It’s always startling to me when I mention to people I am a member of Daughters of the American Revolution or work with Children of the American Revolution the reactions I get. Some people think it’s really cool. Some yell Gilmore Girls! And others get a really sour look on their face, purse their lips together, look down their nose at me and go ‘Oh’. You see, there there are clearly misconceptions about what exactly Children of the American Revolution is.
Mission Statement
The official mission statement reads like this: The National Society of Children of the American Revolution trains good citizens, develops leaders and promotes love of the United States of America and its heritage among young people.
In a nutshell, C.A.R. the oldest patriotic service group for children. As a former educator, mother and descendant of a long long line of warriors who have created and defended this country, I feel like this is a pretty great mission statement and honestly, shouldn’t we all be doing this learning, service, and respect thing?
READ MORE ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE WITH C.A.R
What It Is and Isn’t
You will note there is no mention of political agenda. That’s because there is none. I honestly don’t know what the political affiliations are of any of the families and quite frankly, don’t care. We’re too busy learning American History and parliamentary procedure and going on really fun field trips. We are making connections with other families and we are learning things together. We give service to veterans and to community. The thing that drives it all is a deep respect for the flag and for the country and it’s very inspiring. It’s also deeply bonding as a family to participate in these activities. WIN! YES! WIN!
Piqued your interest? Good! Here it is!
The Top Ten Reasons to Join Children of the American Revolution
10. Travel and see the country
There are local meetings, state meetings, regional meetings, and national. Every year in the spring when the cherry blossoms are doing that beautiful pink thing they do, National is held at Mount Vernon, home to George Washington. uh, cool!! They go on fab field trips (we use Push Pin Travel Maps to keep track!) and make long lasting friends!
9. Develop and maintain lifelong friendships from all over America
See how I segued from 10 to 9? It’s true! The kids interact in meetings, in excursions, at dinners, and more. They stay in touch often well into their adult hood. What personal connection in a digital age?! How wonderful!!
8. Learn about your own ancestry and country’s heritage
I love this part maybe the most! Kids are encouraged to learn about their own ancestry and share it with others. They learn SO MUCH just by sharing their family’s stories. These are the stories that transcend all those things that potentialy divide us as people. PLUS, we are a young country but we have an AMAZING HISTORY with SO SO many great stories to learn and experience!
7. Get involved in your local community
I cannot even begin to tell you what giving service does for a child’s development. THAT is a whole other blog post. Watching kids serve veterans food, collect clothing, hand them a thank you note… you cannot buy that kind of lesson or that type of connection. I’ve been known to cry at the beauty of it all.
6. Develop useful skills like public speaking and parliamentary procedure
Oh my goodness! Kids thrive in structure but they also need opportunities to stretch their wings to find their voice. Learning public speaking and parliamentary procedure are fundamental skills that they can and do take with them into their adult lives. Practicing these builds their confidence in such a supportive environment. They also learn things like dressing for various occasions and audience. (Another valuable skill that once was deemed as common sense.)
5. Be a part of historical preservation on local, state, and national levels
This is another brilliant way to connect with immediate community as well as our collective American identity. When the kids collect and donate or give man hours they have a concrete way to see that they as individuals are part of something bigger then themselves. There is a true sense of pride in the work they accomplish and a visual reminder of that work they can share with others. It’s the real life execution of ‘one person can make a difference’ and it’s tangible.
4. Take part in leadership opportunities at local, state, and national levels
There are so many local offices available to the kids. Everything from President to librarian and these repeat at the state and national levels. There are opportunities to write and get published, put on plays, and more! There is truly an opportunity for every child who wants it to try new roles and build their resume in the process.
