This is the 2nd Presidential Election we have been homeschooling. You can see some of the things we did in 2012 here when my kids were a lot younger.
This year, we've really covered the election a lot deeper with watching debates, touching on the real issues, and learning about the electoral college. I'm loving how my oldest seems to really be forming her own opinions about this election and our government. She is taking her half a credit of government this year.
For this election, we've played Election Bingo with vocabulary. They loved this. We played a lot. You can find these for FREE at Growing Book by Book.
They enjoyed looking at some Trump vs. Hillary campaign ads. They actually went on to the candidates' websites to see their platform on issues.
I also gave my girls an assignment of doing a Pepsi vs. Coke persuasive paper. The girls were to decide which one was better and tell me why I should think that. In writing their persuasive paper, my oldest even researched online surveys on the topic. The girls drew their own logos and came up with their own slogans for the paper they wrote about. My oldest daughter's drawing should really be an advertising campaign. I loved "A Volcano in your Mouth." She said she thought of that because of the fizz. She takes after her father who is in advertising, I guess.
My oldest daughter's drawing
My youngest daughter's drawing
These are some links we used for learning about the Electoral College:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyIFqf3XH24&feature=share (School House Rock video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9H3gvnN468 (TED Talks Video)
We also have a Learn Through History DVD about the election that we sat through for lunch one day.
On election day, we split up the votes for Pepsi and Coke. I secretly divided electoral votes from Al Gore vs. George Bush. I wanted them to see popular vs. electoral. We colored the map here: http://www.270towin.com/ of the red states and blue states. Afterwards, they were told about how in the 2000 election, the popularity vote went to Al Gore, but the electoral college vote went to Bush. Great lesson! I loved how they got excited about whether the states were turning red or blue.
All this makes me anxious and excited for Election night! They are going to be glued to the television watching history being made. I can already tell with their interest level in it this year.
Tomorrow we finish up our unit and I plan to take them to the polls with me to vote. We plan to play this computer game, "Win the Whitehouse." Finally, we'll settle down in front of the tv with our maps (get a map here) to color in the electoral votes counting who gets to 270 first. It's been a successful election year, at least in our homeschool studies.
In this year, it is amazing to see my high schooler grow as her own person. She actually has shared a different opinion at times on who should be president, even thinking differently than my husband and myself. However, there are times we give our arguments and like much of the country - she's baffled at how we could choose either of the two candidates. She's truly learned in depth about some issues that she didn't know even existed in her childhood years. She's even questioned, "What's the point of us voting if we have the electoral college?" This is why I love homeschooling. I love seeing her grow, form her own opinions, and question the things we as a country do and what could be done to change it. It's truly amazing to watch.
A friend shared this on Facebook and I wanted to reshare: "No matter what happens on election day...No matter the outcome Tuesday evening, please don't loose your sh** because, I promise, the sun WILL come up Wednesday morning. We all have to live here together and keep the kids safe."
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