Home School in the Woods – US Elections Lap-Pak {Review}

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Teaching my children history has always been an important part of our homeschooling curriculum. They have a great foundation in how our country was discovered and grew. As this year embarks on a presidential election, it seems only natural for us to explore the election process. I was excited when presented with the opportunity to use the US Elections lap-pak from Home School in the Woods.

About the study:

I’ve never used a study pack from Home School in the Woods, but have done a number of lapbook style activities with my kids. I received the US Elections pack as an electronic download. I found it easy to open and navigate, with clear directions for the project and for printing the text. The file also include the text in audio format.

The study provides students with an overview of our election history, how our government was formed, and a view of our election process. With so much political news currently in the media, it’s easy for kids to get confused by the process. This lap-pak provides students with brief, yet thorough lessons through the steps of the election process.

The study pack includes 21 projects that can be completed independently or as a group.

Project titles include:

Definition of “Election”
Different Forms of Government
The American Experiment
The Three Branches of Government
Suffrage
Who Do We Vote For?
Terms of Office
A “Handful” of Political Parties
Caucuses & Primaries
National Conventions
The Presidential Campaign: Platform
The Presidential Campaign: Stump Speaking
The Presidential Campaign: Media — News Source
The Presidential Campaign: Campaign Advertising — Spreading the Word!
Raising Money
Statistics
Election Day
The Electoral College
Inauguration Day
The Electoral Race!
The “Vocabinet”

Once the individual projects are complete, they are assembled into a project lapbook.

How we used it:

The lesson suggests a grade range of 3rd-8^th. I used this study with my 5^th and 8^th grade students. Spring is always a time I try to find some new lessons and activities to take a break from our regular curriculum. Although my son is not a huge fan of lapbook style activities, he was ready to set history books aside for this unit study.

I printed one copy of the reading text that my kids could use to follow along with the audio. They also referred back to the print copy when discussing what they learned and when completing the lapbook activities.

The file menu listed each activity and provided step by step illustrated direction. We have completed 2-3 activities each week.

My kids often began cutting out the activities when listening to the audio. While my son was content with discussing the content of the lesson, he did the basics to assemble the activity. My daughter, on the other hand, took more time coloring and adding her own touch.

The first week held my favorite lesson. The text for the third activity covered governments in history. It explained how the United States Government was a unique experiment, by taking important aspects from history to establish the Constitutional Republic. Much of the text echoed what my son has studied this year in his world history curriculum. He had a great “ah-ha” moment as he began to see how history influenced the country’s Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Our impressions of the study:

This is a great unit study to help students understand the election process. Politics can seem confusing, even for adults, but it’s important to know the aspects of a presidential campaign. The lessons in this study are kept short, but full of good information. The activities are fun and keep the students engaged.

Despite my son not being drawn to the craft side of the activities, he found the lessons informative. He may not have colored a single activity, but he did enjoy the cutting and assembly.

We will be finishing this unit study next week, and my daughter is looking forward to the final assembly. Below is an image of a completed lapbook from the lap-pak directions.