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Kids Speak For America is a site where kids can share their opinions on politics, school, money and more.

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First Hanukkah Thanksgiving

Seth Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving 2013 fell on the first night of Hanukkah and it was the first time since 1888 that it fell on Thanksgiving day. The next time will not be for 79,000 years. A group of students and their teachers shared this once in a lifetime event in a video titled, “The First Hanukkah Thanksgiving,” Unfortunately that video is no longer available to Kids Speak for America. In it’s place we would like to share with you The Story of Hanukkah. Hanukkah 2015 begins on Sunday December 6th and ends on Monday December 14th.

Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday also known as the Festival of Lights and Feast of Dedication. This holidy is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, coinciding with late November to late December in the secular calendar. Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.

Hanukkah is around Christmas time and in the United States, many parents give their children presents, put up Hanukkah light displays and banners, and celebrate in a number of ways.

Filed Under: Historical Events Tagged With: Elementary, Hanukkah, Holidays, Kids, School, Students, Thanksgiving, Video

Christopher Columbus Video by 8th Graders

Seth Leave a Comment

Christopher Columbus Video for Kids

This Christopher Columbus video was made by a group of 8th graders. We first shared it on Kids Speak for America in 2010 and it is just as good today. This is not only a good video for kids but parents also enjoy watching it. This group of kids and their teach made this Christopher Columbus video using clay. Watch it and learn more about Columbus, not only for Columbus Day but also for any day.

Filed Under: Historical Events, Historical People Tagged With: Christopher Columbus, columbus day, School, Students, Video

1st Grade Christmas

Seth Leave a Comment


A huge OoRah to the first grade students of Puster Elementary School, Fairview, Texas for a wonderful Christmas video. A second big OoRah goes to Emma McDonald Library Media Specialist for sharing this Christmas Video. In this video the first graders tell how their families celebrate holiday traditions. These elementary students reflect the traditions of Christmas for families throughout out our beautiful United States of America.

Filed Under: Historical Events Tagged With: Christmas, Elementary, Holidays, Kids, Students, Texas, Video

Are Kids Dumber Today Than in the Past?

Guest Writers and Submissions 3 Comments

It is often said that American kids are not as well educated as our kids were in the past. From both sides of the political aisle we are told that the modern educational system is failing us. There is broad disagreement on how to improve the situation. While some say we need to spend more money others say we are spending too much money. Money aside could there be another side to what is happening today?

Indeed there are studies that indicate that American students receive lower average test scores than do students in some other countries. These studies imply that today’s American children are not receiving as good an education as they did in the past. Some say that today’s student is “Dumber” than in the past. Others argue that while many kids do get it, many of them are too distracted by their I=pods, cell phones and whatever else is out there.

While one may find it difficult to argue with these studies there is another side that we need to examine. The reality is that kids today are wiser and more sophisticated than ever before and here are several reasons why.

Not too far in the past, students in kindergarten used to learn counting numbers and the alphabet but did not learn how to apply operations to the numbers or how to read words and sentences. The students learned how to count things and how to write their own name but math operations and reading were not taught until they were in the first grade.

In most schools today our kindergarten students are taught these first grade skills. They are taught how to add numbers together and are provided with games and other tools that teach them how to solve simple math problems. It seems amazing that tiny and adorable kindergartners are developing math skills that students in the past were not taught until a year later.

The same thing is happening with written language skills. Today’s kindergartners are not only taught how to write their own name but also how to write and read simple words. Further, the kindergartners are taught how to put together simple sentences, and as a fun project they learn to draw pictures, write sentences about their pictures, and put them together in a book form to take home to their amazed parents.

One of the tools used by kindergartners to learn simple math and word skills is the computer. The young students make regular trips to the school’s computer lab where they sign on to the computer with their name and a password and then navigate to a fun math program or an equally fun language program. The students are thrilled because the programs are presented in the form of games. The students think they are just playing games but really they are learning sophisticated math and language skills that students in the past did not learn until a later age.

Further, students in past generations learned fundamental math and language skills through rote memorization and recitation. Today’s young students learn the skills through the more sophisticated method of applying critical thinking and problem solving, which makes them much wiser and more sophisticated than students of a similar age in past generations.

