Every four years our country becomes engrossed with politics as we prepare to elect the next President. Like most families, we have been watching all of the debates and political commentary and my kids have been asking questions about the process. I recently learned about a new curriculum and was thrilled to be able to use it with my older children. HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections from Home School in the Woods is the perfect solution for teaching your children about the political process in the United States.

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. With a presidential election coming up, it seemed like a great time to review how the election process works in the United States in

Learn about the U.S. election process through 21 hands-on history activities.

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. With the upcoming elections barreling upon us in just a few months, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to review U.S. Elections Lap-Pak, a lapbook unit study designed by Home School in the Woods. Learning how our county's government works and how it's citizens play a huge role in who fills elected positions is very important for all citizens. However, elections can be rather confusing. Many people do not understand that our vote isn't exactly for the candidate but instead to tell the body that votes (the Electoral College) who we want them to vote for. The U.S. Elections Lap-Pak takes students from start to finish in the election process. From a candidate declaring their intent to run for office, to swearing in to office and all things in between, this hands on learning project breaks it all down for students to understand. While learning important terms such as what an incumbent is, what is a caucus, and what a candidate's platform is, students create a hands on lapbook filled with hands on activities to help reinforce what they learn about elections and political candidates. U.S. Elections Lap-Pak is typically best suited for elementary and middle-school students between the third and eighth grades. Like other Home School in the Woods material, the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak is a digital file that is installed on the computer. While the digital file must be downloaded (although a physical CD option can be purchased from the company) from the internet, once installed on the computer, no internet access is needed to use the material. All material, including instructions for project assembly, printable masters for each activity, audio file and text material are easily accessed. The U.S. Elections Lap-Pak contains a few different components. First, the Lap-Pak begins with a 24 page printable text pamphlet. This contains all the reading material that is covered in the Lap-Pak lapbook. For younger students or those who are audible listeners, an audio version of the text is included. This is also perfect for those who do better to listen while reading along. To help to pick up where the student last left off, the browser base material gives a time index for the beginning of each portion of the text lesson. Topics covered in the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak include: Elections in the United States of America The Different Forms of Government Governments of the People in History America: A New Creation from Old Roots The Three Branches of Government Suffrage The Election Process Running for Office Caucuses and Primaries Running a Presidential Campaign Raising Money Election Day The Electoral College Inauguration Day The Importance of Elections The lapbook includes project includes 21 activities that cover each of these topics. Many projects offer two options - a fully printable project that has text already filled out for most the activities as well as a notebooking style option that allows the student to fill out the necessary information. The material presented is non bias and does not lean towards any one political party but instead just presents the material in a general term. Current candidates running for office at the present are not included. Instead, the Lap-Pak is a very well rounded, general government introduction that can be used during any election process and is not limited to the only upcoming election. How We Used It: Lapbook projects from Home School in the Woods are always a real with our family and this project wasn't any different. From start to finish, the kids have learned all sorts of information about our country's election process. Usually, I allow both kids to do their own lapbooks, however, this time they decided to make one lapbook together. For this review, we decided complete a project each day. First, we would listen to the audio portion of the lesson. I would then lead a discussion with the kids, using the text pamphlet, to make sure they understood the material covered by the audio. That way, if there was something they were confused about or that they didn't completely understand, I was able explain it more in depth. Then we would complete the activity. Here's a look at our completed Lapbook. Now that our lapbook is complete, we are going to hang on to it so that as we get closer to the elections, they can look back at it and refresh their memory. It has also helped to get the kids more involved in the upcoming election and looking forward to watching as the states get awarded to the two candidates and keeping track of the total Electoral votes and the race to 270. For more information about Home School in the Woods and their various hands learning packs, visit their website. For more information specifically about the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak, you can also find information on Home School in the Woods Blog page. You can also find more information on the following social media sites: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolinthewoods/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HSintheWoods Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homeschoolinthewoods/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hsinthewoods/boards/ Members of the Crew have been using an assortment of projects from Home School in the Woods with their families. Be sure to click the banner below to read their reviews today.

Learn about the U.S. election process through 21 hands-on history activities.

