Teaching Kids about U.S. Elections using a Lap Book

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If you were given the option of teaching kids about U.S. elections in either a super boring manner or in an exciting, hands-on and immersive experience, which would you choose? If I were the betting type, I’d be willing to bet good money that you’d be choosing the latter. I mean, we don’t homeschool to provide our kids with a boring education, do we?

Nope!

You guys. Why hasn’t anyone told me about using lap books as a way to teach my upper-elementary-age kids? For whatever reason, I’ve always thought of lap books as being teaching tools solely for the pre-k to early-elementary level kids, but I’ve recently learned that certainly is not the case.

This is a sponsored post. I have received complimentary access to this product and have been compensated for my time reviewing the product and producing this review. I have not been influenced in any way and my opinions on this product are my own.

I’ve been using Sonlight’s U.S. Elections lapbook kit to teach my kids about elections. Believe me, I am not typically a fan of teaching about government. It’s confusing and complicated and was never presented to me as an interactive lesson. #thankyoupublicschooltextbooks However, thanks to Sonlight, what I once thought of as an incredibly boring topic has turned into a topic that’s fun and interactive for my kids and me!

Just in case you’re new here, we’re pretty big fans of all the Sonlight curriculums we’ve used this far in our homeschooling journey. Even though teaching kids about U.S. elections has never been something I’ve looked forward to doing, it’s really no surprise that this curriculum has surpassed our expectations as well.

Let me tell you a bit about it, m’kay?

A Hands-On U.S. Elections Activity

This U.S. Elections Lap Book set is made easy to incorporate into the already-busy lives of homeschoolers by being totally “open and go.” No prep required, no additional costly materials required, just take the plastic wrap off the box and it’s ready to go! (The set does require some typical materials like scissors, colored pencils, and pencils, but we all probably have tons of those already, right? No biggie)

Within the supply box are a number of items:

• U.S. Elections Lap Book Instructions
  • Broken down into 21 separate lessons, each section has at least a reading portion and an art portion.
• a Lap Book Base
• 1 piece of Dura Lar (a thin sheet of plastic that’s used to make a fun spinning feature in the lap book)
• a baggie containing art materials such as glue, a glue stick, velcro dots, and…glitter! (I’d say that glitter *could* be optional)
• a shrink-wrapped stack of pre-printed educational materials that’ll end up being the “guts” of the lap book
  • the reading material is within this stack, too!

Covering Important Government Topics

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I love that Sonlight just seems to think of everything when it comes to their homeschool curriculums. Not only do their make their activities both fun for the kids and easy for the parents, but they also do a fabulous job of thoroughly covering the topic.

In the case of this U.S. Elections Lap Book set, Sonlight takes the often-overwhelming topic of elections and breaks it down into manageable chunks of information. Like I said above, the content is broken down into 21 separate lessons. To me, knowing that there are “only” 21 lessons helped to make me less anxious when we started the curriculum. We’ve completed year-long curriculum (and we’ll likely complete them again), but they are often so large that I end overwhelmed. I definitely appreciate this homeschool curriculum being of the shorter variety.

That being said, having “only” 21 lessons offers homeschooling parents the opportunity to either get the curriculum done quickly by completing one lesson a day or….the reading and art activities could be extended by utilizing subject specific picture books, YouTube videos, or even full-length movies.

The choice is yours!

The 21 lessons within the U.S. Elections Lap Book Instructions include topics such as

• different forms of government
• the three branches of governenment
• terms of office
• national conventions
• political parties
• election day
• inauguration day…and more!

Our Experience

Like the other Sonlight curriculums we’ve used, my kids and I have really enjoyed doing this lap book together. They enjoy our read-aloud times together, so I would start a lesson off by reading the designated U.S. Elections booklet section to them. I took the time to stop in between terms and such to test their comprehension and would ask them if they had any questions. After I read, they’d complete the hands-on portion of the activity and add the completed piece to the lap book.

Of course, there is no right or wrong way to complete this set, so, if your child prefers to work alone, that is totally doable!

@thathomeschoolfamily No prep needed, Sonlight's U.S. elections lap book kit really does make learning about elections interesting & fun! It doesn't just cover elections either! It also shares information on topics like: – different forms of government – the 3 branches of government – political parties – campaign advertising – inauguration day and more! With the 2024 election coming up, I'm so glad to have this homeschooling resource in my collection! #ad #2024election #homeschoolcivics #homeschoolcurriculum #homeschoolcurriculumreview #homeschoolhistory #sonlight #sonlightcurriculum #lapbooks #homeschoollapbook #thathomeschoolfamily ♬ original sound – Liz | That Homeschool Family

Want to hear a funny story? Well, when I was reading a section about the early governments, there was a section that mentioned “democracies” and “republics.” I asked the boys if those words sounded familiar. I thought they’d respond with something like “yeah! That sounds like ‘democrat’ and ‘republican’.” I was wrong.

My one son blurted out “yeah! It’s like the Dominican Republic!” Now, I can’t blame him. We visited the Dominican Republic during our homeschool travels this year, so it must’ve made him think of that.

We’ve been enjoying the elections lap book set so much that we haven’t been able to complete it yet! We’re *this* close, but my boys have been soaking up all the information that I’ve been taking advantage of their interest and letting them complete extension activities such as those I mentioned above.

Try It Out!

Whether you’ve been thinking of trying out Sonlight for the first time or you’re a seasoned Sonlighter, you should totally try out this U.S. Elections Lap Book set with your kids. Whether they’re 8 or 18, learning about U.S. elections is important, so this set could be helpful for all ages! Not gonna lie, even I learned a ton while going through this kit with my kids!

Sonlight homeschool curriculums are already pretty affordable, but they do sweeten the deal from time to time with some pretty wonderful sales! When you check out the sales today, go ahead and bookmark that website as they run a variety of sales throughout the year.

As always, if you do have any questions about Sonlight curriculum (or any other homeschooling topics), go ahead and send me an email! I’m happy to help!

Until next time, stay safe and enjoy quality time with your family,