Need a high school government class for credit for your older teens? Give your kids places to go, people to talk to, and things to do!
Combine these free ideas to create an engaging, hands-on Government class your kids will enjoy and truly learn from.
Get the Homeschool Government Course Checklist
With our printable activity checklist, you can document the activities your student completes and summarize what was learned. It includes four checklist pages with suggested activities, a blank page for activities you may want to add, and a summary sheet for each activity where more details can be documented.
Activity-Based Homeschool Government Curriculum
When you use an activity-based homeschool approach, give your kids and teens the opportunity to talk with you about their experiences and to follow rabbit trails of reading and research in the library and online.
By going places, talking to people, and having experiences related to government, students will likely retain more knowledge about how government works than if they just read from a government textbook. For your older teens, gaining this knowledge can fulfill high school government credit requirements.
You'll want to ask them good questions, using the approach called inquiry-based learning.
All ages of students learning about U.S. government could:
- Attend your locality's local government meetings. This might be your town, city, county, or parish council or board, where elected representatives vote on local business.
- Attend a rally or march in support of a cause.
- Visit your state capital. If possible, tour the chambers where the legislature meets or attend a session, and meet with your state legislators.
- Go to court. Except for certain types of cases, court sessions are public!
- Read a book that has been banned or challenged.
- Visit a municipal (public) water treatment plant and find out about the history of providing public water service in that community.
- Imagine a natural disaster or civic crisis that would require you to get along without government services. List what you would need to survive and strategies that might help. Attend Teen CERT training.
- Listen to the Hamilton soundtrack or see the play.
- Visit a local, state, and national park.
- Watch a video about the Federal Reserve Bank, and look for critiques of the U.S. Federal Reserve as well.
Teens could keep a journal or blog about their experiences, or they could write essays, record short videos, or create presentations based on some of the activities. Your teens learning about government could:
- Do a police ride-along. Yes, in some communities, 14-year-olds are allowed to ride along with law enforcement. Others require ride-along passengers to be 16 or 18.
- Talk to a variety of people who can converse knowledgeably and first-hand about:
- Living in the U.S. South before desegregation and the Civil Rights Movement
- The Vietnam War and anti-war movement
- The near extinction and rebound of bald eagles
- Regulations they are required to follow in their business or profession
- Immigrating to the U.S. or another country
- The legal aspects of being a midwife
- How laws and government policies shape the practices of farmers and farmers markets
- Being in a labor union
- Help someone register to vote or get to the polls on election day. If they're old enough, they can register to vote themselves.
- Experience the paperwork and process of applying for a passport. If you actually apply, there are fees. Learn about the significance of all the "important papers" you need to keep for identification and travel purposes. Make a plan for keeping documents safe but available.
- Fully explore an issue by reading news coverage of multiple stories from six or eight different media sources, including international and those with opposing editorial viewpoints.
- Research possible reasons for the dramatic decline of drunk driving fatalities since 1982.
- Learn how to complete a tax return or examine a parent's federal and state tax returns. Discuss.
- Watch the Ken Burns PBS suffrage documentary Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony about women winning the right to vote in the U.S.
- Attend an event sponsored by each of your local or state political organizations - Republican, Democrat, and Libertarian parties. No fair choosing just one.
- Watch well-regarded legal movies and compare them to actual issues and events (Examples: To Kill a Mockingbird, 12 Angry Men, Inherit the Wind, Amistad, Dark Waters, Argo, All the President's Men, Selma). History vs. Hollywood is a great resource for movies based on actual events; Common Sense Media is helpful for evaluating titles.
- Learn about political funding by determining which businesses and industries are making the biggest federal political contributions in your state. Research how the Citizens United SCOTUS case changed political funding.
- Watch episodes of some "dated" television shows from the 1960s, such as I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith. Consider how women's and girls' roles have changed. Look at 1960s—and 1970s-era laws that affected women's legal status in the U.S.
- Prepare for the civics portion of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization test using the same materials as someone aspiring to become a U.S. citizen.