Our review of HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections as a download from Home School in the Woods piqued “JackJack’s” interest in the election coming t…

Can you believe that this year, in November, we get to elect another new president of the United States?! Well, what better way to teach the kids about the election process than with HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections from Home School in the Woods. This product review is the first Lap-Pak (or lapbook) I have ever used in our homeschool. You won't believe how brilliant it is . . . HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections This unit study is one that I have never worked with before. But boy oh boy,

With this year being a presidential election year, I jumped at the chance to use HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections from Home

Since this is an election year there have been a lot of questions around here about how the election process works. We jumped at the opportunity to review the HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections from Home School in the Woods. This lap-pak has really helped me teach the kids in a way they understand, and kept them engaged while learning. Let's be honest, discuss anything government with me and I will give a quick, simple answer before my eyes glaze over. It's not my thing. So I was excited to get to work through this lap-pak with my kids, hoping we could engage in some meaningful conversations as we get nearer to November. What is it? Home School in the Woods sells a variety of history and timeline lessons taught using notebook and lapbook methods. The product we have been using is called HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections. We received the download version, though you can purchase a CD and have it shipped to you. It is recommended for grades 3-8. My children's grades are 7th, 5th, 2nd, and PreK. The download is a zipped file. Once it's unzipped, you'll find a file titled Start. If I had the CD it would begin automatically (with the autorun file). The lap-pak runs through your browser, and is very user friendly. I like that it runs this way, I don't have to worry about any extra software. I can add a bookmark to find it easily, just like a webpage. There are links to click on that take you to the files called Introduction, Project Directions, Reading Text, and then the pages for each project. Each file opens as a PDF in your browser. (You can navigate to the folder on your CD drive or on your hard drive if you prefer to print it through Adobe Reader rather than the integrated browser.) The Introduction lists books you may want to read as a supplement, though this is already a complete study by itself. The Project Directions file is very helpful, it tells you how to put each project together. There is a photo link on the right of each project title, so you can see a completed sample. Each project/topic is taught through a small text book, the Reading Text, that you print and store in your lap-pak. An audio file is available as well, so you can listen to the text as you color, or as you follow along. How did we use this? I started by printing off the Project Directions and Reading Text, as well as the first 7 projects. This allowed us to work through the first half of the text, which is a basic introduction to U.S. government and elections. I printed most of the projects on white and pastel colored paper, though I used card stock for pages with movable parts. I cut out all of the project parts for this first half. You can let the kids cut their own papers out, but I chose to be as prepared to start as I could! When printing out the project pages, some of them have an option of blank lines so the child can record what they've learned. But there are also filled in templates for kids who prefer less writing. I didn't do so much cutting when we got to the second half, I left some up to the kids. I gathered the kids together one night after dinner and handed out their zipper bag full of printed templates. They brought glue sticks and colored pencils. I showed the children the parts we'd need for the first project and turned on the audio for the Intro and Definition of "Election". The kids had a couple of questions, so I answered them and let them listen to the audio a second time. Then we glued the project together and stored it in the zipper baggie. The next night we did the second project, and the kids begged for more! Each project's audio/text is only a few minutes long, so one project could be done in 5-10 minutes, including coloring. The only thing I didn't like is the two audio files are large. I wish they were also split by project. But the main page does show time stamps, so it wasn't too much of a problem. We spend about 15 minutes on this right before bedtime, this has become a fun end to our day a few times a week. I have been surprised at how much the kids enjoy doing this lapbook, so we have been going through it faster than I expected. The directions suggest completing all of the projects before gluing them into the lap book. We got 11 projects done before we decided to add them to our lap books. We really wanted to see what we were progressing towards! The Directions for Lap Book Assembly file shows how to fold and assemble the lap book as well as where each completed project should be placed. Here is a sample image from Home School in the Woods, of the completed lap book. I tested this in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, and Internet Explorer on my desktop computer. The first three worked just fine, but not Internet Explorer. IE told me there was a settings issue, and the audio wouldn't work. I imagine that's more of an issue with Windows 10 using Edge now rather than supporting IE. But.. my Chromebook!! I was thrilled to find this will work on our Chromebook! I could not unzip the file from the Chromebook so I copied the already unzipped files from my desktop computer to an SD card and put that in the laptop. Then it worked just as described above! Click the Start file, and off we go! Will we continue to use this? Yes, yes, yes! My oldest (7th grade) has gotten the most out of it, or at least she's the most verbal about what she's learned. In fact, she asked me to include her words. "I've never understood elections before, but now it makes so much more sense. I used to think that they had to make promises and meet at a special place to be voted for, but now I understand that there's a lot more to it. It's good for helping kids understand the election process earlier." My 5th grade boy has enjoyed it, which surprised me because this type of project is not his thing. He's picked up a lot of new information and keeps asking me about each caucus or primary. My 2nd grader has really enjoyed doing this as well, and while a lot of it doesn't make sense to her, she is picking up on some basics. When she's older the rest will be easier to understand because she's had a great introduction. Everyone loves the crafty side of this curriculum, putting pages together and transforming paper into nifty movable pictures and books. My second grader said "This lapbook is cool because you open pages but then there are more smaller pages to open and read." My PreK daughter loves the coloring, and that she's doing something that is for big kids. She and I are doing a book together, but she didn't want to do a lapbook, she asked me to spiral bind hers. For the spiral bound book, we arranged each project on the page in order of completion. I would suggest finishing the pages before binding them (mine is bound with a ProClick spiral so I can add pages). We are about halfway through the second half of the Reading Text. The second half explains, step by step, the entire process from campaigning to inauguration day, with a very helpful vocabulary section to add to the lapbook. The short version - this has been an excellent way to teach and learn about the election process. It is laid out in a user friendly way, and is very easy to prepare and present. It is fun to do and simple enough that anyone can add it into their homeschool week, or add it in as an after school activity for public school families. Even some adults may enjoy this if they want a quick refresher or need to learn how presidential elections work in the U.S.A. Where to find Home School in the Woods: The product described here: U.S. Elections Lap-Pak $18.95 for the download $19.95 for the CD Facebook Pinterest Google+ Twitter

