Learning About Politics and Government
I am a very politically active person and usually up to date on most everything involving politics. Since I am very involved I usually try to use these current events to explain about how our government works in our homeschool. For instance remember in 2011 when Congress opened by reading the Constitution? Well, we were reading right along with them.
This week our Congresswoman came to town to visit with her constituents and Gess and I went there to meet her. It was actually the second time that Gess went with me to one of these visits and we were even remembered from before. Here is Gess with our Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins.
Whenever we learn that our Representative is coming to town I begin to teach about Congress and what they do. Of course we usually start off with the classic I'm Just a Bill video by School House Rock.
(Do note that I found that on Schooltube not Youtube. I have had a terrible time keeping Gess from inappropriate videos there so I have loved finding this alternative.)
Ben's Guide To US Government for Kids has a neat chart that explains the branches of government. I actually found this link at Kids.gov which has lots of other great resources.
Another cool item at Kids.gov is the How to Become President Poster that you can either view online, download or order for FREE.
Of course I must mention what I believe to be the most important resource of all - our Constitution which can be viewed and read online.
These are just some of the free resources we implement in our schooling. I love using current events to spur the lesson and teach it at the moment it actually matters. With Gess having special needs she will probably need to be more of a self advocate than the average person would have to be and I love that she is learning now that our representatives in Congress (and even the Presidency) are people that you can and should have access to. With this being an election year I am sure we will visit these resources often.
This week our Congresswoman came to town to visit with her constituents and Gess and I went there to meet her. It was actually the second time that Gess went with me to one of these visits and we were even remembered from before. Here is Gess with our Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins.
Lynn said that Gess was very smart because she knew that she "wrote bills." Gess also informed Lynn about something very important to her. She told her about some of the robots in Portal2! It was a neat experience and Gess enjoyed meeting her again.
Whenever we learn that our Representative is coming to town I begin to teach about Congress and what they do. Of course we usually start off with the classic I'm Just a Bill video by School House Rock.
(Do note that I found that on Schooltube not Youtube. I have had a terrible time keeping Gess from inappropriate videos there so I have loved finding this alternative.)
Ben's Guide To US Government for Kids has a neat chart that explains the branches of government. I actually found this link at Kids.gov which has lots of other great resources.
Another cool item at Kids.gov is the How to Become President Poster that you can either view online, download or order for FREE.
Of course I must mention what I believe to be the most important resource of all - our Constitution which can be viewed and read online.
These are just some of the free resources we implement in our schooling. I love using current events to spur the lesson and teach it at the moment it actually matters. With Gess having special needs she will probably need to be more of a self advocate than the average person would have to be and I love that she is learning now that our representatives in Congress (and even the Presidency) are people that you can and should have access to. With this being an election year I am sure we will visit these resources often.
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