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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 14 2008 at 7:22pm | IP Logged
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I figure this is a good year to cover elections and voting and democracy. We are reading America Votes and using Ben's Guide online. Does anyone have any unit studies or other materials they are using?
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Marilyn
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MaryM
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| Posted: Jan 15 2008 at 11:59pm | IP Logged
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I got this notice from Homeschool eStore:
For the first time ever, Homeschoolers are invited to make their voices heard and take part in?HomeschoolEstore's Non-Partisan Mock Primary Presidential Election! Homeschoolers ages 7-17, who are United States residents, will learn about the election process and the 2008 presidential candidates when they cast their vote, anytime between now and February 4th. Results of the election and exit polling results will be available, real-time. Final results will be posted on Monday, February 4th, the day before Super Tuesday. You must?have a free HomeschoolEstore account in?order to participate. Click here to make your voice heard!
http://www.homeschoolestore.com/catalog/hses_mock_primary.ph p
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Mary M. in Denver
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 16 2008 at 6:18am | IP Logged
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Thank you Mary - I will go to the homeschool e store today and set up an account. My kids will love this. They would love to do the homeschoolers day in Richmond with the politicians - but it is a little tough for me with a baby and toddler.
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Marilyn
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SusanJ
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We have a friend who works in Congress and he said the reason all the candidates are reaching out so specifically to homeschoolers is that these huge families will all come for the day and stuff envelopes for them . . .
So--maybe you could check out volunteer opportunities to see "inside" a campaign either locally or nationally.
Susan
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MaryM
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| Posted: Jan 24 2008 at 10:52pm | IP Logged
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I've been meaning to get back to this since I remembered something we did with my older boys much earlier in our homeschooling - so probably the 2000 elections.
We put up a large outline map of the United States on the wall. We had cards for each of the major candidates who were running for president. We put those up around the map. Then as each primary or caucus happened we marked on the state which candidate for each party had "won" that state. I think we also crossed out the candidate cards as they withdrew from the running. It was a visual day-to-day way to follow what was happening with the election. We've only had a few states caucus/primary so you could catch up and follow from here. I think we may try to get on board.
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Mary M. in Denver
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 24 2008 at 11:45pm | IP Logged
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MaryM wrote:
Then as each primary or caucus happened we marked on the state which candidate for each party had "won" that state. |
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We did this growing up with my dad and then I did it in college in our dorm. It's really fun!!!! Make the map as BIG as you can!
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Suzanne in ID
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 26 2008 at 3:47am | IP Logged
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Election Day Fun has some good ideas as we get closer to Nov.
In this thread Cay mentioned that she used the Amanda Bennett Unit Stufy - American Gov't.
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Suzanne in ID
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 26 2008 at 7:59pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for all the ideas. We did the homeschool e store vote. I will share anything we do.
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sewcrazy
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| Posted: Jan 28 2008 at 12:32pm | IP Logged
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I am having my 13 yob notebook the process. We used the Live and Learn lapbook as our base. He researched each of the candidates, the platform of each party and then compared how well the candidate represents their party. We also have a big wall map for the primaries, and smaller state maps in his notebook. He has been filling in how the votes went in each state and then writig a paragraph about why he thought the vote went that way in the state (what issues came into play the most).
I hope to keep this project going until Nov.
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LeeAnn
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mandmsmom2001
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My 10yo has been following the primaries. I was surprised by his interest in the candidates and the 2-party system. Good timing at the right stage. The last presidential election he was too young for all of it but we introduced the idea of voting by making our bathroom into a voting booth and each family member had to vote for the dessert candidate of their chocie. Nominations were taken the previous day. I think ice cream sundaes won!
He has a map of the US, a list of primary dates and a blue and red pen to write in the primary winners of each state. He's even dug out Lefty adn Rgihty - the Ty Beanie Babies for each party!
We've been visit CNN's Election page. It gives the breakdowns by party, candidate, issues, electoral votes, states, etc.
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 28 2008 at 9:46pm | IP Logged
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This is quite a good website
Election 2008
My kids are really into this - following the news every day, making posters and jingles.
Today a sticky topic came up at dinner though - Bill Clinton? Try to explain infidelity and perjury 
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MaryM
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| Posted: Feb 09 2008 at 3:10am | IP Logged
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Marilyn, did you end up getting any of the units from the Homeschool estore on elections? I see that there is a New Elections Unit by Amanda Bennett as well as Understanding US History: The 2008 Presidnecial Election on sale right now.
It was interesting to see the results of their mock election. Huckabee won by a huge margin followed by Ron Paul. Since these are candidates that aren't winning by these margins in the general population, it clearly shows the preference of the audience who purchase from this site - Christian homeschoolers.
Speaking of interesting voting/demographic statistics my older sons and I found this map published by USA Today following the 2004 election to be extremely interesting. You can see how the US voted in that election by county. You can also compare it to the 2000 vote and see how very similar it was. It clearly shows the difference between rural and urban areas in voting Repbulican vs. Democrat. And how the majority of the state by geography can go one way while a small geographic area (one or two counties) with large population can take the whole state. Then you can also see some interesting cultural influences. For instance in a state like Wyoming or Idaho - the only red counties are the ones where there is a large influence from wealthy Hollywood types (the area around Sun Valley in Idaho and the area around Jackson in Wyoming) not the larger cities. Just knowing these areas in contrast to the rest of the state make these stats very interesting to me.
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Mary M. in Denver
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Feb 09 2008 at 7:38am | IP Logged
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Thank you so much Mary M - I like both the ideas. We just finished our 2nd WW lapbook - I will post pictures as soon as I get organized - I think we will move into Election mode - my kids are so interested. I will have to post some of their comments - they have written what they would do as President - end abortion, healthcare measures, encouragement of homeschooling, world peace - if only there was one candidate who embodied all of this.
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Marilyn
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CandaceC
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For the younger crowd, I have just posted a few ideas that we are going to be doing on president's day. I'm doing a whole unit next week as an introduction to what a president is, basic voting, etc.
President's Day ideas
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
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MaryM
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| Posted: Feb 22 2008 at 4:16pm | IP Logged
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These resources were in the The Old Schoolhouse Freebie Fridays this week.
The first resource is a great free 12 week unit study on Presidents and Elections. This unit is designed to give primary-aged students an introduction to the office of the President and the election process.
Smithsonian in Your Classroom offers a free study called Winning the Vote: How Americans Elect Their President. This free download is designed for children grades 4-9 and covers Art, Geography, Language Arts, and Social Studies.
Homeschoolshare.com has a free Elections Lapbook! This could be used on its own or in conjunction with either of the studies above.
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Mary M. in Denver
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Feb 22 2008 at 4:35pm | IP Logged
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Mary M - according to my kids (and me)YOU ROCK!!! We started our Elections 2008/US Government studies - using many of the resources you have recommended. Everyone is enjoying them.
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Marilyn
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BrendaPeter
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Also, the FIAR website has an Election Lapbook on their Digital page.
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Brenda (mom to 6)
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MarilynW
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| Posted: March 08 2008 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
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Many have emailed me asking for the book lists etc we are using. I have been trying to get a blog post now for weeks - life has just got in the way. I may get my dd to post all the books etc
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Marilyn
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MarilynW
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| Posted: March 13 2008 at 3:27pm | IP Logged
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I just posted our rabbit trail - a summary of it - it is such a big subject.
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Marilyn
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Mackfam
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I've been lurking on this thread. Haven't had time to put anything together right now, but I plan on springing from all of your wonderful ideas after Holy Week! Just wanted to thank you all for posting these great resources!!!!! 
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Jen Mackintosh
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Presidential Election
