American Heritage Education Foundation – A Review
I received a cool little resource in the mail a few weeks back. I didn’t realize the value of the package until today, as I was rereading my material for this gripping post.
Because I am part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew (I’m really not bragging, I just have to tell you this to be a “legit” blogger. By the way, did a movie scene flash across your mind when you read the word “legit?” The first person to guess what movie I was thinking of might win some granola that I am going to make later today) . . . .
As I was saying, because I am part of the Homeschool Crew, I received a CD from The American Heritage Education Foundation. Get this – it is a $150 value that you can get for free, just like I did!
It has been a long time since I taught in a public school system setting, but after reading the mission statement and preface of this collaborative resource, I see the importance of laying a firm historical foundation for my children (and students across America). I am looking forward to incorporating this resource into our classroom, though it will have to be tweaked a little bit as it was originally written for the classroom setting and I wish to include the religious backdrop our nation was also founded upon.
The AHEF Mission Statement:
AHEF is a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation (501.c.3) dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America’s factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens.
AHEF accomplishes this patriotic mission by writing, producing, and distributing FREE K-12 lesson plans to teachers, students, and families in all 50 states and through additional initiatives, programs, and partnerships.
AHEF is inclusive of individuals of every race and creed and every religious or non-religious persuasion.
Do you realize that America was/is really an experiment? I am sure I learned this many years ago, but it was good to be reminded of this little fact from the AHEF website and CD:
The concepts of freedom, equality of all men, unalienable rights, and self-government of, by, and for the people are, historically, very new ideas. Modern man’s recorded history is approximately 5,000 years old, yet the American experiment in self-rule is only 230 years old.
I can remember growing up and looking forward to school convocations celebrating our veterans, daily reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and begging to hang the flag up outside of our home. Where has that pride gone?
I have heard it said that,
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
There is value in learning history. We need to know where we came from. We don’t have to dwell on the past, but it is good to know what has shaped us.
In closing, consider this statement from taken from the AHEF website,
It is vitally important that our students and our citizens become increasingly proficient and well-informed in the inspired, virtuous, and noble ideas that are our nation’s foundation for a free society. By learning and understanding the basic philosophical concepts of freedom, education, private investment, job growth, and profit incentive, our students will be better equipped to approach the responsibilities and tasks to act and serve in society. In knowing our nation’s historical and political foundation, our citizens and students will perpetuate this ongoing miracle of a viable and energized constitutional republic so that freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility through this system of self-government will not perish from our earth.