- Visit a U.S. military base or armed services recruitment center. Talk to current and retired service members or watch videos of interviews with them.
- Volunteer in a public school and/or attend a local school board meeting.
- Play online government simulation games.
- Look for Environmental Protection Agent cleanup sites in your state or community.
- Examine issues where federal and state laws conflict with each other. How do state and federal laws work together or in conflict?
- Read about these teens who ran for governor of U.S. states.
- Explore the films, videos, features, and articles in the PBS American Experience collection, The Presidents.
- Talk to people and read articles with opposing views on divisive topics (library websites—often available from home with a library card—usually have subscriptions to databases such as InfoTrac and Opposing Viewpoints, which offer articles searchable by topic).
You get the idea. Homeschooling provides a unique opportunity to go, do, experience, think, question, and use unusual resources to earn high school credits.
Add your own activities and get your kids' input. Include experiences that both support and challenge your family's usual worldview. Help your teens look for logical fallacies as they speak to people and write about what they are learning.
Understand that this list of activities does not cover every aspect of government, but many aspects will be encountered if this exploration is done using a rabbit-trailing approach to learning
.
Government Lesson Plans, Activities, Videos, and More
Use our curated links below to complete the activities listed above and discover more topics for your government studies.
- Y—Young (PreK-3rd)
- M—Middle (4th-6th)
- O—Older (7th-12th)
- T—Teacher Resources
Civics
Civics 101 Podcast
"What's the difference between the House and the Senate? How do landmark Supreme Court decisions affect our lives? What does the 2nd Amendment really say? Civics 101 is the podcast about how our democracy works...or is supposed to work, anyway." From New Hampshire Public Radio
FiscalNote
FiscalNote was founded with the principle of bringing people closer to their governments. They have created a tool to help you quickly identify and contact elected officials, including members of Congress currently representing you. Regardless of your political affiliation, you have the power to make your voice heard by contacting your representatives and advocating for the issues that matter most to you.
Open to Debate
Open to Debate is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose mission is to address the polarization of U.S. politics and “restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility to American public discourse.” It produces a debate podcast in which listeners are polled before and after the debate to see how their opinions changed after listening to the discourse.
About the United States
Learn about the branches of the US government, government agencies, elected officials, laws, the American Flag, US data and statistics, and more on USA.gov.
Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government
Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government is an educational website “designed to inform students, parents, and educators about the Federal Government, which issues the publications and information products disseminated by the GPO’s Federal Depository Library Program.” It contains interactive, age-appropriate guides on the Branches of Government, How Laws are Made, the Election Process, the Federal vs State Government, Federally Recognized Tribes, and Symbols, Songs & Structures. Also included are games, quizzes, and puzzles. For ages 4-14.
Kids in the House
“The Kids in the House website is a public service provided by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Our mission is to provide educational and entertaining information about the legislative branch of the United States Government to students of all ages. Topics covered include the role of the U.S. House of Representatives, the legislative process, and House history.”
Unit: Mr. Donn’s American Government for Kids
Mr. Donn's Site for Kids & Teachers has an American Government for Kids unit that covers the nation’s founding, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the branches of government, elections, and more. Includes lesson plans, presentations, activities, games, quizzes, and more.
Mr. Tredinnick's United States Government Class
Mr. Tredinnick is a high school social studies teacher who has generously made his comprehensive government curriculum available online for free. The units are listed in reverse chronological order with PDFs of the notes & assignments below the unit overview. The course is one semester and covers “the democratic foundations, structures, and institutions of American government at local, state, and national levels, . . . the political processes . . . and the role of the individuals in the decision-making process of American government, . . . [and] the rights and responsibilities of the citizens of the United States.”
Unit: US Government and Civics
Khan Academy has an excellent full, US Government and Civics online course that covers the Nation’s founding, Branches of Government, Civil Rights, Citizenship, Political Ideologies, Political Participation, and more.
