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US Government/Civics - is it necessary?


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Depends on what you mean by necessary, I guess.  In my state it is required for a high school diploma.  From the standpoint of a parent who hopes her own kids will be more aware of the structure of the U.S. government, our system of voting, etc. than I was, I am having them study this subject in bits throughout anyway.  Doing a more in depth study of current government structure/civics at the high school level to really solidify concepts and understanding just seems the best option for us.  But it might not be for your child.  Maybe they already have a good grasp of those things, or you do not see those things as needed, and maybe it isn't a necessary requirement for graduation?  What are your state's requirements?  Can you meet those requirements with lots of history credits?

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Depends on what you mean by necessary, I guess.  In my state it is required for a high school diploma.  From the standpoint of a parent who hopes her own kids will be more aware of the structure of the U.S. government, our system of voting, etc. than I was, I am having them study this subject in bits throughout anyway.  Doing a more in depth study of current government structure/civics at the high school level to really solidify concepts and understanding just seems the best option for us.  But it might not be for your child.  Maybe they already have a good grasp of those things, or you do not see those things as needed, and maybe it isn't a necessary requirement for graduation?  What are your state's requirements?  Can you meet those requirements with lots of history credits?

 

 

 

I've totally had some of those thoughts/concerns.  She took a co-op class for the first semester of this year that was supposed to be Government, but it ended up more of a study of American Documents.  I am not sure I can really count it as a Gov't class, per se.  I lean toward having her take true Government in 12th, but she prefers the idea of European History.  

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The colleges we're targeting expect it.  These are more selective state schools, and it is a required subject for a public school diploma, so no surprise.

 

 

 

This is good to know and it is exactly why I was asking.  Thanks so much!  She is looking at private or more selective state schools.  She is a very strong student.

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I have never seen American Gov't listed as an admissions requirement at any college or university I've ever looked at. In fact, I've never even seen it listed as "recommended" (other than as one of many possible Social Studies courses that are equally acceptable).

 

I just did a quick check of the following schools: U of Oregon, Oregon State, U of Colorado, U of Arizona, U of Virginia, William & Mary, Harvard, Williams, Swarthmore, and Haverford. None required, or even suggested that they expected to see, US Gov't — and Harvard even specified that they want to see European History in addition to US History.

 

Charleigh, I suspect that your DD would be fine with Euro instead of Gov't. If you want to cover all your bases, you could always just fold it into a US History course and call it US History & Gov't. Personally I wouldn't bother — my son will not have Govt or Econ on his transcript, and I'm not the least bit worried about it.

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Charleigh, do you have any idea which schools your DD might be interested in attending?  You could check there to see if it is a requirement.  And check with your state for requirements for a high school diploma, if you have concerns there.

 

Since she is a strong student, if you find that this is still a necessary hoop to jump through, perhaps she could do small bits on the side through various free resources like on this site:

 

http://budgethomeschool.com/favorites.asp?f=/Government/Civics

 

at least enough to get a 1/2 credit (or whatever is required) but still make her focus European history.

 

Good luck!

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Our state universities don't specifically require it (last time I looked) but they do require that student fulfills the "core 40" that the state public school requires for graduation.... Government is one of those classes.  Our state does 1 credit per semester so that means Gov't is only 1 semester.  For the particular Univ.'s that we are considering they require HSer's pretty much do the Core 40, there may be some give but from what I understand (could be wrong) not much.  But they LOVE HSer's, as long as they can officially cross the t's and such.  We're going to be doing 1 semester of Gov. in 2016 for the Presidential Election.

For your DD I would do a slimmed down semester covering the basics of government in addition to the European History.  That plus the Documents study should be good enough,unless you live in a state with specific requirements about curriculum?

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From our local state U's Admission requirements:

Social studies

Three units. Must include American history and at least one semester of government.

I found this same requirement at 5 different Universities, 3 public, 2 private that I checked. A sixth University didn't specify at all what the 3 units needed to be, so leaving Government out would have been fine there. Certainly not all colleges are the same, but I do see it as a risky box to leave unchecked.

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So I need to decide whether to count what she did this year as government (that was what I thought we were taking) and simply have dd read a book on the judicial branches, etc.  or work it in somewhere in the future.  Just one more decision....happy, happy, joy, joy ;)

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From your other thread, I think the idea of adding a bit of reading over the summer to finish out government for 9th is the perfect answer. You can check the box, she can get the geography that she wants next year without going into overload, and you still have a year for World History (or European History) later. 

