How to Raise an American: 1776 Fun and Easy Tools, Tips, ...

Great Resource for Parents (and teachers):
I liked this book. The first half of the book is devoted to telling you why YOU need to teach your children patriotism. Included are ideas to do so. Then, the second half of the book gives ideas on how to teach your children about America. The first holiday mentioned was election day. That was lucky for me, I read it at the end of October. Very liberal people probably will not like the first half of this book. However, this book has excellent ideas about what to do for your children, ie. dinner discussion ideas, places to visit, holdiays to celebrate and ways to do so, etc.

Let's agree that some people WANT to raise Americans:
Sheesh! I read some of the negative feedback for this book. It doesn't seem as though those reviewers really read the thing. ***** The title of the book is provocative: How to raise an American! If you think that is part of your job as an American parent, then this is a great book to help you out. The authors start with the knowledge that American culture is geared away from patriotism. Even if you live in a heavily Mormon area or on an overseas military base (I have lived both places), you are likely to encounter folks ignorant of American history, if not outright hostile to America. And if you have kids, who knows what they are seeing on tv and in school? Certainly the news media, Hollywood, environmentalism, and the music industry are not going out of their way to portray America as a good and decent place. Just the opposite. But people are turning away... network news is losing viewership, newspapers and magazines are in circulation crises, and anti-war films are bombing at the box office. People *know* this anti-Americanism is wrong and untrue. So what to do? Let's start there. The authors specify some textbook horrors of anti-Americanism, to get you thinking. They give plenty of examples of stuff you wish your kids were not exposed to. And then they turn it around to give concrete examples of what to DO. How to engage your kids in discussions about what is true about America? How to plan daytrips and vacations that expose kids to American greatness. How to select books, movies, and music that instills a sense of pride and encouragement in American kids. Ways to celebrate holidays and get involved in the community. How to get kids interested in the biographies of great Americans. How to make being an American a thing... worth being. Because let's face it -- America is a shining city on a hill. It is the last, best hope of mankind. I owe it to my kids to let them hear the side of the story they are not going to get from the media. I think the best part of the entire book (and it's a good book!) is the section that goes state-by-state and lists five (often more than five) great American destinations. I wish I'd had this earliler -- my kids have already been to 20 states, and now we'll have to go back. :) And my rationale for giving only 4 stars is... I wish they had more movie/book/web page types of selections for younger children. If you have tweens or teens, tally ho! This book is for you. With littler ones, I would recommend looking at some of the Lynne Cheney illustrated books, like "Our 50 States" (really good) or "America: A Patriotic Primer" (really really good) -- the illustrations alone are worth the price of the books. Your big kids will like those, too.

How to raise an American:
I look forward to reading the book. I was bless to hear hear speak. She truly loves this country and wants young children to understand and be proud to live in the greatest country in the world. Everyone who has children should own this book.

Worth Reading Even If You Disagree With Authors' Politics:
"How to Raise an American" contains many excellent suggestions for how parents can help their children learn to appreciate this country's many blessings. Part 2 of the book in particular rates 5 stars for all the wonderful ideas for celebrating the holidays, field trip resources, book and movie listings, and suggestions for "patriot projects". I wish that the authors had devoted more space in the book to this section as it's wonderful. Part 1 of the book is devoted to the the author's diatribes against the forces they see as destroying patriotism in this country. While I'm certainly no fan of the elite media, the entertainment industry, ivory tower academics, and so on, I found their arguments to be a bit on the partisan side. Patriotism shouldn't be a conservative vs. liberal thing but something that we should all be able to agree upon whatever our political leanings. The authors should have striven for a more politically neutral tone because their message is too important. I fear that only those who agree with the authors' politics will read this book, and that's really too bad :-(

How to Raise An American:
This is an important book for all parents to read and use. All of the practical ideas and websites are very helpful. As a grandmother I read it and had to buy another so I could keep the copy as a resource and purchased another for the parents of my grandkids.