Well, the election is over but our family’s study of the presidents, the election process, and the government will continue a couple more weeks. I have been roughly following The Elections Unit Study by Amanda Bennett. The kids have been greatly enjoying it. They can rattle off all kinds of information about past presidents and the government. And I must say, one of the great joys of homeschooling for me is that I get to learn (or re-learn?) so much cool stuff! I have never known as much about the founding fathers as I do now. I love it!
We have always involved the kids when we actually go to vote. However, this year they had a particular interest. Although they can both vaguely remember the last presidential election, they had a fervor of interest this time. During this election, we were deep into learning about the process of electing a president, we were following the campaign, discussing the issues important to our family, and learning the biographies of the candidates. Knowing so much about each candidate and why we select one over the other gave them a vested interest in who would become President Elect. Before we went to vote, I had the kids fill out a paper ballot with our selections. We then drove to the polling place and each child was able to check the boxes, choosing their candidates, and finally push that big red button to cast their vote! They felt great!
After voting, we drove to Grammy and Poppy’s house to have dinner and watch election coverage (we have no TV). It felt like an election party and the kids watched with interest (as long as they could). After dinner they made up questions to poll everyone in their own mock election. They teamed up to count the votes from the secret ballots, tally the results, and announce the totals. There were some very silly outcomes! We continued to watch the coverage late into the night.
No matter the outcome, this is an election that the kids will remember. They are anxious to learn about more presidents and about the upcoming inauguration. Overall, it has been a wonderful current issue study.
To discuss the elections or other homeschooling topics, please visit the HMHS Discussion Forum.
