Teaching kids

This may start out reading as a political rant but it's not. It's about teaching kids, so hang with me.
     Yesterday I read an article that in a town in Massachusetts they were not allowed to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Sorry, can't understand that. It got me thinking. When I do my monthly lesson plans for the youth class I go through my source books and develop my Lesson of the Week for each of the next four weeks. Often I associate the lesson to an upcoming holiday or special day like Mother's of Fathers Day. These lessons do not have to be "karate" lessons, they are life lessons. We teach our children values we want them to have as the grow up. So, we talk about courage, honesty, dependability and the like. I tied this last class into the 4th of July.
   I know many of you overseas read this. And some of you were probably surprised by the Massachusetts thing (not half as much as I was). But I think almost everyone knows that the 4th of July here in the US is a celebration of our independence from Great Britain. It's supposed to be a remembrance but for many it's just a day off and a cookout with some fireworks. I'm getting off track, so let's go back to the kids.
   When I teach kids I throw in other stuff with the classes. I have them count their exercises in different languages, just for the experience. I have been hosted in countries where they have been surprised that I knew some numbers and it comes from working with kids. I may ask them to count in German, then ask them if the know the capitol of Germany or who a famous German was and what they accomplished. You get the idea. I asked them what the big deal was with the upcoming 4th of July. They knew but I had to drag it out of them a bit. (They're young guys.) I asked if they knew any of the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln made the list, he was a time traveler you know. They knew a few and where they were from. But that was not the thrust of the lesson.
     I asked them if they ever looked at a penny and saw the words "E pluribus unum" and what they mean. No, they hadn't. I explained it was Latin and translated as "From many, one" and is a concept that is a pillar of our philosophy as a nation. Then I related it to the physical actions of kenpo. You start at the foot, add the knee and hip, go on to the shoulders and rotate the arm to make a punch. You gather all the parts of the body to deliver the power -  from many, one. They got it.
  We did Thundering Hammers and made that first forearm into "The shot heard 'round the world". They got that too after we talked a little bit about Lexington and Concord.
   As martial artists we are pursuing an integrated life. We advertise it but too often we don't see it. Martial arts are supposed to subjugate ego but we see too many big-headed practitioners. It's about honesty in many way and yet we see people selling phony rank diplomas. And buying them! I can go on about this. You know what I mean. If you're teaching children I firmly believe you need to do a Lesson of the Week, Message of the Day or Month and focus on values you and their parents want developed. Those kids are future. We are in the business of teaching the future instructors and practitioners of our art and the citizens of tomorrow. It's part of our obligation to do this.