This article is in collaboration with Home School in the Woods. History as a school subject often gets a bad wrap. Many students find reading from a textbook dry and well, boring. If you find yourself stuck in the textbook rut, read on, because we have the cure for your history doldrums. Home School in ... Read more

Home School in the Woods has sent us a couple of review items in the past and we have always been pleased with the quality of information and the projects. (We especially enjoyed reviewing Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt!). We have just been blessed to receive HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections to review. We have never really studied elections and with the race on now, it is perfect timing for us to do a study. The U.S. Elections Lap-Pak is a hands-on, history lap book designed for grades 3-8 (younger ages can work on this with a parent and older kids can work on it independently). It can be purchased as a download or as a CD. This lap book is designed to teach about the history of the U.S. government and the process of the United States presidential elections from the presidential campaign to inauguration. Reading materials, audio of the text (over 60 minutes), masters, step-by-step directions, assembly instructions, photos, handouts for the projects, and additional suggested resources (books and links) are all provided. The U.S. Elections Lap-Pak includes 21 lap booking projects. The study provides information about: Different Forms of Government: rule of one, rule of few, rule of many, and anarchy Governments that Inspired the Formation of the U.S. Government: Athens, Rome, and England The Three Branches of Government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Suffrage and Qualifications to Vote Overviews of Voting for President, Vice President, Senators, and Representatives Terms of Office and Term Limits Political Parties Caucuses and Primaries National Conventions Presidential Campaigns: stump speaking, platform, interest groups, media, propaganda, raising money, and statistics Voting Day and Voter Turnout Electoral College, Election Day, the Importance of Elections, and the Electoral Race Inauguration Day Important Vocabulary When you receive your Lap-Pak, you will need to print off the necessary pages. Directions are provided for setting up the Lap-Pak into lap book form with file folders. You can choose which size of book that you'd like to print off. One format is full-size page text or a booklet that is a typical page that folds in half. To complete your lap book, you may want various colors of copy paper, coloring materials, scissors, adhesive (we used all of these: glue dots, two sided tape, packing tape, and glue sticks), file folders, a small rectangle of material, acetate or dura-lar, paper fasteners, and velcro dots. An ideal way to use the Lap-Pak is for your children to work on the projects (lap book style information activity) while they listen to the audio. Working on the project in this way, keeps hands busy and minds actively involved in listening. We chose to work on it differently. To start the project, we copied all of the pages necessary and began coloring cutting and assembling each of the pages. I decided that I would like to use a 3-ring binder to make an U.S. Elections book that we can keep in our library after the study for easy reference. So in addition to the other supplies listed above, we needed a three-hole punch, the binder, and card stock. To give our book a cover, we attached the lap book cover to the front of the 3-ring binder. Originally I though I wanted to make a mini-book, but when I printed the text out I forgot to make the pages 2 to 2 sided. Instead I decided on a full sized book. We put a cover and back page on with card stock. It fits nicely in the front pocket of the 3 ring binder. As we completed each of the projects, I attached them to a white piece of hole punched card stock and put them into the binder. There are many types of projects: fold outs, slides, pockets, mini-books, pop-ups, wheels, lift flaps, and paper fastener swivels. Once the book was completed, we began to read through the materials weekly. Our plan is to read through the information as close to the actual election process as we can. Ceesa studies current events and it has been interesting to compare what she has just learned with what is happening. There are several places where you have options for writing out the text or for using the text that is already provided. We chose to use the text that was already provided. Generally, the girls and I read through a portion of the text together then we look at the project that goes along with it. The girls like to look through it and try out the book we made. Since we chose to put the Lap-Pak in a binder, it is like a lift-the-flap book and so they really like looking through it. We recommend checking out Home School in the Woods. The offer so many different ways to study history and in many different forms. You can see more about the different types of study materials in the video here. I plan to look into more of their projects. We can't wait to see more of their Time Travelers series, the Project Passport World History series, and History Through the Ages. Wishing you homeschool blessings, Click here to read more reviews from Schoolhouse Review Crew. *Our review was in the Top Ten on pinterest!! To see all ten click here. Connect with us:

