Freedom...MLK....Kindergarten.

Last week in Kindergarten we studied citizenship, freedom, and the flag. This week we studied MLK Jr. Just think that over for a few minutes- I taught those things to 5 year olds. Let's start with freedom. Think about how you would explain that to 5 year olds. Here is how I did...
I started with "freedom means you can go to school where you want to go"...except wait, we bus students all over creation so that they can go to school where we want them to- to satisfy racial quota.

"Freedom means you can do what you want with your money"...except, the government takes about half of my paycheck to invest in Social Security that I will never see, and forces me to pay for insurance, and wants me to invest my 401K in government bonds

"Freedom means you can pray if you want"...except in school, even though they do everyday in the communist nation of Germany

Try to explain freedom, to someone who does not understand, or better an adult who forgot most of us like the freedom we used to have...

Next, MLK.
My class is 100% white children. The town they live in, probably 97% white. I understand that they need to know why we take the holiday, and how what he did was important for people of our country. But, it is extremely hard to relate this issue to their lives. So, I showed the movie "Our Friend, Martin". This movie showed real footage of the times (such as dogs attacking people), and horrified most of my children. I might come up with a better system of teaching this topic next year- any suggestions? Maybe wait till they are a little older to introduce such a topic? I think yes.