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Baby Beluga 09:26 AM 10-24-2016
Next week we are spending the week learning about presidents and elections. Has anyone done a curriculum week like this and have ideas you wouldn't mind sharing?

*I plan on doing some googling, but wanted to check here for tried and true activities that others have done before me
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daycarediva 09:51 AM 10-24-2016
My kids have no idea what's going on. My SA dcg has parents who are adamant Hillary supporters though. I had to speak to dcm about it- she WILL NOT STOP talking about how awful Trump is and even went as far as saying to my ds/8 "Anyone who votes for Trump is STUPID" When I told dcm she said "Well she isn't wrong." and I said "Well, call me stupid then!"

Way to teach your child to bully dcm.
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midaycare 10:07 AM 10-24-2016
My dck's don't have a clue about this. My ds keeps coming home from school saying, "I want Trump to win!"

No clue where he's getting that...I'm frustrated with both parties and have avoided talking about it.
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Baby Beluga 10:25 AM 10-24-2016
Mine haven't an idea of what is going on either - but I do know they hear their parents talking about it because they have kept asking "who is trump? why does my mom/dad keep talking about hillary" I explained that there is an upcoming election and their parents are talking about who they would like to be the next president and they were lost. So then they started asking "what is a president?"

I wasn't planning on getting into the democratic/republic side of things, just this is what a president does and this is how we vote, etc. Maybe have a mock voting ballot where everyone can vote for their favorite color or something.
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Baby Beluga 10:27 AM 10-24-2016
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
My kids have no idea what's going on. My SA dcg has parents who are adamant Hillary supporters though. I had to speak to dcm about it- she WILL NOT STOP talking about how awful Trump is and even went as far as saying to my ds/8 "Anyone who votes for Trump is STUPID" When I told dcm she said "Well she isn't wrong." and I said "Well, call me stupid then!"

Way to teach your child to bully dcm.
Whoa. What a horrible example that DCM is setting.
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nothingwithoutjoy 11:43 AM 10-24-2016
I have somewhat older children...I'm doing some election stuff with my homeschoolers: 6, 7, and 8 (though my 3 and 4 year olds listen in as we read). Here's what we've read so far. But some of these books would work for older preschoolers, too, if they knew about elections/presidents (I put an asterisk by the ones that are probably the most preschool-friendly):

If I Were President*
If I Ran for President*
Miss Paul and the President (we're reading a lot about women's suffrage and women who ran for president, too. I have a group of all girls and this is a historic moment!)
Grace for President*
Ballots for Belva
Rutherford B, Who Was He?
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls are Born to Lead
Hillary
What Presidents are Made Of*
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Unregistered 11:44 AM 10-24-2016
I created a "vote" curriculum for preschoolers. I am SO glad that my group is too young for this right now though - yikes - it's like opening a can of worms.

After discussion, we vote for lunch and snack components. It minimizes the disappointment for the "losers" because most likely they will "win" some part - sort of like the senate/representative vote.
We have ballots and a box to slide the ballots into, and each child gets an "I voted" sticker. I scanned a "vote" sticker with smaller letters on it that say "for lunch!" They are proud of their stickers because their parents have similar ones.

The only year that preschool-aged dcks got really involved in actual awareness of the presidential election was the year that President Obama was elected, presumably because their parents talked about it more.
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Controlled Chaos 11:57 AM 10-24-2016
My family is very politically involved. My brother runs campaigns for a living. I canvass for local candidates (specifically ones backed by our women's caucus) on weekends when able, going door to door to hand out information and chat with voters of either party. I like talking to strangers My older two children know the names of not only Hillary and Trump, but of who we want to win Senate, County Mayor, House Rep etc. We chat about it a lot. We use terms like "schools are important to me, Ms. Smith used to be a teacher, so I believe she will make our schools better. What is important to you?"

They watched me fill out my ballot and helped me mail it. At age 4 and 6 they know who the president is, who the governor is and they know we respect whoever wins whether we voted for them or not. And I emphasize in the end, its about us being as kind and charitable as we can be in our own little lives that will make the biggest difference.

I have tried to turn off the radio when either candidate comes on the air lately, as we have some very dear friends who are Muslim and my oldest became defensive of them and upset by the hostility towards Muslims on the media. We also have a last name that ends in a Z (5th generation American immigrated from Spain BUT my DH and one of my children look quite Hispanic) and one of them was told she will be sent "back to Mexico" at a playground a few months ago so I don't want them hearing about the wall as it confuses and upsets them.

BUT I would never talk about all that with my DCKs even though 8/9 of them share the same political beliefs as me.

On election week we will do 5 senses experiences (one sense a day) and will have them "vote" for their favorite and we will make a graph.