I have been so excited to share with you today's review product, HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections, from Home School in the Woods. With the U.S. Elections in full swing, I knew it would be a wonderful opportunity for our entire family to learn more on just how elections work in our country. I am still in total shock that I will have a child who is old enough to vote in this election!! This Hands-on History Lap-Pak is recommended for grades 3-8 so I chose to let my 7th grade daughter who loves hands on activities and anything to do with art work through this project. We received the digital version which we were able to download with no problems. We received the files for 21 lapbook projects, printable booklets in 2 different formats, photos of all the projects, and 2 audio files in mp3 format to listen to as we read along in the booklet. All of those files came in a zip file where I extracted them once I received them. The file that I thought was so unique was a file labeled "Start". When you clicked on that file, you were taken directly to all the files that were included with one simple press! During each of the 21 lessons, we followed along in the booklet using the PDF copy as we listened to the audio. I did not see the need to print out the booklet for us but could see how it would be a great option to include it with your finished lapbook. We worked on 3 lessons per week and I usually printed out the sheets needed for the 3 projects during my Saturday planning time. You will definitely need a little time for teacher preparation in order to have the projects ready to complete. The instructions give you complete direction in what supplies you would need such as white paper, white card stock, colored card stock, colored paper, brads, etc. It also includes detailed instructions on assembly along with photos of each completed project. I loved how simple and easy the directions were to follow. Sarah followed along with the instructions and photos mainly by herself. I was there in case she needed me but she could really complete this project independently once I gave her the printed sheets and few extra supplies. Since we worked on 3 lessons per week, we are not completely through yet but we went ahead and assembled what we did have so you could see the process. Again, you are given detailed instructions as well as pictures to walk you through the lapbook assembly process and we found them very easy to follow. They also suggested adding the projects to the lapbook with double sided tape. We didn't have any so we made do with what we had. (I'll update the finished project overview once we complete it.) Also after we complete the final few lessons, Sarah is going to present her finished work to the entire family. That way we can sneak in a little review for my older sons as well! We loved everything about this project. You could easily do it all with white paper and have your child add their own color or you can mix and match like we did. The instructions also suggest different colors of paper. I learned a great deal about the election process myself including the meaning of stump speaking. I was not familiar with that term at all! I think an older child or adult could also benefit from reading the booklet as well. Just of few of the topics covered are the branches of government, terms of office, media coverage, primaries and caucuses, electoral college and many more. HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections is currently available as a download version for $18.95 or as a CD version for $19.95. You can find out more of what Home School in the Woods has to offer by visiting them on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Review of Home School in the Woods US Elections Lap-Pak

