Pledge of Allegiance

[Michelle]

I have been trying to teach my 2-3 year olds the Pledge of allegiance
we have a little flag hanging on the wall and we try every day and they just stare at me and don't even try to say it with me

I've tried just one sentence at a time and even just 3 words but they don't even try.
The can recite poems, their favorite books etc. but not this
I don't get it
any advice?

[TickleMonster]

First of all kudos to you for trying to teach them the pledge! Thats awesome. How long have you been working on it? With this age group it is all about repatition. Keep saying it and eventually you will probably catch one of them reciting a word or two on their own when they think you arent looking. Also, try asking them what comes next when you line them up for the pledge. You might notice that they immediately place their hands over their hearts which shows you they have been paying attention. Then ask them what comes next. You might recieve blank stares and you will have to prompt them on what to say but one day, after days of silence, one might surprise you and recite a line or two on their own!! Just keep at it because you are teaching them something very important and special.

[Michelle]

all year!
we have been trying all year to teach them
it's like they don't think it's important or interesting
Are there any books that talks about this?
my son is in the Army and he just got back from another deployment
I showed them the flag on his uniform and tried to tell them how important or flag is and again..just blank stares
maybe they're too young to understand?

[Crystal]

I think they ARE to young to understand. (Heck, I don't even understand why we pledge our allegiance to a flag, !) I would just stop with it and move on to something new, interesting and fun for them.

[AmyKidsCo]

I think you've got great intentions but IMO they're awfully young to learn the Pledge. Why not work on something meaningful for them, like our flag has stripes and stars, our flag is red, white, blue, July 4 is our country's birthday, etc. They've got many years ahead of them to learn and understand the Pledge.

[spud912]

With my last group, they all learned the pledge and could recite it. I would have them repeat each line as I said it. I think the big difference is that they were 3-5 years old. The older children caught on much quicker.

My current group of 2-3 year olds? NOTHING! Some of them can't even repeat after me because they are young 2's and don't have the vocabulary and/or speech skills yet. We have been reciting it for several months now, but it has not been daily. They are the same way with learning theme-related topics (like social studies, history, sciences). They are simply too young. At those ages I found it's best to do play based learning.

I would wait until your group is at least 1-2 years older to expect much in the way of reciting it.

[SignMeUp]

My guess is that it hasn't got a context in their lives, kwim?
If you want to keep trying, you could make a set of cards, one for each line, with something representative (though this will also show you how abstract this concept is for these ages).
And then, as you say the lines, show the cards, but leave off the last word or couple of words and see if they can come up with that part - that is the part that most preschoolers can recall first.

So.
I pledge allegiance (pic of hand on heart?)
To the flag (pic of American flag)
Of the United States of America (pic of map of U.S.?)
And to the republic (ha - what? huh? give me an idea)
For which it stands
One nation (a big 1 would probably make the most sense to them)
Under God (hum - see how tricky this gets?)
... etc...

I think you might see how tough this is for them to learn when it's laid out like this. Most things are not learned from totally rote memory, but from having a context for the words and concepts.
You could keep doing it, since it is important to you, and just lower your expectations for participation. Then when they participate in bits and pieces, be glad and maybe they will continue to build on it.

[Michelle]

My guess is that it hasn't got a context in their lives, kwim?
If you want to keep trying, you could make a set of cards, one for each line, with something representative (though this will also show you how abstract this concept is for these ages).
And then, as you say the lines, show the cards, but leave off the last word or couple of words and see if they can come up with that part - that is the part that most preschoolers can recall first.

So.
I pledge allegiance (pic of hand on heart?)
To the flag (pic of American flag)
Of the United States of America (pic of map of U.S.?)
And to the republic (ha - what? huh? give me an idea)
For which it stands
One nation (a big 1 would probably make the most sense to them)
Under God (hum - see how tricky this gets?)
... etc...

I think you might see how tough this is for them to learn when it's laid out like this. Most things are not learned from totally rote memory, but from having a context for the words and concepts.
You could keep doing it, since it is important to you, and just lower your expectations for participation. Then when they participate in bits and pieces, be glad and maybe they will continue to build on it.

thank you so much!
I will try this
some of my 3 year olds are going on to our Cubbies program with AWANA and they will learn it there too
It's really important to me because we are a big military family
we bake for our troops, do cards etc. my sons unit usually scores all of our left over girl scout cookies ::::

anyways, thank you I will make up the cards tonight.
I have some older 3's that will probably catch on tho this

[daycare]

I think they ARE to young to understand. (Heck, I don't even understand why we pledge our allegiance to a flag, !) I would just stop with it and move on to something new, interesting and fun for them.

no way! don't have to believe me if you don't want to but every single one of my kids 20months to 5 years of age can say it.

we say it every single day each morning. I have video of my 18 month DCB old saying it.

I taught them by saying it syllable by syllable. You can tell by the way that they say it. example A-mer-i-ca

I won't post it here, but I will ask the parent and will email it to you.

[SignMeUp]

thank you so much!
I will try this
some of my 3 year olds are going on to our Cubbies program with AWANA and they will learn it there too
It's really important to me because we are a big military family
we bake for our troops, do cards etc. my sons unit usually scores all of our left over girl scout cookies ::::

anyways, thank you I will make up the cards tonight.
I have some older 3's that will probably catch on tho this

I'll be happy for you if it helps
When we learn songs and fingerplays, I try to deliver the content in several different ways. So, audibly, obviously, visually - using the cards (and I would make them larger because the kids are littler) and kinetically (placing your hand on your heart, with emphasis! Even doing a kind of a "soldier stance" for "For which it stands", because it will connect in their minds). Hope it works for your little ones

[permanentvacation]

I have all of my kids say the pledge. I get them all to put their hand over their heart and continually tell some of them to look at the flag, not me. I make sure to hold the flag way up in the air and over as far away from my face as possible. When they are very young or new, I say just a couple of words at a time with me saying "Say I pledge, come on, say I pledge." Then " good job! okay, now say allegiance" It is a big coaxing game and a lot of me waiting for them to say the couple of words at a time. After a sentence or two, I then just continue on with the pledge. After a couple of weeks, the little ones start catching on. Just go slow with them, realize that they have no clue what you are doing, it is not a cute rhyme about a bear or anything that they can relate to, it doesn't have any rhythm that attracts a little kid to want to say it. It is just repeating words that mean nothing to them. Keep with it. Eventually they will say the pledge with you.

[KiddieCahoots]

All my kids say the pledge of allegiance, usually starting around 2ish.

My mom says I learned at the age of 2yrs from watching Romper Room every day.
I figure if that could be done from tv, they can definitely learn from repetition from us.

I use methods like SignMeUp and permanentvacation.
We first practice identifying our right hands, then place them on our hearts.
We end with stretching out the word "for all", and raising our left hand into the air. Lol, very dramatic, and they'll probably get funny looks from sa's when at school before they adjust, but it helps them get into it with adding some fun. It's really cute too

[jokalima]

I started with a 3 and 4 year old and repetition was the key. They can say by themselves now.

[SilverSabre25]

I think I would just model it and not worry about the repeating, personally.