U.S. Elections Lap-Pak REVIEW

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.

Whether you are a lap book person or not, you may want to check out the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak (grades 3-8) from Home School in the Woods.  We have reviewed several of their lap books in the past and have loved every one of them.  This curriculum can easily be used as a stand-alone or as a supplemental project.  I received a free copy of this downloadable product.  You will need internet access for the download as well as a printer to print out the projects and instructions.  Other supplies needed are your general school supplies such as colored pencils, crayons, markers, glue, scissors, etc.  You may also prefer double-sided tape for some of the projects.

When you download the zip file you will need to fully extract the folder to have access to the curriculum which is viewed and printed through the free Adobe Reader program.  I was really excited and impressed to use the "audio file" feature which I have not had before in any of their products.  There are audio files as part of the lessons and I really like that Little Bug can listen to them as we work on the individual projects that will eventually compile her lap book.

Audio files included in your download

Sample complete lap book (NOT our lap book)

A few of Little Bug's completed projects

The curriculum has a suggested grade level of 3-8 and I think this is pretty accurate.  Little Bug is in 2nd grade and she is enjoying it tremendously but a few of the projects have been a little more in-depth for her.  She has been apprehensive about a few but once we get it going and she completes it she is so proud of her accomplishments!  We are trying to complete a project a week (there are 21 included in this packet).  As we work on the project (they are really quite simple and easy to complete), we spend more time learning about the specific topic, including reading additional material we find online (our local library is open, but the Covid cases in our area are on the increase so we try to keep home as much as possible).

She is so excited to be learning about the election process.  She really is getting it and she just loves learning about our president and how elections work and what government is all about.  Some topics covered include:

• Definition of election
• Different forms of government
• The three branches of government
• Suffrage and voting
• Who do we vote for?
• Terms of office
• Political parties
• Caucuses and Primaries
• National conventions
• Presidential campaigns
• Statistics
• Election Day
• Electoral College
• Inauguration day

I love the Charlotte Mason flair to this wonderful hands-on history curriculum.  The timing of this couldn't be better!  With elections just around the corner, I love that she will have a better idea of what is going on.  Big brother is close to voting age so this has been a great refresher for him to when he chooses to listen to what she is learning.

As I stated there are 21 individual "projects" to be completed that will eventually all be compiled together into a nice, neat little lap book.  I just love lap books because they are fun to make, simple, concise, take up little space, and are packed with information that your littles generally remember better because of how they put it together.

Lots of great information included

Looks a little daunting to you? Not at all! There are step-by-step instructions included that walk you through the entire process. They even instruct you on what type and color of paper to print on. It really couldn't be any easier unless you purchased pre-printed and cut out material, but what fun would that be?!

Very detailed step by step instructions

Little Bug said she is having fun and we give this wonderful U.S. Elections Lap-Pak two thumbs up!  You can connect with Home School in the Woods on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST.  Be sure to also check out my fellow Crew members' reviews, especially since we reviewed different products.  Click on the graphic link below to read the other reviews.  You can also learn more about the Elections Lap-Pak on their blog post.

And last but not least, please be sure to take advantage of the FREE PRODUCT, Greek Life! File Folder Game.  Use the coupon code TOSGameNight at the checkout through the month of August!  Enjoy!

Homeschool Resources During Covid-19

This is not a sponsored post and there are no affiliate links.  I am just sharing some fun resources I either use, have used, or have come across recently.

We are living in a new time.  Never in my lifetime have we experienced what we are experiencing now with Covid-19.  I don't know how it is where you are but currently, we are under a "Shelter in Place" order.  We are not completely confined to our homes but asked to only leave or be out in public if you absolutely must.  We are still allowed to do grocery shopping and some still have to go to work.  Many places are temporarily closed.

Part of the silver lining in this crazy time is that a lot of online resources are either deeply discounting their products or allow free access temporarily.  Our local schools are shut down and even the public school students are currently being "homeschooled."  Below I will list links to a few I have found out about recently.  If you know of any others please share them in the comments for others to also check out.  You can also click on my Homeschooling Resources tab for some additional sites.  Happy schooling!

• ABCmouse.com is currently offering a free 30-day trial to its full online curriculum for ages 2-8.
• Starfall.com isn't currently offering any specials but they do offer some of their online curricula for free.
• Adventure Academy (from the creators of ABCmouse) is offering your first 30 days free for its online learning program for ages 8-13.
• rightnow MEDIA is currently offering free limited access to its online media streaming library.

