Unplanned Learning

A few months ago I signed up at C-SPAN's website to receive a free presidential poster.  It came to our house and I promptly put it in my "I'll get to this later" pile.  I completely forgot about it until I was cleaning off my desk a month later.  I opened it up and it was HUGE.  What was I going to do with this very large poster?  I was tempted to give it away. I folded it up and brought it down to the kitchen where AH was hanging out.  I showed him the poster and started unfolding it.  He was fascinated!  We laid it out on the kitchen floor and sat looking at all the information at our fingertips.  Not only did it include a list of presidents, but when they were born, other public service posts they had held, military service, what party they belonged to, America's population along the timeline, technology, supreme court rulings, constitutional amendments, and more!  We must have spent a good 45 minutes just looking and talking.  I wouldn't have considered this part of our "school day", but AH loved it so I couldn't just give this goldmine away.  It needed to be up, on display, somewhere we spend a lot of time.  Hmmmm....

The poster on our kitchen wall.

You wouldn't believe what we have done with this poster.  During dinner AH has taken to quizzing us on our presidential trivia (I am the worst!) and asking to be quizzed.  One day during breakfast he wondered just how many years of military service had been served by our presidents altogether.  He not only added all the years up, but then decided to make a chart with this information.  He found this exercise so interesting that it led to a series of charts that now grace the wall above the poster: Presidential states, birthdays, political parties, and more.

Years of military service.  No, Eisenhower did not serve the most years.

Presidential parties

Presidential birthday months

None of this has been planned.  It is AH's continuing interest in this poster and subject matter that has made learning history, social studies, and government so easy and so much fun.  He blew me away last week when he listed the first 8 presidents in order.  I asked if he could list all of them. He needed only one hint (he forgot LBJ).  I was reminded that learning occurs when you can take advantage of an interest and encourage a spark of curiosity to become a flame!

My kitchen won't win any decorating awards, but we sure have fun!

Our Election Day Party Pictures

As promised, here are some pictures of our election night dinner.

AH prepares his red/white and blue/white rolled cookies for the oven:

The finished product:

Our Red, White and Blue Sundaes:

Our coffee table downstairs:

Our Flag Pizza before cooking:

Election Day

What a great country we live in! I am such a geek when it comes to voting. I take my responsibility and my privilege to vote very, very seriously! My husband had an appointment this morning and came back (a 45 minute drive one way) after so that he could vote early today. AH and I joined him. AH has been fascinated by this election. He is ten, so this is probably the first presidential election that he has been able to really process the information (and non information!) that has been flying around. We've had some great family discussions about issues, people, candidates, and decision-making this past 6 months. It really does help when our (immediate) family agrees on a lot of the issues, but I'm so proud to say that they are respectful of differing opinions. AD, the 17 year old, is so bummed that he won't be voting for a president for 4 more years. But he told me last night that he can't wait until next November so that he can start being heard. I'm thrilled that my children have followed in our footsteps in that they appreciate the opportunity and responsibility of this process to elect our own leaders.

Anyway, AH accompanied me into the voting booth and had some great questions while I was filling in the ovals on my ballot: "What is the green party?" "Why don't we hear more from the other parties?" "Why is there only one name in this section?" "You can write in someones name?!" And there were plenty more questions. Each of my kids has come to vote with me at one time or another and that has helped them become interested in the process and, hopefully, made them into proud, American voting geeks as well!

Speaking of being a geek, tonight we will be eating in front of the television tonight, watching the results come in. On the menu, lots of little tidbits: A flag shaped pizza; popcorn; red and blue corn chips and salsa; and red, white and blue cookies. I'll post some pictures tonight so you can all see how geeky I can be!