3. Develop an appreciation for American History
OK maybe this is my favorite. Can I have two favorites? GUYS! Us Americans have incredible stories that collectively have made our amazing country the most powerful and creative nation EVER! We are not bound together with one religion or one language like many countries. We are totally unique! I mean, we have many races, many languages, many different reasons for being here. And there is a story with every single family! Watching kids eyes light up when they hear a new personal story makes me do my happy dance. They get SO excited about the bad asses that made this country, especially when someone in the group is related to them! (I have never ever seen a kid get that jazzed talking about a video game…just sayin’)
READ MORE ABOUT MY FAVE SUBJECT AMERICAN HISTORY
2. Learn how an organization works and how to put on group events
Another valuable skill that they take with them into every career choice! Gotta learn how to play well with others so might as well teach them when they are young. 🙂 More resume builders for sure, even if its simply Life Resume.
CAR Tea 
CAR Tea
1.Be a part of the largest and oldest youth patriotic organization in the nation
There is just something cool about being part of something established and connected every where you go. It’s a little like being a Hogwarts Alumni. OK so you don’t get a wand or a broom but you do get a genuine feeling of pride and connection everywhere you go in the Nation because there is a knowledge that the blood in your veins helped build it. When there is pride, people, places, and things get treated with respect. In a day an age where that word seems the exception sometimes rather than the rule, that’s saying something.
Heart pumping a little harder? Excellent! Link at the bottom of the article directly to the C.A.R. website to learn more.
Final Thoughts
Children of the American Revolution is a lineage based organization. Members need to be able to trace a line back to a patriot who serves in some capacity toward our liberation as a nation. If you want help researching, feel free to reach out to me. I’ll gladly get you matched with someone near you who can help with the process. If you don’t qualify, I hope you’ll still look into it, if for no other reason to learn a little more about our nation and some people who are actively living to honor and preserve it. Like most not for profits these, membership is down. This is largely due to over scheduling of kids and the general current climate of un coolness to be an American.
But we ARE American in all our glorious, creative, imperfect selves. And we only get better together. These opportunities to learn and connect and give service? They provide long lasting value that shape us as humans. Look into it. Make Grandma and Grandpa proud. 🙂
Colonial Crafts with Sage
Women of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
Children of the American Revolution
I have never heard about this organization, but I am going to look into it more, cause this is awesome!!! I would love for my kids to be part of this, and frankly, I would love it myself too, ha!
Excellent!!! Let me know if you need any help. I’d be glad to point you in the right direction. It’s a great organization!
What an amazing opportunity for kids!
It really is. We don’t have civics in class anymore so I think this is great education and fun!
This sounds lovely! I’ll have to look into it for my homeschooled kids!
oh please do! There are a lot of home schoolers involved! It’s a cool way to connect!
Oh, my goodness! This sounds like an amazing program / organization. I’ve heard of DAR, but not CAR. As a military family, we love taking our boys to historical landmarks and studying what really happened there.
I’m so glad to hear you do this too!!!
oh my goodness!!! Please tell me more!! My grandfather fought bravely in WWII and even earned the purple heart. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get my girls involved in this! Thank you more than words for sharing this!!! I can’t wait to get them involved! Thank you again!
OH I’m so glad to hear it! I’d say start with the website http://www.nscar.org to get the application going but please reach out to me with any and all questions and I’ll help in any way I can. We have a blast and always welcome more families!
Great information!!! I teach the American Revolution in school. THIS will be the perfect additional information to share!!
I’m so glad to hear this!!!! I hope you’ll consider subscribing if you haven’t already… we are going to showcase this group and a lot of Historical Fieldtrips that you will be interested in!
What a fantastic organization!! My aunt was actively part of the DAR, and I hate to say that I never followed along with it. It’s definitely something I need to look into though, she made amazing friends through the program.
Oh the women i have met through DAR are the movers and the shakers of the world for sure! Not to mention all the opportunities to do great things! I hope you do join!
This is awesome! What a great program. I think programs like this are dieing out and it’s so sad. We should really encourage our kids to do stuff like this.
Numbers are down with this organization like any other non profit group. I believe this is very important, more so than all the structured activities we shlep them to every day. Spread the word! 😉
What an amazing organization! This type of program is something that kids should participate in. Lots of learning to be had, not to mention getting to travel around the country. Great to know! I wonder if Canada has such program?
