Sooooo there’s this election happening.
I’m sure you’ve heard about it.
Do you remember how, when you were in elementary school, you’d study the election? And how you would talk about the candidates and their respective political parties and cast your vote? And it was fun?
Well, when we started homeschooling I figured we would do some version of that, here at home. Plus, we live in a swing state and have prime access to all candidates. I could have very easily taken my kids to see each and every one of them live and in person in my town.
And maybe I should have.
But here’s the thing: There’s just too much hatred right now. And I’m a sensitive mom to three sensitive little souls. When I think about myself, at that age, witnessing any of the talk that is going on right now, well, it’s just too much.
And so I needed a Plan B, something G-rated.
I needed to back away from specific candidates and look at the U.S. government and the election process…without all of The Other Stuff.
This left me scrambling, searching for resources. And, admittedly, politics is not my area of forte.
Lucky for me, the homeschool gods must have been smiling down on us because I was offered the chance to review Home School in the Woods’ Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections.
You guys, of all the things we’ve tried in our homeschool, we had yet to try lap booking. I’ve always wanted to try lap booking, but I didn’t know where to start. So I decided to go for it and I’m so glad we did.
Planning a U.S. Election Unit Study
*Disclosure: I received Home School in the Woods’ Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections at no cost and was compensated for my time. I was not required to write a positive review. As always, all opinions are my own and I only share products that I would use with my own family and that I believe other families would enjoy.
Let’s face it: History gets a bad rap. I loved history when I was in school, but I had so many friends who would grumble about how boring it was. I want my children to delight in history. I want to make it engaging and relevant to them. I have always wanted to try lap booking because I love that it provides hands-on learning. Not only that, but lap booking creates something tangible that your children can enjoy and refer to in the future.
Home School in the Woods is a family-run business, created by a homeschooling family of six. The products were created out of a desire to make history fun, hands-on, and accessible for young children. Home School in the Woods provides countless hands-on learning experiences and activities for children, including lap books, timelines, maps, drama, cooking, living books, and more.
Are you in need of an elections unit study for your homeschool?
Home School in the Woods’ Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections is designed for grades 3-8. It introduces your children to the United States presidential elections with reading material and hands-on projects and activities. Included are 21 lap booking projects that incorporate various subjects, from creative writing to art to research. Step-by-step, easy to follow instructions are included as well. The Lap-Pak is available in both digital and CD forms and includes audio of the text read aloud which is perfect for younger students.
The Hands-On History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections includes the following activities:
- Definition of Election
- Various forms of government
- The American Experiment
- The branches of government
- Suffrage
- Terms of office
- Overview of political parties
- National conventions
- Caucuses and primaries
- Campaign platform, strategy, media, advertising, and raising money
- Statistics
- Election day
- Electoral College
- The Inauguration
- Tons of vocabulary
- … and more!
My little guy loved the pop-ups!
So, what did we think about this homeschool project?
Oh my gosh you guys, why have we waited so long to try out lap booking??
My oldest loved this project! He is a huge fan of creative projects. He loves to make things. He ate this up! Bonus? He has a tangible product to pour over and learn from. And, perhaps best of all, we had such wonderful discussions while he was working on the lap book.
So much learning!!
My little guy loves history and we haven’t covered the election process yet, so he was thoroughly engaged throughout.
As he worked, I read from the text and we discussed the material. It was a relaxed way to learn and spend time together.
You always know he’s in the zone when you see what we call: The Concentration Tongue.
This lap book was extensive. There was a lot of ground to cover but my little buddy was so enthralled with it that we spent the entire afternoon working on it.
He was so proud. Just look at that smile!! He actually had me take a video of him showing the lap book so that I could share it with his grandparents. You can see that video here:
What we would do differently next time…
This was our first lap book and it was a great experience. Next time, and there will be a next time, I plan on pre-cutting the activities and spacing them out. Let’s just say that executive functioning is not my little guy’s strength and this would make it easier and cut down on lost pieces and mess like you see here:
Older children, or kids with better organizational skills, would have a blast working on these lap-paks as an independent study or quiet time activity. I see lots of lap booking in our future!
Interested in creating your own U.S. Election Unit Study?
Homeschool in the Woods’ Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections is available in two forms:
- CD version $19.95
- Download version $18.95
There is also a giveaway happening now. Three lucky winners will receive a download version of Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections. You can enter below:
Want to add to the fun?
Remember when I wrote this post about learning how to memorize the entire periodic table of the elements? Well, Memorize Academy also offers a **free** course on memorizing all of the presidents of the United States! It would be a perfect addition to this unit study.
Do you love incredible homeschool resources? We do, too!
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Thank you for posting this! I had my eye on this study for a little while. About how long did it take you to complete it?
It took us an entire afternoon because he didn’t want to stop 🙂 Maybe 4 hours with breaks? It could be spaced out over a period of days or weeks. I’d approach it that way next time, but this was fun!