 

 

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There is also this option...

 

http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/curriculum/high_school_US_government_civics.html

 

or this...

 

http://www.generationjoshua.org/dnn/Educate/iCitizen/tabid/637/Default.aspx

 

I have not used either one, but have seen them mentioned.

 

But as others have mentioned, just doing some additional reading specifically on our current government may finish off everything she has already done in the way of credits AND hopefully give her some basic understanding for practical application as a potential voter here in the States.

 

Just as a quick overview, I love these, but they are not High School level material (maybe early middle school?).  Lots of general info, though.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Local-Government-Kids-Guide/dp/1432927116/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398454267&sr=8-1&keywords=local+government

 

http://www.amazon.com/State-Government-Kids-Guide/dp/1432927124/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0APNW5PED6R3CA777V3V

 

http://www.amazon.com/National-Government-Kids-Guide/dp/1432927132/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1DJWRYH2YVHR0QD3NS6D

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Oo! Oo! I know! Have DD participate in Youth & Gov't (legislative; YMCA, secular-based), Teen Pact (legislative; Christian-based), or Mock Trial or Model UN, or even Junior State of America! (Also check your local high schools and see if you can join in with the local mock government program, AND check your local university as it might host a local Model UN).

 

It is SOOOO much more interesting actually DOING the legislative and/or judicial things than reading a dry textbook or listening to dry lectures -- AND, you're getting to do it with other teens and all having a great time debating your ideas around! Esp. with Youth & Gov't, your teen will have awesome REAL practical understanding of how to read and make sense of the initiatives on ballots, AND with the political process. AND, you get some great public speaking practice in there! :)

 

Since she's had the documents, then you could double dip and count the hours of Youth & Gov't as finishing off the Gov't credit AND as an extracurricular that is an extremely attractive one to colleges! :)

 

Trust me, look into it, even if DD HATES Gov't -- DSs were not in a million years interested in government or this group, but got talked into attending an initial meeting by friends -- and both LOVED Youth & Gov't, and ended up ASKING to do it again the next year, and each did it 3 times! Neither are interested in going into law or politics -- but the idea of getting to debate your opinions are present a bill and get it made into a law, all at a 3-day legislative session at the actual state capitol was AWESOME! :)

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

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Oo! Oo! I know! Have DD participate in Youth & Gov't (legislative; YMCA, secular-based), Teen Pact (legislative; Christian-based), or Mock Trial or Model UN, or even Junior State of America! (Also check your local high schools and see if you can join in with the local mock government program, AND check your local university as it might host a local Model UN).

 

It is SOOOO much more interesting actually DOING the legislative and/or judicial things than reading a dry textbook or listening to dry lectures -- AND, you're getting to do it with other teens and all having a great time debating your ideas around! Esp. with Youth & Gov't, your teen will have awesome REAL practical understanding of how to read and make sense of the initiatives on ballots, AND with the political process. AND, you get some great public speaking practice in there! :)

 

Since she's had the documents, then you could double dip and count the hours of Youth & Gov't as finishing off the Gov't credit AND as an extracurricular that is an extremely attractive one to colleges! :)

 

Trust me, look into it, even if DD HATES Gov't -- DSs were not in a million years interested in government or this group, but got talked into attending an initial meeting by friends -- and both LOVED Youth & Gov't, and ended up ASKING to do it again the next year, and each did it 3 times! Neither are interested in going into law or politics -- but the idea of getting to debate your opinions are present a bill and get it made into a law, all at a 3-day legislative session at the actual state capitol was AWESOME! :)

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

Always brilliant, Lori D.  She would love mock trial.  I will look into that!

 

Thanks so much!

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Typically government includes 3 things:

 

1. If she's done the founding documents then she probably has had exposure to US government. 

2. Local government can be done by visiting a session of legislature and a town meeting or things like that, or she can research how your local government is set up. 

3. International gov might have been covered in her documents course, not sure, depends on whether they read things like UN documents and the Monroe Doctrine, but if she hasn't gotten much international, that might be an area to find a good book.  Usually a text will cover things like types of governments today, proactive and reactive policymaking, and the UN.  There's some cross-over with economics and history, so she may have gotten some exposure in other areas.

 

Hoping to help you weed out what bits you want to fill in, if she's already taken a gov. documents class.  Otherwise, you could just put "government documents" on her transcript.

Julie

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