Inauguration 2009

Election Day Plan

Our house is revving up for Election Day. Of course, step one is to get out and vote ourselves. I have always brought the kids to the Polling Place. Many years they have seen me work the polling place and two years they have assisted me in running for office myself. These activities, I think, have made them more aware of the whole election process. When I grew up, my mother would never tell us who she would vote for. She said it was her business and no one else’s. In my house, I can’t imagine that. We talk about politics all the time.

During the primaries, we had a list of the states posted on the fridge. As each state declared its delegates we would post the results. It was CNN and our dining room table coverage. DD was often better informed than even my husband and I were. Our friends were amazed.

I think for tomorrow, we are going to print off a blackline master map and a state by state chart to record the Electoral College votes. This site gives you the number of electoral votes for each state and the number of votes needed to win. I figure tomorrow, we’ll be glued into the tv first thing in the morning and then after 6pm. I just hope that we have an answer by the time we go to bed and not have to wait until Christmas again.

How do you plan to experience the election with your kids?

Elections at the Dining Room Table

I came by an interesting question on www.thehomeschoollounge.com regarding how we were going to teach about the election. My answer was:


“I hate to say that we don't teach it. We live it. I have not set aside special time per se, but they watch the conventions with us. We discuss it at dinner. Fortunately, DS was just working on the Citizenship in the Nation Boy Scout Badge which helped him to understand a little more about the process. Also, as I have run for office twice locally they have had firsthand experience with the ins and outs of an election. While I don't recommend running for office necessarily, anyone can get involved in a campaign on the local, state, or national level.”

Often the dining room table is the most instructive time of the day. There are no specific lesson plans, but instead good, open conversation about current events. Certainly recently, the election is a big part of the conversation. My father finds this to be a concern because people of other opinions may not be at our dining room table and therefore perhaps we are in a way biasing our children. I have tried to counter this by having them talk to other people as well. My mother would never tell us who she was voting for. I take the opposite approach. We talk, discuss, argue the issues. While my husband and I probably dominate the discussion now, we respect what the kids have to say and I'm sure it is not in the too distant future that they may take over the conversation.

During the primaries, DD started tracking the delegates for each state and I’m sure she will do a similar thing on Election Day. We will definitely watch the debates and the children have seen several interviews with each candidate. DD also likes political humor so she has to make sure that she knows enough about what is going on so that she can understand the jokes. DS isn’t as interested but definitely hears the conversation around him. I think just like any other subject some people will be more interested than others.

Both of them really received some insider information when I ran for office and while not everyone will want to run for office, everyone can help on a campaign. Find a candidate on the municipal, state, or national level that you believe in and offer to help on their campaign. Candidates will usually be very receptive to the help and you will get an education that you could never find in a book.

What are you doing to teach about the election?