With all of the news coverage of the upcoming United States Presidential Election, my kids have been asking a lot of questions about the details of electing our next president. So, I figured this would be the perfect time for us to learn about the election process. Since my kids are quite receptive to hands-on educational activities, I wanted to find way to make learning about the election process fun and interactive for them! So, my quest began!
I received this product free of charge for review/giveaway purposes and was financially compensated for my time. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and I was not required to post a positive review of the product.
I didn’t have to search for long! Once I discovered the US Elections Lap-Pak from Home School in the Woods, we were all set! The Lap-Pak activities begin with how the US government was established and expands through the process of how we select a president.
Hands-on Election Activities
My kids get excited whenever they see me pulling out the color copy paper and scissors during our school day! Needless to say, they were thrilled about the fact that I told them that we were going to learn about the election process by completing a lapbook rather than a textbook!
We are having a blast working through the lapbook projects as we learn all about the election. We have already learned so much (myself included) and we still have plenty more projects yet to come! One of our favorite projects thus far has been the 3D-pop-up about Super Tuesday and how we choose candidates.
The US Elections Lap-Pak contains 21 different lapbook projects that cover the following election topics:
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Definition of “Election”
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Different Forms of Government
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The American Experiment
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The Three Branches of Government
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Suffrage
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Who Do We Vote For?
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Terms of Office
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A “Handful” of Political Parties
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Caucuses & Primaries
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National Conventions
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The Presidential Campaign: Platform
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The Presidential Campaign: Stump Speaking
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The Presidential Campaign: Media
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The Presidential Campaign: Campaign Advertising
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Raising Money
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Statistics
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Election Day
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The Electoral College
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Inauguration Day
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The Electoral Race!
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The “Vocabinet”
My kids have been collecting their lapbook projects on a tray…all except my type A, highly organized son…who likes to keep his projects displayed on the floor behind his desk! The kids are anxious to complete all the projects so that we can compile them into the lapbooks!
Easy to Understand Lapbook Instructions
I was both surprised and relieved when I popped in the US Elections Lap-Pak CD-ROM. I was unsure about how I would approach the lessons and the projects.
But, the directions were very clear and it guided me through the entire process! I love how everything is organized! This is a total plus for moms who want to provide a fun, hands-on learning experience for their kids without having to do a lot of planning ahead!
First, I printed out the “Text Assignments & Project Directions” as well as the 24 page reading booklet, which provides the base of the information that is taught. You are provided with multiple ways to access the reading text, including a audio narration of the entire text!
Y’all, this is cool! If you or your children don’t want to read the information, you can simply listen to the narration and follow along in the reading text! Auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners can all rejoice!
Check out the screenshot of the CD-ROM below. I have highlighted some of the features that make the Lap-Pak so awesome and easy to follow!
Now, this is what I’m talking about! I simply followed along as the CD-ROM and the “Text Assignments & Project Directions” guided me through everything! When it’s time to download and print the masters for each project, it’s just a click away!
When it was time to listen to the narration of the text, I simply clicked play and the mp3 opened. The Audio Time Index lets me know exactly where to start the narration for each project.
And, the best part, in my opinion, is that there is a photo of every completed project! How often do you have directions for a lapbook project and you just have to guess at what the final product should look like? Not here!! I know exactly how it should look! Love it! The less thinking/guessing I have to do, the better!
Enjoying Learning About the Election Process
While we are still learning all about the election process and continue to work through the projects, I know exactly what the completed lapbook will look like! Take a peek at the screenshot of the completed US Elections lapbook provided within the CD!
The kids are so excited to complete their lapbooks! In all honesty, I truly believe THIS is how learning should be! I love that my kids look forward to working on their lapbooks! They are learning so much about the US election process, but what makes my heart happy is that the are loving learning! When your kids ASK to do more schoolwork, you know you are doing something right! I owe a big thank you to Home School in the Woods for making learning the election process a fun, interactive experience for me and my kids!
More About the US Elections Lap-Pak
The suggested grade level for the US Elections Lap-Pak is 3rd-8th grade. However, I believe that older kids who enjoy hands-on learning projects would enjoy using the Lap-Pak as well!
While we used the CD version of the Lap-Pak, it is important to note that it is available as a download as well! It is both Mac & PC compatible. The CD version is $19.95 and the download version is $18.95.
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