Sorry I got a little off topic in the middle...
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Cat Herder 12:30 PM 10-24-2016
Thinking about putting boiled asparagus on one plate and boiled brussels sprouts on another. I would tell them to decide which one they would like to eat, with a smile on their face, every day for the next 4-8 years.

"Sure, each one has some really good qualities and some really awful qualities. I know you don't really like either one, but you must pick one."
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nothingwithoutjoy 09:30 AM 10-25-2016
Presidents came up over lunch today, so I thought of this question again.

I had put out one of those laminated presidents placemats, up like a poster near our table, because as I said earlier, my homeschoolers are learning about presidents right now. One of my preschoolers saw it and asked "why are these all men?" Great question! I told her they were presidents, and that our country had never had a woman president, but that we have one running now, so that might change.

That led to all my preschoolers talking about the candidates; they knew names and knew who their families are voting for (no controversy here; everyone's voting the same way, so I feel pretty safe discussing it with kids).

So then as we ate, the 4-year-old asked me to name all the presidents, pointing to each: "who's this? who's this?" As I named them, my daughter kept saying neumonics; I'd say "Tyler," she'd say "Tie-lure;" I'd say "Roosevelt," she'd say "Road-belt." That's because she'd found this funny book at a used bookstore earlier this year (Yo, Millard Fillmore!), and from it, I've actually memorized the presidents in order (can't believe it; that's not something I'd ever learned growing up), and she's memorized many of them. So the other kids got intrigued and we ended up reading the book as they finished lunch, including the quizzes after every 10 presidents. (It's a long series of cartoons that help you remember: a huge washing machine at the white house that can "wash a ton" for "Washingon," then you open the washing machine and inside are "atoms" for "Adams," etc.)

I would certainly never plan to memorize the presidents with preschoolers. But they were loving this, and we'll continue after nap. I am finding already (after just a month) that when we read other things, my daughter will exclaim "Oh, Pierce! I know Pierce!" and it's turning out to be a great hook to tie other knowledge to.

These are the strange meandering paths we take around here.
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Controlled Chaos 09:49 AM 10-25-2016
Originally Posted by nothingwithoutjoy:
Presidents came up over lunch today, so I thought of this question again.

I had put out one of those laminated presidents placemats, up like a poster near our table, because as I said earlier, my homeschoolers are learning about presidents right now. One of my preschoolers saw it and asked "why are these all men?" Great question! I told her they were presidents, and that our country had never had a woman president, but that we have one running now, so that might change.

That led to all my preschoolers talking about the candidates; they knew names and knew who their families are voting for (no controversy here; everyone's voting the same way, so I feel pretty safe discussing it with kids).

So then as we ate, the 4-year-old asked me to name all the presidents, pointing to each: "who's this? who's this?" As I named them, my daughter kept saying neumonics; I'd say "Tyler," she'd say "Tie-lure;" I'd say "Roosevelt," she'd say "Road-belt." That's because she'd found this funny book at a used bookstore earlier this year (Yo, Millard Fillmore!), and from it, I've actually memorized the presidents in order (can't believe it; that's not something I'd ever learned growing up), and she's memorized many of them. So the other kids got intrigued and we ended up reading the book as they finished lunch, including the quizzes after every 10 presidents. (It's a long series of cartoons that help you remember: a huge washing machine at the white house that can "wash a ton" for "Washingon," then you open the washing machine and inside are "atoms" for "Adams," etc.)

I would certainly never plan to memorize the presidents with preschoolers. But they were loving this, and we'll continue after nap. I am finding already (after just a month) that when we read other things, my daughter will exclaim "Oh, Pierce! I know Pierce!" and it's turning out to be a great hook to tie other knowledge to.

These are the strange meandering paths we take around here.

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nothingwithoutjoy 10:07 AM 10-25-2016
Originally Posted by nothingwithoutjoy:
c... my daughter kept saying neumonics;...
Ummm...I can spell "mnemonics." Really I can.
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momofsix 11:53 AM 10-25-2016
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
Thinking about putting boiled asparagus on one plate and boiled brussels sprouts on another. I would tell them to decide which one they would like to eat, with a smile on their face, every day for the next 4-8 years.

"Sure, each one has some really good qualities and some really awful qualities. I know you don't really like either one, but you must pick one."

This about sums it up perfectly
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nothingwithoutjoy 07:06 PM 10-25-2016
We read a new presidents book today, just right for preschool: "This Little President."
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Controlled Chaos 09:52 AM 10-26-2016
Originally Posted by nothingwithoutjoy:
We read a new presidents book today, just right for preschool: "This Little President."
nice
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Tags:election 2016, political education
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