The Real Reason to Teach American Songs in Kindergarten

by Jill Simonian

July 15, 2026

RedState

Music unifies through differences. It's been said that the history of a people is found in its songs. So why, in this most contentious time of division, isn't every Kindergarten classroom singing songs to unite our youngest Americans, through differences, from the very beginning of their educational experience?

Visit any elementary school, and I'll wager you'll be hard-pressed to find children who recognize, much less know the words to, timeless melodies that have endured and carried us as Americans through our flawed but shared history. At one time, patriotic and folksongs were standardized lessons throughout Kindergarten and First Grade, to establish foundational love of country before our nation's mistakes and stains were broached in middle and high school. No more.

Once again, this year's Gallup poll measuring patriotism among young people hit a 25-year all-time low — only 30 percent of Gen Z and younger Millennials (age 18-34) claim they are "very" or "extremely" proud to be American. As a mom of two teens, I'm saddened that most of my daughters' generation likely aligns with these dismal findings… and was likely never introduced to America's glorious story through the songs that carried their grandparents through hard economic times and wars protecting our liberty. Thanks to my own weekly research and commentary about the miseducation happening inside American classrooms, I'm now convinced that removing our nation's patriotic songs and folk music from early education standards allowed for the infiltration of anti-Americanism now wielded at our youngest learners.

Read more at RedState