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PrefaceOnce, many, many years ago, when I was a young girl of about 6 or 7 years we took a summer vacation
to my grandparent’s house. It was a very long two
-day drive from our home in West Virginia to theirhome in Louisiana, and my Mom wisely decided to have us pack activities to do whilst riding in the car.I recall one of the things that we decided to bring were some crayons and, of course, coloring books.Now on the way down there, the crayons were not a problem. They kept my brother busy. The car hadair-conditioning on while we were traveling during the day, and at night they seemed to do just fine.
Not that we considered any of this at the time
.Then we spent a splendid week (
it’s always a splendid week at Grandma’s, isn’t it?
) whiling our timeaway, and not giving those crayons a single thought. And, at the end of the week, we made the tripback home safe and sound.
It wasn’t till we had arrived home and Daddy was cleaning out the car that the crayons,
such as they were
, were discovered. They had been left in the space behind our seats, right beneath the rearwindow. The Louisiana heat had pulled a number on those poor crayons! They had melted out of theirpaper sleeves, and pooled together, all their col
ors mixing into a mess of. . .”yech”.
I don’t believe that even Crayola™ has created such a color name
.Of course, you may be asking why I tell such a tale at the beginning of a book about American History.Well, the funny thing is I was first introduced to American History that very school year after our
summer vacation. And the teachers made a point to tell me that America was the world’s biggest“melting pot”. In fact, I heard that phrase, “melting pot”, every year thereafter. You know, I could
never shake the image of that mess of crayons in the back of our family car. Nor, could I ever figure out,why anyone would want to compare the United States of America to a melted mass of goo.The United States has been graced in its history with people from all walks of life, and from manynations
. We have not “melted” as so many have claimed. You can check out your local restaurant
listings and readily verify that. In fact, we practically scream our diversity to the world with many of ourfreedoms. (Freedom of religion would be a prime example.) Yet, while our freedoms allow us diversity,they are also the threads that tie us together as citizens of this great nation.This brings to mind the image of a quilt; all sorts of beautiful fabrics in varying colors and patterns,stitched together with a single thread. It is with that in mind that I title this work, Our Quilted Nation.
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Purpose of this work:
to provide a narrative of events in US history for young elementary students (~ grades 1-3).
to create a unit of study that includes not only a history but also:
o
web sites for further research
o
geography of the United States
o
timeline
o
music
o
art
o
hands on activities
o
literary exposure
o
copywork
o
quilt ideasA note regarding quilt ideas:
The purpose of doing a “quilt” is to create a “memory work” of what you have studied. You can use
paper, pictures, and yes, even fabric to make this quilt. At the end of this study your child(ren) should
have a very unique “quilt” that they can sh
are. So, I will give ideas at the end of every chapter, or you
can come up with your own. Make a quilt square and put it in a safe spot (one that you’ll remember), so
at the end you can piece them all together. (You could take pictures of their work in each chapter and
make those the quilt “squares” that you’ll “piece” together.)This is meant to be fun!
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