Law and Government - A Review

Some of my friends tease me that I'm one of those "fun moms" because I do lapbooks with my kids. As I've tried to explain though, I do lapbooks because I'm one of those "lazy moms". Lapbooks are an easy way to sum up a semester, insert a unit study quickly yet thoroughly, or to add some fun variety to a study that isn't catching a child's interest.

In the Hands of a Child creates easy, affordable lapbooks. For this review, I received a Project Pack on Law and Goverment. We have been studying American History this year and I wanted to do a unit study on the side that taught them about the government that was fought for. This project pack was an excellent addition to our studies.

Project packs are engaging enough to keep students' interest and they include everything I need to whip up a quick study. This is where the lazy part comes in. Law and Government includes a:

• Research Guide - this consists of several pages of reading which teaches students about the topic chosen. 
• Lapbook elements - already designed and ready to type into the PDF or to cut out and write on. 
• Activities Instructions - tells you exactly what to do with each of the lapbook elements.
• Answer Key - A quick easy way to assess your student's understanding, or to direct them in answering.

There is actually quite a bit more included, but those are the basics. The Project Pack also includes a suggested reading list to help you create your own in-depth unit study. It includes pictures and instructions to help you assemble your lapbook. It also includes color photos of already assembled lapbooks, so you can see how it could be done. It also includes a lesson plan chart to help you plan a 5 day study. I prefer to do mine in small bites, dragging mine out a bit longer.

This is intended for grades 4th through 8th. I let my 2nd grade daughter sit in on the reading portions and color some of the lapbook elements. Some of it went over her head, but she was able to participate and glean a little bit of new information.

For our lapbooks, I usually print everything and do most of the assembling. My boys enjoy doing lapbooks, but don't like to do any of the cutting or folding. As my girls are getting older, these method may change if they enjoy assembling them on their own. For each element we study, I pull out that page and assemble it the night before. This takes about one minute. ONE minute! The kids take turns coloring or writing in vocabulary words or whatever element we're learning while I read a brief portion from the Research Guide. I collect these finished elements in a ziploc bag and save them until we're finished. Then we all sit down together and arrange them in a file folder book.

The Law and Government Project Pack covered some great little chunks of information. It taught:

• Vocabulary
• What is Government
• 8 possible roles of Government
• 4 most common types of government
• What are laws and why are they important?
• The role of Civil Law and 4 common cases that would fall under Civil Law
• The role of Public Law and the 4 branches of Public Law
• Blue Laws, Common Laws, and Martial Laws
• Trial by Jury
• A bill and the law process it goes through
• 7 steps to creating a law
• Difference between state and national laws
• 7 most common careers in the field of law

Hands of a Child offers many lapbooks within a $10-$15 range. This particular lapbook is usually $10. Hands of a Child also offers some great sales on their products (and even some freebies!) Currently Law and Government is on sale for half off, so you can pick it up for just $5. And for $5, I have a file that I can print and use again later with my younger students.

There were many different lapbooks reviewed by the crew. Be sure to check them out by clicking the image below.

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