Unit: Democracy in America
Democracy in America is a “comprehensive video course for high school teachers on civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions based on an established civics framework” from the Annenberg Foundation. This 15-part unit covers the Constitution, Federalism, Civil Liberties, the Branches of Government, bureaucracy, elections, interest groups, the media, and more.
High School Government Resources
"Build a foundational understanding of the constitutional system of the United States government and how the system evolved over the course of U.S. History. Each resource contains full lesson plans, essays, activities, teacher support materials, and student comprehension questions." From the Bill of Rights Institute
Middle School Government Resources
"Each resource contains full lesson plans, essays, activities, teacher support materials, and student comprehension questions. Along with scaffolded primary sources and vocabulary lists." From the Bill of Rights Institute
U.S. Government & Politics
Crash Course video playlist based on the 2014 AP U.S. Government and Politics curriculum
Unit: Civics
This eight-lesson Civics unit for grade 1 "provides a broad overview of what it means to be part of a community." From Core Knowledge
Unit: Understanding Civics
This four-lesson Civics unit for grade 4 provides "an overview of the role of government and the rights and duties of citizenship." From Core Knowledge
Founding Documents
The Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, is the foundation of the United States government. Learn more about the Constitution and Bill of Rights on our pages dedicated to those topics.
Balance of Powers
Branches of the US Government
Learn about the U.S. government's executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
Video: Three Branches of Government
This eight-minute video from Learn Bright explains the balance of powers and the three branches of the U.S. government.
Balancing Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances
This lesson plan from EDSITEment has students use primary source documents to explore the branches of government and system of checks and balances written into the Constitution. For grades 6-8.
Legislative Branch
Congressional Committees and the Legislative Process
This lesson plan from EDSITEment “introduces students to the pivotal role that Congressional committees play in the legislative process, focusing on how their own Congressional representatives influence legislation through their committee appointments. Students begin by reviewing the stages of the legislative process, then learn how committees and subcommittees help determine the outcome of this process by deciding which bills the full Congress will consider and by shaping the legislation upon which votes are finally cast.” For grades 9-12.
Legislative Branch Printable & Questions (M)
This printable narrative describes the powers of Congress and includes four short-answer questions regarding the main ideas of the article content, critical thought about the content, and vocabulary from the passage.
Executive Branch
How the President is Elected (M,O,T)
"Find out how a candidate becomes president of the United States. Learn about caucuses and primaries, political conventions, the general election, the Electoral College, and more."
The President's Roles and Responsibilities: Communicating with the President
Through these lessons from EDSITEment, “students learn about the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. president and their own roles as citizens of a democracy.” For grades K-5.
The President's Roles and Responsibilities: Understanding the President's Job
This lesson plan from EDSITEment takes a deeper look at both the “official and unofficial roles and responsibilities of the President of the United States.” For grades 6-8.
Mr. Nussbaum’s U.S. President Page
Overview of the Office of President of the United States, including duties, requirements, and more. For grades 3-6.
Judicial Branch
The Supreme Court: The Judicial Power of the United States
This lesson plan from EDSITEment has students examine the US Constitution and landmark Supreme Court cases to learn about the federal judiciary. For grades 6-8.
Law-Related Education Resources
This website from the State Bar of Texas offers extensive civic and law-related education materials and programs for pre-K through high school teachers. Teachers and students can also access fun, interactive web games built around key civic knowledge and skills.
Political Parties
The First American Party System: Events, Issues, and Positions
"Fear of factionalism and political parties was deeply rooted in Anglo-American political culture before the American Revolution. Leaders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson hoped their new government, founded on the Constitution, would be motivated instead by a common intent, a unity. But political parties did form in the United States, with their beginnings in Washington's cabinet." From EDSITEment for grades 9-12
Timeline of U.S. Political Parties
This printable timeline covers the political parties in the U.S. from 1800 - 2020.
The Function of Political Parties
A video-based lesson plan from C-Span Classroom
Party Systems
This printable overview of political party systems from iCivics is available after free registration.
