Use the Summer Break to Give Your Kids a Real Civics Education
Teach them! Read the Constitution to them in the backyard over a BBQ. Teach them financial responsibility by showing them how to balance a checkbook — and then show them the U.S. Debt Clock. Tell them how our country could be taken over by our debtors without a shot being fired because we can’t pay our bills. Tell them to mow the lawn for $20, and then withhold $10 from the pay and give the withheld ten dollars to a sister or brother who did nothing. Tell them you are simply “spreading the wealth around.”
Quiz them on their civic knowledge:
1) Are we a republic or a democracy?
2) Who said, “Give me liberty or give me death”?
3) Who said, “But where, say some, is the king of America? I’ll tell you He reigns from above”?
4) Who was president of the Constitutional Congress?
5) Who is the father of the Constitution?
6) What was the Connecticut Compromise?
7) Who gives us our rights? The government or God? Why is this important?
8) Why are Articles I, II and III so important?
9) How did Amendment 16 grow our government?
10) What are the two ways to amend the Constitution? Why did our founding fathers put the amendment process in the Constitution?
11) How many years are U.S. representatives in office? President? U.S. senators? Why?
12) What does “usurpation” mean? How would one branch usurping the other affect our Bill of Rights?
13) Who wrote the Preamble? Is it law?
14) Why is it important to vote during midterm elections?
15) Why is voting important?
16) Why is “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction” true?
Hi Janine,
The link to the contest appears to be broken. I’d like to find out more, so I can share it with my 13 year old. Thanks!
Oh, your poor kids. Mine are going swimming and camping, maybe we’ll go to Spain so they can do better next year on their verb conjugations. Teach them about midterm elections? No, that can wait.
Dear Janine, My boys and I love our dear Country and we all do appreciate what you and all who help you do. Waiting for the book your daughter has wrote (thank you Juliette). Hope people do as you suggest Janine as you are so right. God bless all of you there!
Sincerely,
Fred and Sons (Sean, Ian and Joshua John)
Rules & Information for the We The People 9.17 Contest available at this link: http://www.constitutingamerica.org/downloads.php Encourage your kids K-Law School to enter – Entries due July 4th!
I’m glad that someone is trying to teach part of civics to kids. I sincerely hope that bias will be left out of it.
As to Janine’s telling us what to tell our children, I’m against letting a political columnist tell me how to raise my kids.
Excited about the book!!! Loved the quiz…our newly 9 year old got the vast majority of the questions correct-a-mundo, thanks to her FABULOUS experience with all things ConstitutingAmerica! Keep up the good work, and thanks for keeping the fire to our feet. The Constitution is not left or right, liberal or conservative, it is our grantor of freedom and the basis for our laws…learn it, live it and never forget it.
Young people are not taught about our holidays in school. I had to explain D Day and Memorial Day to two young fellow teachers (both have Master’s degrees). They never learned it in school, so how could they teach it even if they wanted to? I bet they don’t know G Washington’s Birthday either.