The Surprisingly Easy-to-Use Government Curriculum for High Schoolers

Looking for an easy-to-use, low prep, U.S. government curriculum to round out your homeschooler’s coursework? Look no further!

I totally appreciate homeschool curriculum with lots of hands-on, interactive activities. Give me some glue and construction paper and let the learning begin! However, as my children have gotten older, we use less and less of these items.

In fact, I’ve noticed that my kids actually prefer to avoid the hands-on learning activities that once excited them. I now hear them groan under their breath whenever I pull out the colored pencils or markers. They like to get to the point and get their work DONE.

And, much to my surprise, at this point in my life, I’m okay with that! While I do like exploring my creative side, especially when it comes to educating my kids, I am a total Type A personality. I thrive with organization and chaos stresses me out. I don’t like wasting time and I tend to be a bit impatient; although I prefer to think of it as being highly motivated.

But, as my kids’ preferences have changed, I’m secretly jumping for joy. Being creative all the time can get exhausting! I loved the crafty learning projects, but give me consistent, systematic structure any day!

That’s why my heart skipped a beat when I got my hands on this new government curriculum.

I received this product free of charge for review purposes and was 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.

Easy-to-Use Government Curriculum

What’s the new curriculum that’s got me excited? The Principles and Precepts of Government course from Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum.

After perusing a few pages, my first thoughts were,

1. Why have I not checked this out before?
2. This is just what I need in my life right now!

It’s perfect for my Type A personality and it’s exactly what my kids prefer these days when it comes to learning. Principles and Precepts of Government is a no-fluff, to the point, senior-level government course with a structured, streamlined approach that requires little preparation and planning.

Structured Layout

The course is divided into three chapters. Each chapter has three sections. Each section has five lessons/topics. After reading each lesson, students complete the corresponding activity page (fill in the blank, true/false, multiple-choice). After each section, students take a quiz and after each chapter, students take a test.

Are you noticing the consistent structure? Is your heart fluttering like mine? Students (and the teacher) know exactly what to expect as they progress through the course.

Planning is a Breeze

The logical structure alone makes planning a breeze. But, the Teacher’s Resource Kit (TRK) provides everything else needed:

• Answer Key for all Activities
• 9 Section Quizzes & corresponding Answer Keys
• 3 Chapter Tests & corresponding Answer Keys
• plus lots of additional optional forms (Academic Contract, High School Transcript Planner, Student Success Charts, and more!)

Everything I need – and it’s all laid out in a logically structured, easy-to-plan manner. I don’t even have to guess or make an executive decision on how much each quiz or test problem should be worth.

Seriously, there is no guesswork here! Lesson planning and preparation don’t get much easier than this!

Homeschool Curriculum Where Character Counts

I love when a curriculum intertwines academic content with valuable character qualities and principles. Each lesson within the Principles and Precepts of Government course includes a Life Principle. That’s 45 opportunities to help develop the student’s character through the use of quotations by famous historical figures.

Plus, there is an extensive list of daily/weekly wisdom quotes in the TRK, which teachers can utilize. Here are just a few:

“Reputation takes a long time to build, but only an unguarded moment to destroy.”

“People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do.”

“It is best to avoid the bait than to struggle on the hook.”

Digital Download vs Print Versions

The print version of the text comes with each of the three chapters staple-bound in booklet form (see booklets on left in photo below). The corresponding activity pages are staple-bound booklets divided up by chapter as well (see booklets on the right in photo below).

That means students don’t have to keep up with a large textbook – just one stapled, softcover text, and one softcover activity booklet at a time.

The printed Teacher’s Resource Kit comes conveniently hole-punched so you can place it in a 3-ring binder. The booklet covers are full color, however the content inside is all black and white.

While I am totally a pencil and paper girl, I can appreciate the value of having a digital version of the course. Students can have the text on their electronic devices.

Plus, it allows me to print however many copies I need of the activity pages, quizzes, and tests. With multiple kids who will all need to take a government course, the digital version is definitely the way to go.

And, the digital version is full color, which in my opinion, makes reading historical content more interesting and engaging.

Purchase the Principles and Precepts of Government course

The Principles and Precepts of Government Full Course Kit is currently priced at $25.69 for the digital download and $62.35 for the print version.

 

While you’re at it, be sure to check out the Principles and Precepts of Economics course designed to pair with the Principles and Precepts of Government course (each worth 1/2 transcript credit). No glue or colored pencils required!

  This post was originally published on April 7, 2022.

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