487: How to Raise Patriotic Kids When It Feels Complicated // Sharon McMahon
3 in 30 Takeaways for MomsShow Notes
I'm a word person. (Occupational hazard of spending years as an English teacher, I suppose.) I notice when words shift — when something that used to feel simple and clear starts carrying extra weight, or gets claimed by one group of people until the rest of us feel uncertain about whether we're still allowed to use it the way we always meant to.
That's what's happened, at least in my experience, to the word "patriotic." And more than my own discomfort, I started to feel genuinely unsure how to teach my kids how to be patriotic in a country that often feels so divided by partisan politics.
That question is exactly what brought Sharon McMahon back to 3 in 30. Sharon is known as America's Government Teacher and is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Small and the Mighty and her new children's book, We Are Mighty.
This conversation will give you language and a framework for the patriotism conversations you've been wanting to have with your kids, but haven't quite known how to start.
🇺🇸 Why loving your country and criticizing your country are not opposites
🇺🇸 Why narrating your small acts of service out loud shapes how your child understands what it means to love their neighbors — and their country
🇺🇸 Why getting your child to the polls just three times in a row may be one of the most lasting things you ever do for democracy
With the 4th of July coming up this week, and especially this year as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we hope you find this conversation helpful.
For full show notes, including takeaways, click here.
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Related Episodes:
429: How Ordinary Moms Can Make a Difference // Sharon McMahon
392: How to Have Grace-Filled Political Conversations with Family & Friends // Sarah Stewart Holland & Beth Silvers of Pantsuit Politics
031: Three Easy Ways to Teach Children the True Meaning of Patriotic Holidays // Brittany Richman and Andrea Reeve, The American Moms
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