This article is in collaboration with Home School in the Woods. Home School in the Woods is one of my favourite companies. They produce stellar unit studies, lap books, Time Traveler series and much more. You really need to check them out. You will find that creating hands-on materials for studying history is THE thing ... Read more

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

Introduce your child to the United States presidential elections process through hands-on activities! This Lap-Pak will take your child briefly through the establishment of the country’s government, and through the various aspects of a presidential campaign and how a U.S. president is chosen. See below for details, photos, and step-by-step tutorial! • Suggested grades: 3-8 • Mac & PC Compatible • ISBN: 9780991367856 • All Text, Masters, Directions, and Photos Provided (Supplies Not Included) • Related Projects of Interest: ALC-1068: U.S. Presidents Project-Pak Photos Details Reviews Sample Scope/Seq Video U. S. Elections takes you through the election process with reading material and hands-on projects that will reinforce lessons, as well as introduce you to new information. Included are 21 lap booking projects that incorporate creative writing, coloring and drawing, research, and more! The reading text comes in two formats to print, resulting in full-size pages of text for a binder, or a 24-page booklet to store with the lap book. Also provided is the text on audio, so your child can read along with the narrator or work on projects while listening! Beautifully detailed masters are provided for all printable projects! Step-by-step illustrated directions contain printing and assembly instructions for the text booklet, each project, and the lap book assembly. The menu also contains photos to aid you in viewing the finished projects. Should you wish to embellish the study with additional reading, a list of additional suggested resources is offered as well. LAP-PAK ACTIVITIES INCLUDE: Definition of “Election” Different Forms of Government The American Experiment The Three Branches of Government Suffrage Who Do We Vote For? Terms of Office A “Handful” of Political Parties Caucuses & Primaries National Conventions The Presidential Campaign: Platform The Presidential Campaign: Stump Speaking The Presidential Campaign: Media — News Source The Presidential Campaign: Campaign Advertising — Spreading the Word! Raising Money Statistics Election Day The Electoral College Inauguration Day The Electoral Race! The “Vocabinet” I LOVE projects and since I’ve allowed my project-love to spill over into our homeschooling, I couldn’t resist a review of the lapbook projects available from Home School in the Woods. We recently reviewed HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections and I’m thrilled to bring you our results, starting with this video of my sweet students’ final reflection presentation… - Anitra Elmore at The Mama Zone blog ...Read the full review at: http://themamazone.com/hands-on-history-activities/ This has been an exciting and sometimes stressful year for my family. While it's just started, the news of the upcoming elections has led to many questions from my kids. In an attempt to answer some of them, we've looked to homeschool curriculum to guide us in teaching things from a perspective that shares our family's values. We recently reviewed the History Through the Ages Hands-On Lap Pak: U.S. Elections download from Home School in the Woods, and it has been a big help in our mission to inform our kids on our government and election process… - Linsey Knerl at Lille Punkin blog ...Read the full http://www.lillepunkin.com/2016/02/review-of-home-school-in-woods-history.html Home School in the Woods has long been a favorite for our family when it comes to history. This year is election year and was the perfect time to review HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections. We downloaded our product and set to work to help my 5th and 8th grader learn a bit about the election process and have a fun while doing it… - Melanie at A Year of Jubilee Reviews blog ...Read the full http://www.jubileereviews.com/2016/02/us-elections-from-home-school-in-woods.html I'm super excited about this one!! HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections from Home School in the Woods is perfectly timed to help you and your students understand the crucial times we are living in... it's a PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR! …From the definition of "election", learning the the history of our representative government and every step along the campaign trail, this lap book is the BEST comprehensive study on our US election process I have ever found! … - Renita at Mom of Many blog ...Read the full review at: http://momofmanybentzs.blogspot.com/2016/02/history-through-ages-hands-on-history.html Click below to download a sample of the narration "HANDS-ON HISTORY LAP-PAK: U.S. ELECTIONS" NARRATION SAMPLE Click below to view the Scope & Sequence "HANDS-ON HISTORY LAP-PAK: U.S. ELECTIONS" SCOPE & SEQUENCE Step-by-Step Tutorial: Product Overview:

Learn about the U.S. election process through 21 hands-on history activities.