Week 7/Happy Birthday America!

This year we started a new family tradition of singing together after Sunday dinner. We sing a lot of rounds and fun songs. We also learn songs to go with the seasons and holidays. Each week in May we learned one verse of "America." By the 4th of July we could sing the entire song from memory, with only short pauses while someone remembers how the next verse begins.

Watching the parade on the 4th of July.

Chesson took a large paper grocery bag to collect her candy in. That's optimism.

America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrim's pride,

From every mountain side, let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love.

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills

Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from al the trees,

Sweet freedom's song.

Let mortal tongues awake,

Let all that breathe partake,

Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God to Thee,

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright,

With freedom's holy light,

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God, our King.

This song is great for the kids because it has a fairly limited range, less than one octave. Everyone can sing along without getting too high or too low. We also had fun practicing conducting in 3. It starts on beat one and goes along nice and steady with no surprises.

I have a thing for songs about singing. This one, especially verse 3, is all about singing the praises of our country (we have so much to be thankful for), and God who made it possible.