You know that is a good question! I do not know the answer to that. I lived in Canande for a while and I remember Girl Guides which is the equivalent to our Girl Scouts but other than that, I’m really not sure.
Wow, such a cool organization! I had no idea that this existed, thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Oh I’m glad you enjoyed!
I didn’t know there was a children’s chapter. This sounds really cool and interesting! I have several ancestors who fought in the revolutionary war. I’ll have to check into this for my grandkids.
YES! Please do!!! We need kids to get involved and get excited about it!
I haver never heard of this organization. This is super cool and interesting. I love all the things that you can learn there.
It’s been a blast for us! I think its not a well known organization. I’m hoping to change that 🙂
I love the historical aspect of this group – I’d love to dive deeper into the history! The only downside is all my family in the US is so recent we all arrived in early 1900! No early American for this gal.
As is the case with many Americans I believe but we have SUCH a rich history in the couple of hundred years we’ve been around! So fun (and important) to learn!
I have never heard of this society. What an interesting group to be a part of and a great way to teach our children about our history.
I think it is a relatively ‘quiet’ society. I am hoping to help get the word out because I agree. GREAT way to teach history!
What great program for the kids! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
What a great program! I couldn’t agree more that service programs do so much for kids. And what a fun way to learn our country’s history.
Yup! Service is a HUGE part of the mandates of CAR. So Important for kids of all ages… and sadly lacking in today’s society. Hopefully that changes! 🙂
This sounds cool. We love history, and we tie historical sites into our trips. It sounds like a fun activity!
Cool! Always a story somewhere…
What a great program for kids! Thank you for sharing!!
Thank YOU for taking the time to read! 🙂
WOW! I totally thought this was a made up thing on Gilmore Girls, awesome info! 🙂
hahahah nope! It’s real and it’s awesome!
Organizations such as these are so important in developing leadership & good citizenship skills in our young adults!
Absolutely! I am continually impressed with the children I meet and their skills. I remember learning leadership in school but it isn’t taught any more. Neither is Civics. Thank you for your support!
I haven’t heard of this either. Thank you for sharing.
YAY! I’m glad you know now!
I really like that this brings historical awareness to our kids and promotes patriotism.
Me too! It’s my favorite thing!
I have never heard of this organization but it really sounds fantastic! I’ll show my husband and see if this would be a good fit for us
AWESOME! If I can help you with the application process, do not hesitate to let me know!
I honestly have never heard of this but find it very fascinating! I do think that all aspects of our history should be taught and remembered just so we don;t make the same mistakes over and over! I love that you are helping out around your community as well.
You said it well! It’s important to remember and learn from the past. It’s not a popular idea in this forward moving, forward thinking society but I think it is a common thought… we just need to make it OK to do just that. Honest conversations are tough… but necessary.
Ha, Gilmore Girls was my first thought too! I wonder if this is out here in my area of California? I have never heard of it other than watching GG.
Oh there are societies all over California! Actually pretty active ones too!! Where are you and I’ll get you the right contact info!
I’ve heard of D.A.R. but not this organization. So cool!
It really is! I remember being taught civics in school but we don’t do that any more. They have to learn it somewhere…
I’m glad that politics aren’t involved since, in my opinion, it’s all grey areas (good, bad, helpful, damaging, pros, cons, etc [no perfection anywhere]). It’s good to learn the history of the country though, both the good and the bad, because those lessons are what will keep us from repeating the bad aspects of it.
Indeed! There is so much to learn and is all but forgotten and we aren’t even a very old country yet LOL! I think it’s necessary and right for every citizen to learn about the nation, how it came to be, and our part in it. Politics is a whole different realm and not one for this blog, but I will say being an educated and experienced human transcends all that and can only benefit the individual, the community, and the nation.
I was a C.a.r.!! In CA and went to nationals! Moved to Vt as a kid and kinda fell out of being active. I have so many awesome memories of it!
Really?! What Society were you in? We have so much fun with it! Getting ready to soo Abraham Lincoln, a canon salute to our soldiers and eat ice cream for Memorial Day. Can’t wait! It’s going to be a BLAST! (literally and figuratively!)