Darren found this sample citizenship test and printed it out to ask the kids during supper. A&S could answer many of the questions... or, answer-ish, I should say:
Question: "Why did the Pilgrims come to America?"
Stuart: "To have Thanksgiving."
Question: "What is the 4th of July?"
Addie: "When I go over to Mollie's tonight for a game night and tomorrow we go over there for supper."
Question: "Who was the president during the Civil War?"
Stuart: "George."
Question: "Who said, 'Give me liberty or give me death'?"
Stuart: "George."
Question: "Okay, Stuart, who was the first president?"
Question: "Who becomes president if the current president dies?"
Addie: "His son."
Question: "Who is our president now?"
Addie, aiming vaguely in the right direction: "John Ray Burning Bush."
We didn't do all 100 questions, just the basic ones we thought they'd know. No branches of government and Bill of Rights, for instance. Because, um, even their mother sort of gets those answers mixed up sometimes a little bit. (Okay, so we elect senators for SIX years, not two. But we elect TWO, so the number was correct, merely applied wrongly.)
As citizens of the U.S., not to mention homeschoolers who can't take a step without tripping over someone proclaiming America As God's Promised Land, it's easy to be oblivious to how great this country really is. Darren and I discussed the Bill of Rights, however, and I realized anew that this country, with its laws and liberty, is pretty darn cool.
And my final July Fourth remark is to remember a post of Amy K.'s. (They were still in California and I'm not sure Meredith was born yet, so it's been a while ago. Am I going to find the post and link to it? Not likely.) They were talking about Cinco de Mayo, and Amy exclaimed, "What kind of a holiday name is that? Just the name of the day? That's dumb." Kevin replied, "You mean like July 4th?" So, Amy, laughing with you on July 4th!
Happy Fourth!
-- SJ
Thursday, July 03, 2008
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5 comments:
That is so fun, will have to see how my kids answer.:)
Happy 4th.
Ha! Ha! :)
That's great the kids know that at least there was a President named George. That's a start!
Oh, and happy Fourth to you all too!
Ok, so who's John Ray Burning? Is that close to anyone fictional? real? In other words, where did that come from? Addie's fiction?
John Ray Burning Bush was Addie's wild grope for George W. Bush. Darren praised her for such a good guess, and I nearly crawled under the table to keep from laughing out loud.
-- SJ
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