In case your quarantine has been so severe that you’ve missed the last three years here in the United States (because that’s how long it feels like this election has been going on), there’s a presidential election going on here in the United States. This is the perfect time to teach your kids about government and US elections. This past month I’ve been using the US elections lapbook for some extra history lessons.
(I’ve been compensated to write this post by Homeschool in the Woods, and it came at just the perfect time to discuss the 2020 election, and there are affiliate links in here)
TLDR: We had a great discussion all about US politics and how elections work because of the US elections lapbook from Homeschool in the Woods.
Let’s look at how the US elections lapbook is put together?
In theory, you can complete this US elections unit in about 20 minutes a day over maybe 2 or 3 weeks.
I’m saying in theory because I’ve got high schoolers, and they KNOW what’s going on right now.
Or more accurately, they’ve heard rumors and partial truths of what is going on right now, and so what was a 20-minute lesson turned into a full-on hour-plus discussion.
I wasn’t in the least bit upset because two of my kids will be voting in the 2024 election, and I want them to understand what they’re voting for and what is going on.
But, back to putting this US election lapbook together. Here are my tips:
I printed out the project instructions in booklet style so I had them handy to reference as we put together the projects. I suppose I could have just looked at it on my iPad, but I like having a paper copy. Next, I printed off the lessons and bound them with my binding machine.
My kids are not big fans of coloring the pages in, so instead, I print the pages off on colored paper.
Then I pre-cut as much as possible because it cuts down on the time taken up cutting paper during the lesson, and the whining.
They like the end results of the projects, but not putting them together.
The next GIANT advice I have for you. Make sure you have all your supplies on hand.
Like say brads, I always forget to get brads, and when I finally did get brads, I ordered the wrong size.
Though it did end up working okay, it was still annoying to discover that.
Or enough glue and glue sticks to put projects together. I think we have gremlins that eat gluesticks.
I also don’t really like refolding the file folder to fit the pieces, so I tape in an extra sheet of cardstock to hold all of the pieces.
TLDR: buy to make the US election lapbook
- US election lapbook download or CD (I’ve grown to love downloads)
- file folders: either plain manila or colored file folders
- plain cardstock and colored cardstock
- plain paper and colored paper
- glue sticks
- brads
- stapler
- paper cutter
- scissors
Why I think you should get this lapbook
If you want to know about general lapbooks, then check out this post.
But, the big reason I wanted this US election lapbook. This year is an election year and I want my kids to know how our elections work.
It starts by reviewing all of the different types of government, and slowly works through how our government has run elections.
INCLUDING that not everyone has always had the vote. There was a nice little mini-lesson no how women and minorities gained the right to vote. It’s that white mini-book that my son glued in sideways. This is what happens when your kids just start gluing things in. Half the pieces are sideways or upside down because he just wanted to fit things in.
Sigh.
Getting back to the US election lapbook, it walks you through in bite-size pieces and covers all of the terms you and I use without thinking about how it’s not self-explanatory.
Like stump speech.
Have you ever thought about how that’s an odd phrase?
There’s actually an entire mini-book for vocabulary, I mean the vocabinet. Ha ha ha ha
It made for a good review to match up the word with the definition. Which is why you can see Batman staring at it trying to remember how to match it all.
What you need to do now
- Visit Homeschool in the Woods and check out their store. While I’m telling you about the US Elections lapbook today, I’ve used a slew of their materials before: Colonial America, Greek history, timeline materials, using file folder games in history. So, they’re pretty awesome. Which leads to number 2.
- Pick up a free file folder game (I’ve got this one and it’s fun). Free when you use the code iHNGameNight. This will let you see how awesome their materials are.
- Enter the giveaway right below this.
- If you don’t win, come back and buy this lapbook.
Win the US election lapbook
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