Twenty years. Two decades. Time.Marches.On. for those of us who survived September 11th. Somehow, one day has stacked on top of the previous and blink your eyes it has been twenty years. We are the fortunate. There are dinner tables and conference room tables that have an empty chair. Sobering. Reality.
How do we acknowledge this monumental day with young children? What is appropriate? What is helpful? How do we begin a new school year, in the midst of a morphing pandemic, with new variants of reality -- when we are already exhausted beyond our human limits?
There was an occasion where I once muttered needing a magic wand to overcome a gigantic challenge in front of hundreds and hundreds of participants and a magic wand appeared. Literally. Handed to me. There was much laugher. It gave me the courage to do the seemingly impossible in that moment. It was the resource I needed. I dug deep, took a deep breath and plowed forward. So we must find the right resource for the right situation. A magic wand of sorts.
I have a resource for you to use with children for these days leading up to the eleventh of September, that can then be recycled for Veteran's Day with even more gusto. No kidding. You can download it today and be ready for the 10th, if your school is observing the day on Friday. Even if you download it that morning. It is that simple. It is a song. A simple 'zipper song' that rhymes and each of the four verses is only changed by one word. Simple. Resource. Patriotic. Downloadable.
It is my heartfelt, simple song that I wrote on the national day of prayer and mourning and reflection, that Friday, following THAT Tuesday -- to sing with preschool children, in real time, back two decades ago. We recorded it professionally years later.
I have gone on to turn the song into a picture book. A traditional hardback, picture book. With pages that turn and illustrations that I created from fabric. The book won a national award. BUT for the sake of expediency, let's focus on a digital downloadable song in Mp3 format, that you can teach in the morning and perform in the afternoon. That simple.
The file includes the American Sign Language signs, so that your performance becomes 'visual' and inclusive. Again. Simple. But-oh-so-powerful.
The song doesn't reference September 11th. It taps into Americana. The flag. Our colors. Gratitude. Simplicity. Child friendly. Early childhood CIVICS 101!!!
My book is now 10 years old and I have been fortunate to make school visits across the country from coast-to-coast and tour some of our European Army bases sharing this simple song. You can search in this cache of previous blog articles for additional visual responses to my picture book, from the wee littles to the sophisticated upper primary grades.
I realize that time is of the essence. Here's the link to the digital download available at TpT. It includes 2 Mp3's: one of the song, as I'm performing it in a professional recording studio with back up singers and children's vocals +PLUS+ the second Mp3 is the instrumental version, if you want to perform it without my vocals.... or write your own verses!
***If you are interested in ordering a copy of the physical book, I will send you the Mp3 file and resource material via Dropbox email, while you await the delivery/arrival of the book. That way, you can sing the song immediately.
To order a copy of my book you would go to my website. It is so much easier though, and I can personalize the book, if you send me a private message on FB and we can handle all of the details there.
One other instantaneous resource that I have to offer is my Pinterest board dedicated to all things patriotic. I have over 500 ideas already pinned there for you. Just click through for those additional resources.
Whew! I haven't blogged in so long and appreciate my peers Kristen Poindexter at Kristen's Kindergarten and Jennifer Kadar at Simply Kinder for the kick.
