Need Government Lessons? To City Hall!

We struggled with finding ways to teach our second and seventh graders about government (on any level). They think titles like “President” and “Governor” are cool, but they struggle with understanding just what responsibilities go along with those titles. While we could tell them about how the government works and let them explore online learning sites, nothing beats “hands-on” education. We contacted our local City Hall to find out if they would let our kids come visit and learn and, what do you know, they said yes! It was fun and educational (both for the kids and for us adults). It was pretty amazing how welcoming they were – judges, clerks, court officers – everyone. Next on our agenda is the state capitol – they have homeschool tours every year.

Digging Local History

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to explore historical sites on our travels. We took a trip to Charlotte and got down and dirty with some local history sites and even got to see a live archaeological dig, for example. You don’t have to go far afield to get into history, though. Some of our favorite spots are in our local area. You can find history almost anywhere – your courthouse, historic battlefields around your town or county and much more await you. We spend several days each month just learning what’s gone on within our own little area of the country and it’s always amazing what we haven’t learned yet.