Review: Homeschool in the Woods: US Election Lap-Pak

As you may or may not be aware, we are an Australian homeschooling family, so it may sound strange that we are reviewing HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: US Elections from Homeschool in the Woods. But, when we were given the opportunity to review this amazing product, our oldest boy was extremely keen and was very excited when we received a downloadable version of this Lap-Pak.

Homeschool in the Woods offers many hands-on history lessons for children and we were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to review the Project Passport World Study: Ancient Egypt from Homeschool in the Woods last year, which we absolutely loved. The information included in these packs is amazing, and the instructions are so clear which is great for this homeschooling mum.

We received the downloadable pdf version of the Hands-On History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections ($18.95 US), though you are also able to purchase it in CD format ($19.95 US). On opening and downloading the zip, you will receive 3 folders plus a start file and an auto run file. When clicking on the start file, a web page opens up with step-by-step instructions with clickable links on everything you need to know and print to complete this lap-pak. If, like me, you have limited internet, you can access everything, the instructions, directions for the projects, assembling instructions, the pdfs to print and mp3 files, in the three folders that were included in the initial download. As with many of the projects available from Homeschool in the Woods, a good printer and lots of quality paper is needed, as well as some other stationery supplies that many families usually have around the house.

This US Elections Lap-Pak takes you on a journey through the election process with lots of reading material and hands-on activities to help introduce and reinforce the information.

With the suggested grades for this Lap-Pack being 3-8, both our boys decided to complete this project together. With 21 projects, we decided to complete one to two projects a week, depending on how in depth we went into each project.

For people who know nothing about the US Election process at all, the topics in this pack are amazing, covering everything you need to know about the US Election. These topics are:

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 and Primaries
National Conventions
The Presidential Campaign: Platform, Stump Speaking, Media – News Source and Campaign Advertising – Spreading the Word
Raising Money
Statistics
Election Day
The Electoral College
Inauguration Day
The Electoral Race!
The ‘Vocabinet’

Each day, we would read through the information provided and complete the creative writing, colouring or drawing activity for that project. Audio is provided, which is great for those kids who love reading along with the narrator. The lap book recommends keeping all your little projects and putting them all in the lap book at the end. Our boys loved to see how they were going, so we glued in each project as we completed them. This also saved us from losing any of the loose parts as well. I also found by doing this, the boys would go through all the previous projects they had completed too which was great in reinforcing the information they have previously completed.

Our lap book all completed!!!

Overall, we love everything that Homeschool in the Woods has to offer. Their projects are exciting and very informative and our boys really enjoy learning this way and it works really well for them. The hands-on activities are great for reinforcing the information they have read and I find they are able to remember so much of what they have learnt in the process.

I love how Homeschool in the Woods provides all the information needed in a non-bias way and how clearly they set out the instructions. There is also a great opportunity to customise the projects and activities to suit your child and their learning style which is what I really appreciate. Although we completed this as a lap book, you could have completed it as more of a note booking style project.

Would I recommend this product? Definitely!! We really enjoy all that Homeschool in the Woods have to offer and would recommend it to all. They are informative, adaptable and though there is a bit of prep work, it is all worth it in the end!