What presidential facts do you consider important for children to know?

[Ghee]

I am putting together a study on the presidents for my children. I need this to be mostly on a 6th grade level as I will be using it for all children and I can add a few in for the older, take away a bit for the younger.

 

My question is: What FACTS do you feel are the most vital to know about the presidents? Their birth and death dates? The political party to which they belong? Their vice president? Interesting things that happened during their terms? What about who they married? Their children? How many terms they served? How they died?....I feel like if I get into the fact area, it's too much. I want them to have an overall idea of each president, but not necessarily know their life history, kwim?

 

Ideally, I'd like to come up with a 1 page notebooking type thing for a few facts. I'd use this in addition to some other resources.

[Alicia64]

Well, I see your situation. My boys are nine so I haven't dealt w/ question.

 

For me, it's been about making sure the boys are heavily exposed to the really great, stand out men. So because we visited Mount Vernon we read and read and read about Washington.

 

We've done a lot on the Civil War informally and have read some about Lincoln's childhood. But of course I want them to know a lot about Lincoln.

 

Rather than facts I want my boys to understand the meaning each man brought to his presidency.

 

The other thing -- and this sounds trivial and silly, but hear me out -- is that I want the boys to know the Presidents Song.

 

SWB talks about it being important that kids know, for example, when the Civil War ended (1866) because it becomes a peg or reference in their mind when thinking about the 19th century.

 

I think it's the same w/ knowing the presdents song. For example we were learning something about President James Monroe the other day and my son sang the presidents song and could peg when he was president. I think that kind of reference is helpful in the long run.

 

 

 

Alley

[Jayne J]

Down and dirty--name, dates of presidency, political affiliation, major legislation passed during their term(s) and wars/significant historical events. VP would be good too. Everything else can be filled in later, if the student desires more. I also plan to have them memorize the order in which they served, (like in the president's song the first poster mentioned.) Presidents vs Aliens is invaluable for this, if you have access to an iPad/smart phone.

[Ghee]

That's a good idea, thank you for the link. I guess what I'm asking is for ideas for what to put on a notebook page, then make into a book. Just something they can look back on later and, in making, will reinforce highlights. I just see a lot of facts, when paging through books, that seem somewhat useless, kwim? Like who ever needed to know that thus and such President had these siblings? Then again, maybe it's more important than I think. I'm looking at this as a product of PS, and we only learned a tad bit about the current President (maybe, if the teacher that year cared, usually only during an election) and got a few quick facts, the same ones every year, on Washington and Lincoln LOL

 

I see what you are saying, though, and it's a good point.

[Ghee]

Down and dirty--name, dates of presidency, political affiliation, major legislation passed during their term(s) and wars/significant historical events. VP would be good too. Everything else can be filled in later, if the student desires more. I also plan to have them memorize the order in which they served, (like in the president's song the first poster mentioned.) Presidents vs Aliens is invaluable for this, if you have access to an iPad/smart phone.

 

Thanks, that's kind of what I was looking for. I have P vs A on my iPhone, but I'm hoping to get an iPad for those sorts of things...they are sooo tiny on a phone! Plus, you know, I'm sure I need one for other things :tongue_smilie:

[KrissiK]

Well, at this point, my boys are just learning the names and the order off flash=cards. Although they have taken it upon themselves to state whether they are dead or alive.

"George Washington - Dead!"

"John Adams - Dead!"

"Thomas Jefferson - Dead!"

 

It gets quite comical, but they've done it enough that they do know which of the more recent presidents are dead or alive. I suppose later on we will learn other information, but I would like my kids to know at least one important thing they did as a president.

[happypamama]

Rather than facts I want my boys to understand the meaning each man brought to his presidency.

 

 

Yes, this. I can't imagine requiring my children to memorize birth and death dates, etc. Now if they felt like teaching themselves those things, fine. I want them to have some idea of how each President fit into US history, what might have happened during each one's term(s) of office, anything particularly interesting or notable. I think knowing the order, or at least having a good idea of the time period would be good. I don't necessarily expect them to name the 12th President off the top of their heads, for instance, but I think they should know that Zachary Taylor came not long before the Civil War and not around WWII, y'know?