SchoolhouseTeachers REVIEW

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.
Please note: affiliate links also included in this post

Another curriculum review year has begun and what better way to start but an updated review of SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  You are going to definitely want to check out the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership.  It is an online homeschool program that includes classes, electives, homeschool parent support, homeschool planners, and access to World Book and RightNow Media.  It is an all-in-one full curriculum and the best part is that there is just one fee for your ENTIRE family and you have access to ALL grades!

Sample subjects

Certificates of completion available for different subjects and courses

I have been a member of SchoolhouseTeachers for many, many years now and boy have they come a LONG way.  I just love how they are continually improving and updating what they offer and you always have access to all the new updates while your membership is active.  You have the option for full-year, semester, and unit study courses.  There are no textbooks to buy, everything you need is available for printing or viewing in the chosen course.  The available lesson plans help to keep you on track and schedule your course appropriately.

Lesson Plan

Elementary Art Lessons

Elementary Art Sample Lesson page downloaded

Custom Schedule Builder

Once you log into your SchoolhouseTeachers Ultimate Membership account you quickly realize the vast amount of resources available to you.  The menus are user-friendly and video tutorials are available for many aspects of the site.  If for some reason you were to still find yourself lost or have questions you can easily email, chat with, or call customer support.  They are wonderful and very responsive to your needs.

Curriculum is coded to let you know what formats are covered

You can customize your courses for each child and browse by subject or grade level for options.  If you don't know where to start you can check out the scope and sequence link to see what your child needs to learn in any given year.  I love that there are direct links to the courses and resources from the scope and sequence lists.

Scope and Sequences

Need help with planning and/or grading?  No problem, you have access to printable planners and the Applecore recordkeeping program.  You have access to the Gold Applecore level that also includes the ability to produce transcripts with an Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  There is a vast amount of additional resources available that include:

• Members Forum
• Focused Learning Center
• High School Help
• Special Needs
• Literacy Center
• Holiday and Seasonal Content
• Physical Education
• Just for Parents
• Parent eBook Library
• Schoolhouse Expos
• Monthly Menu
• Trade Magazine
• Certificate Library
• Help Charts

Planning Tools

Focused Learning Center for extra help in subject areas

Literacy Center

It's easy to feel overwhelmed with the number of resources that are available to you but remember to keep it simple.  Use the video tutorials and focus on simply finding the courses for the grade levels you need.  All the other extra fun stuff can come later as you get familiar with the site and what it has to offer.  Especially in the area of the World Book and RightNow Media resources.  World Book is like a vast online encyclopedia with video and game resources.  RightNow Media is an excellent video resource for bible studies, apologetics, even kids' videos.

A few samples of tutorial videos

RightNow Media

World Book categories

Sample World Book section

World Book tutorial

I have both my 1st-grade daughter and 10th-grade son using the resources available and I just love how we can customize our lesson plans to fit our needs.  Sometimes we have used a subject for just supplementation and other times we have used it as our sole curriculum.  I especially love and appreciate the bible study and apologetic resources available.  When planning for this year I simply went to search for courses by grade level and picked out what we needed in each subject we needed.  I did refer back to the scope and sequence resource so I would not miss something we needed.  Especially for my high schooler.

Curriculum sample

One final thing I wanted to mention and just love is that you can easily create "collections" and then "bookmark" your chosen subjects into a collection.  I create a collection for each child that then has all of their subjects bookmarked to it so they (or I) can get to their classes quickly and easily.

Bookmarks

There is so much more that could be covered but this is a pretty good synopsis of what you can expect.  I highly recommend the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership for your family.  Yes, this is a review, but I was also a member LONG before I did reviews.  You can give it a test run for only $5 for your first month but they are running a sale through the end of January that you DO NOT want to miss.  Prices will be increasing on February 1, 2020.  The current sale price will be your locked-in annual membership fee for as long as you keep your membership.  You can't beat that!  I am an affiliate member and have included my affiliate links in this post.

You can connect with SchoolhouseTeachers.com on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and PINTEREST.  Please also be sure to check out the other reviews from my fellow Crew members to get more information about the membership, just click on the graphic link below.  You can also read my SchoolhouseTeachers reviews from 2017 and 2018.