Prayer and The Pledge

of Allegiance

Prayer begins as ritual in families and faith communities.  Tidewater is a spiritual place which honors and celebrates the privilege we have to give thanks.  As young children enter here, prayer is guided as a means of pausing and reflecting.  It is a time where we focus attention and listen to one another count blessings.  Our task is to respect religion.  Tidewater respects the faith system of each family.  We discuss the religions of the world and enjoy celebrating the way others give thanks.  We do not ignore the spirituality of life.  We strive to embrace this as an important aspect of our being. 

The same can be said for The Pledge of Allegiance.  In PreKindergarten, the children hear the pledge numerous times during the course of the year.  Our lessons focus on the beauty of the flag:  the stripes and the stars and how special our flag is.  As we do the World Tour, we discuss that other countries have beautiful flags, too, and that each flag means something special to the people of that land.  This is elaborated on more in Kindergarten and it is then that the children commit to memory the Pledge of Allegiance. They stand so beautifully at attention and develop this skill as a memory exercise.  It is also indelibly impressed upon their young minds that this is a respectful time.  The flag is also present in Elementary.  Recitation does not occur each day, but weekly.  In Elementary, the developmental task is no longer memorization but meaning.  These lessons are given again and again about respecting our country's values.  We are a program that strives to foster community and relationship, respect and understanding, negotiation and peace.