it will be to guard the Afgan-Pakaistan border.  I am so blessed with TRUE AMERICAN HERO'S as I only have 4 children living, and I can honestly say that my children and my 5&1/3 grandchildren live with PATRIOTISM every second of every day.  My children had wonderful grandparents and uncles as examples, but made their decision to serve on their own.  Politics is a very hot topic in our home, but we stand as one concerning our freedom, and what they are willing to do to protect that freedom.  I spend a lot of time praying, and I hope that all will remember our service men and women on the Fourth of July.  Parents like me depend on parents like you.  Thank-You with all my heart.

By Grace on 7/1/2009 5:26:24 PM

I'm doing little patriotic/American history classes for my kids this week - 6, 4, and 2 - and we've had some great experiences.  We've talked about the history of the flag, the life of George Washington, and famous American landmarks so far.  On Monday, we went to a used book store and they each picked a book about America that we don't have yet.  Then I read them to the kids.  They asked questions about a few things and we researched the answers on the internet.  I also used the internet to show them better photos of certain things like Betsy Ross, the Statue of Liberty, etc. They've painted their versions of the American Flag on posterboard while I talked to them about the significance of each color.  They made an American Flag cake, we studied the presidents on the coins, visited the National Historic Site webpages for different landmarks, and much more.  It's been super fun - like a little summer camp!

By Sarah on 7/1/2009 3:05:21 PM

From the time our kids could talk, we have taught them to honor our flag.  Every time we see the flag, we all cover our hearts.  Many veterans live and vacation in our city, we also teach our kids to go up to them and thank them for the many things that they have done to help protect our nation.  I think the best way to teach our children patriotism...is to live it before them.  Tina - Branson, MO

By Tina on 7/1/2009 9:32:17 AM

I think it's very important to teach patriotism to our children by words and actions; remembering what so many men and women have sacrificed for what we have today. 

By E on 6/30/2009 8:42:14 PM

I agree that our children have alot of lessons to learn from our past, but they should also be our lessons.  I am a thirty seven year old mother of four,  I love God and our country but I know that I take it all for granted most of the time.  I would love to take this upcoming holiday, this oppurtunity, to not only teach my children of sacrifice and love of God and country, but to also remind myself of the place where America used to be,  where God was first and no sacrifice was to great for the freedom and priviledge that we all now seem to think of as an entitlement, not a God given blessing.  I pray this Holiday has new meaning for all of Americans and I pray it starts with me and my house.

By Lori on 6/30/2009 9:58:00 AM

Yes, our son loves this country.  He has followed in both our footsteps and is serving in the US Air Force, to defend this nations freedom.  We are both very proud of this decision he made, we didn't tell him he had to do it, it was his own decision.Bless the USA

By Sam on 6/30/2009 9:35:53 AM

I think the idea of "Declaring your independence" is a great idea!  I am a school teacher and I love to find ways to teach my children lessons in fun and interesting ways.  I think we just may try this one because I also think it is a great way to bring the family together and practice team work!

By Kimberly on 6/29/2009 2:48:35 PM

I loved this article and its' suggestions, which honestly would mean inorder to do a couple of them would cause Mom to have to do some homework herself. After a little bit of thinking I've desided since my children are 5 & 6 years old and how important I feel patriotism is, that we are going (my kids & I)  to commit ourselves to have fun while being more patriotic! I still have to get it all inorder, but I'm thinking we will visit our local library first for info, pitch a tent in our backyard for added excitement, and under the night's sky I'll give them some of our Great Countrys' History and my personnal testimony of how Thankful I am for our Service Men and Women (past and present) for allowing me to enjoy my Freedom!!! This will be completed on or about July 4- I hope. Maybe I'll be able to let whom ever may be interested know how it all turned out. Thanks for the Motivation and God Bless Us All!

By Lori on 6/29/2009 5:23:06 AM