Hands of a Child Election unit

[NittanyJen]

This is my "Color Me Surprised" post.

 

My boys (8 and 11) HATE artsy-craftsy-cutesy type projects and programs (they are super well-behaved kids, generally enjoy homeschooling and learning and are self-motivated, and will run fast the other direction if I pull out anything remotely resembling a History Pocket, for example, though I can get cooperation if I do all the cutting beforehand and don't require much of the coloring, but just go for content. DS8 actually loves art and crafts, but not mixed with schoolwork). There is your context, folks.

 

With some trepidation and against my better judgement, I went ahead and went for the HoAC unit on Elections, with an eye toward priming them on understanding the upcoming campaign and presidential (and local) elections. I figured we'd just kind of breeze through it and do it "double time," covering the whole thing in a week this week instead of our regularly scheduled history plans.

 

Well, pour me some tea and add some ice.

 

Today was day one (activities one through six, the first two planned days if you follow their study guide). Both kids said, "Wow . . . Mom, we just learned SO MUCH from this. Can we please go slower and do a little less each day, even if it takes longer to finish, so we can absorb more of the information? We really want to learn this stuff!" My 8YO was just flat overwhelmed (he also has some auditory issues, and we did a lot of it by conversation, in addition to the filling stuff out activities, so processing everything verbally was tough on him); my 11YO was shocked at how much information he was getting that was new to him despite having gone voting with me several times (program starts with what kind of government are we, really, and why are we set up that way, and why did the founding fathers do that? What were there concerns? to the ins and outs of absentee balloting and having him research online the districting maps and polling places).

 

So, to my surprise and pleasure, we will slow down, go deeper, and take our time, do more reading, let my little one see more stuff visually . . . and maybe add another tool to our arsenal when we need a break from reading/outlining/narrating/etc.

 

I don't normally write posts like this plugging a particular curriculum, but I am just so surprised they had such a good response to it . . . I figured I'd be dragging them kicking and screaming through it all week. Day 1 was definitely worth the prep time I spent cutting out all those dang silly shapes ahead of time if they are so excited to learn about the election process and the history of voting in our country now. Thought it was worth sharing, in case anybody else was hunting an election unit study type of thing.

[Chelli]

This is my "Color Me Surprised" post.

 

My boys (8 and 11) HATE artsy-craftsy-cutesy type projects and programs (they are super well-behaved kids, generally enjoy homeschooling and learning and are self-motivated, and will run fast the other direction if I pull out anything remotely resembling a History Pocket, for example, though I can get cooperation if I do all the cutting beforehand and don't require much of the coloring, but just go for content. DS8 actually loves art and crafts, but not mixed with schoolwork). There is your context, folks.

 

With some trepidation and against my better judgement, I went ahead and went for the HoAC unit on Elections, with an eye toward priming them on understanding the upcoming campaign and presidential (and local) elections. I figured we'd just kind of breeze through it and do it "double time," covering the whole thing in a week this week instead of our regularly scheduled history plans.

 

Well, pour me some tea and add some ice.

 

Today was day one (activities one through six, the first two planned days if you follow their study guide). Both kids said, "Wow . . . Mom, we just learned SO MUCH from this. Can we please go slower and do a little less each day, even if it takes longer to finish, so we can absorb more of the information? We really want to learn this stuff!" My 8YO was just flat overwhelmed (he also has some auditory issues, and we did a lot of it by conversation, in addition to the filling stuff out activities, so processing everything verbally was tough on him); my 11YO was shocked at how much information he was getting that was new to him despite having gone voting with me several times (program starts with what kind of government are we, really, and why are we set up that way, and why did the founding fathers do that? What were there concerns? to the ins and outs of absentee balloting and having him research online the districting maps and polling places).

 

So, to my surprise and pleasure, we will slow down, go deeper, and take our time, do more reading, let my little one see more stuff visually . . . and maybe add another tool to our arsenal when we need a break from reading/outlining/narrating/etc.

 

I don't normally write posts like this plugging a particular curriculum, but I am just so surprised they had such a good response to it . . . I figured I'd be dragging them kicking and screaming through it all week. Day 1 was definitely worth the prep time I spent cutting out all those dang silly shapes ahead of time if they are so excited to learn about the election process and the history of voting in our country now. Thought it was worth sharing, in case anybody else was hunting an election unit study type of thing.

 

 

Thanks for this review! I am teaching about Election in our co-op this fall. I have the first teaching block, and I've been on the lookout for election resources.

 

Do you think this would work for 1st to 6th grades?

[SophiaH]

Thought it was worth sharing, in case anybody else was hunting an election unit study type of thing.

 

I was hoping to do something like this this fall, and I've been very impressed with the two other HOAC things I've done before. It sounds like the content is solid, too. Thanks for sharing!

[NittanyJen]

Thanks for this review! I am teaching about Election in our co-op this fall. I have the first teaching block, and I've been on the lookout for election resources.

 

Do you think this would work for 1st to 6th grades?

 

With a little creativity, yes. It is aimed at 4--8thgrade. I haven't taught at any co-ops, but I would think that you could, with some planning, span the age group. The writing spaces are big enough that younger kids could draw some of their responses, or just work in groups to act them out, and you can definitely add in extra materials for the older kids-- research who is running for office, what are the local issues, or if you are concerned about things getting "political" dive back into history and look up some past presidents or past local referenda.

 

It definitely lends itself to some group discussion and collaboration.

 

I do recommend having a little party of moms or family helpers to precut the stuff if you can-- kind of a time waster in class to cut out and fold up all those shapes, but even my boys did kind of enjoy the structure of writing the 5 steps that happen when you go to vote behind the 5 little doors, and the 4 main types of in-person ballotting on the four-page flippy book, for example. I think it actually did help them to remember the information better!

 

Good luck finding something that works for your group!

Edited June 26, 2012 by NittanyJen
Looked up age groups

[DianeW88]

For those of you with older kiddos, Konos sells an independent election unit that's a lot of fun and very informative. We loved it, and I'll be using it again this year with my sixth grader.