Not only is the Elementary School curriculum today pushed to a younger student but the same is happening at the Middle School level and at the High School level. Students in past generations used to graduate from sixth grade to attend Junior High School as seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. In many schools today Middle School now encompasses sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Where students in the past would step up to the more sophisticated world of High School in the tenth grade. Now students in the ninth grade join the faster paced High School environment and curriculum.

For these reasons I disagree that our educational system is the failure that many would have us believe. I further disagree with placing labels such as “Dumber” on today’s students. Today’s student does go about learning things differently. In many ways they are actually  becoming wiser and more sophisticated at a younger age than did students in past generations. Everyday living requires more wisdom and sophistication today than in the past and the educational system has changed to meet the needs of today’s students. Perhaps a better way to classify students would be the motivated and the lazy!

~Anonymous Teacher~

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Education, Kids, School, Students, Teacher

Be Part of the Kids Speak for America E-Board

Seth 1 Comment

I would like you to be a part of the Kids Speak for America E-Board. I could use at least 50 volunteer board members both kids and adults. You guys and  girls will be able to send me specific information about subjects you want covered. We will have a special section on the website where you can share things you want to see done or maybe you want some ideas from the other e-board members. We could have online meetings to talk about some of the things that have been happening all over the U.S.A. and we will write articles and discuss how they should be wrote and what needs to be included or if the site needs to be expanded further. We can make it so adults listen to kids, high school students and college students for it is our future that is getting messed up.

If you would like to be part of this e-board or just want to share your ideas as to how this board could be best set up contact me.

Seth W. CONTACT

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: America, College, High School, Kids, Speak, Students

Articles

  • What is Presidents Day?
  • Happy Thanksgiving
  • Veterans Day
  • Memorial Day a Day of Remembrance
  • Independence Day
  • Flag Day and the Flag of the United States
  • 9-11 Let Us Not Forget
  • Why We Celebrate Labor Day
  • Martin Luther King Was Republican Video
  • United States Accepting Syrian Refugees
  • First Hanukkah Thanksgiving
  • Lonely Soldiers During Thanksgiving
  • Columbus Day World Event
  • Christopher Columbus Video by 8th Graders
  • The Medal of Honor Not a Game
  • Presidents Day in Mrs. Munger’s Class
  • John F. Kennedy Assassination
  • Living American Flag
  • National Grandparents Day
  • Ideas for Improving American Public Education
  • Why Sen. Guillory Became a Republican
  • 10 New Year’s Resolutions Parents Would Like Kids to Make
  • 1st Grade Christmas
  • Pearl Harbor Attack Remembered
  • Meet the Young Marines
  • Noah Lamaide an American Kid
  • Final Landing Shuttle Atlantis Video
  • Atlantis Final Journey with Video
  • Obama’s Solution to Gas for Your Car
  • Trash is Cash
  • Salute to our Arm Forces
  • Endeavor Spacewalk to MIR
  • Space Shuttle Endeavour Last Flight
  • Voting Issues for Kids
  • Spring Break Fun
  • School Science Fair
  • Kids Need to Know About President Reagan!
  • Young People In Egypt Protesting for Democracy
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. was Republican
  • Paying National Debt
  • Bulls Eyes and Cross Hairs on Arizona
  • Christina Taylor Green 9-Year-Old Arizona Shooting Victim
  • Should Our Troops Go or Stay
  • Have A Great 2011
  • Are Kids Dumber Today Than in the Past?
  • Dumb and Dangerous or Just Dumb?
  • Merry Christmas United States Merry Christmas Military
  • Trillion Dollar Explanation
  • Lame Duck Congress
  • The Meaning of Christmas
  • Hiroshima Connection to Hawaii
  • Pearl Harbor Proclamation by Pres. Roosevelt

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presidents day

Presidents Day: Not Just a No School Day Presidents Day is not just a day off from school or work. On Presidents Day became a national holiday in 1879. First celebrated on Washington’s birthday it was later changed to the third Wednesday of February. Today, we celebrate all Presidents that have led our nation. This […]

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