 

Now, if I was putting things in a notebook, I'd probably include birth/death dates and dates of the Presidency (or at least year/years of election), spouse/First Lady's name (but that is partly because all of my children have Presidential or First Lady names, and we wouldn't exclude DD), political party, Vice President, state from which the President hailed, and interesting facts/legislation/causes/etc. But not necessarily to memorize, if that makes sense.

Edited June 25, 2012 by happypamama

[Ghee]

But not necessarily to memorize, if that makes sense.

 

Yes, I wasn't planning on them memorizing all the facts. I just thought working on a notebooking page, in conjunction with some other activities, might cement the President into their minds. I doubt they will ever (or need to ever) know exactly who was a certain number President, or who so and so's wife was...not really. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a few "factoid" type things that might grab their attention. My daughter did a unit study on Abraham Lincoln and what excited her the most was that he held a patent LOL

[lillehei]

There is a great series out there on DVD called The Presidents by the History Channel. It has a snippet about each president and what he did, his legacy. We loved it.

http://www.amazon.com/The-History-Channel-Presents-Presidents/dp/B0007VY3ZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340583133&sr=8-1&keywords=the+presidents+dvd

 

I agree with pp that you only need to know the important facts of presidential dates, party, legacy or war involved in. I don't even think VP is important. But if you are doing a notebook and not having them memorize info, I would put as much as you like in them. Have fun!

[EmmaNadine]

If you have a visual learner, these are fascinating to read. There is one for the POTUS, and they also made one for the Supreme Court and Congress.

[SuperDad]

For each president - general political leanings, major accomplishments, general era of presidency (exact dates of terms not necessary), maybe some additional fun facts.

 

Just as an earlier poster described... I want to build "pegs" for my dc to use as a frame of reference.

[kubiac]

No advice on what to teach, but for self-education and to help you make some decisions, Wikipedia has outdone itself, trivia-wise, with this:

 

Lists of US Presidents and Vice Presidents

[lejardin]

There is a great series out there on DVD called The Presidents by the History Channel. It has a snippet about each president and what he did, his legacy. We loved it.

http://www.amazon.com/The-History-Channel-Presents-Presidents/dp/B0007VY3ZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340583133&sr=8-1&keywords=the+presidents+dvd

 

I agree with pp that you only need to know the important facts of presidential dates, party, legacy or war involved in. I don't even think VP is important. But if you are doing a notebook and not having them memorize info, I would put as much as you like in them. Have fun!

 

Lillehei, thank you for posting the link to the DVD. My library has it.

 

I agree with Superdad and others to have dc know each presidents contributions, general time period/era to have reference points. Details are fine for a notebook page. The presidents song is also a fun way to learn their order too.

[stripe]

I think when they served is important, number of children not so much. Wife only if she was important or well known (Martha Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt) or more recent. It's important to know what their major accomplishments or efforts were. It's nice to recognize their pictures, too.

[angela in ohio]

I've never seen such a simple request so misunderstood. :lol:

 

The important facts would be:

Number

Dates served

VP

Party

Home state (you can do birthplace or where they were elected from or both)

Claim to fame (oldest, tallest, first this or that, etc.)

Major historical events of biggest achievements during term

Wife

If they left or came to office in an unusual way (assassinated, etc.)

 

I think it's nice for a notebook page to add a picture. An inexpensive way to do this is to buy a cheap pack of presidential flashcards and cut them out.

 

If you have younger dc, a favorite is to list what pets they had. There were some very interesting pets in the White House back in the day. :D They also like to find out how many dc they had. No, they aren't super important facts, but it creates interest.

Edited June 25, 2012 by angela in ohio

[Ghee]

I've never seen such a simple request so misunderstood. :lol:

 

The important facts would be:

Number

Dates served

VP

Party

Home state (you can do birthplace or where they were elected from or both)

Claim to fame (oldest, tallest, first this or that, etc.)

Major historical events of biggest achievements during term

Wife

If they left or came to office in an unusual way (assassinated, etc.)

 

I think it's nice for a notebook page to add a picture. An inexpensive way to do this is to buy a cheap pack of presidential flashcards and cut them out.

 

If you have younger dc, a favorite is to list what pets they had. There were some very interesting pets in the White House back in the day. :D They also like to find out how many dc they had. No, they aren't super important facts, but it creates interest.

 

Thank you, Angela, that gives me a good jumping off point for creating the pages. Thanks to everyone who mentioned recognizing them by sight, that gave me another idea.