Today is election day. Hopefully, you voted! Hopefully, you also talked to your kids about the process.
Let’s be real for a second. The United States election process is confusing. The electoral college may have seemed like a great idea to our countries founding fathers, but today it’s a bit of a head scratcher. It’s also really really important that people understand it by the time they turn 18 and are able to vote. So teach your kids about it, every four years, starting when they’re tiny.
Talk to your kids about the party system and the candidates. Take your kids with you when you vote. If you vote by mail, so them how it works. Show where you sign the envelope and then take your kids with you when you drop your ballot off at a collection site.
Hopefully, you’ve been having these important conversations with your kids for months now. If you haven’t, it’s never too late to start. Print off a map of the United States and have them color in the states red and blue as the election results come in. Was there a senator or congressman up for election in your state this cycle? You can talk to your kids about that too. There is way more to US Government than just president.
In our homeschool this year, we have been doing Civics one day a week. We’re using Painless Government as our text, and also pulling various activities from Teachers Pay Teachers. We’ve also looked at the voters pamphlet, watched/discussed political adds, and even watched footage from the DNC, RNC, and Presidential debates. Today is election day, but US Government is complicated. So I expect us to continue studying civics until the end of the calendar year.
What are you doing to teach civics to your kids?
New Schooling 