Homeschool History Helps: The American Presidents
No American history study is complete without lessons on the American Presidents. And just like all other history topics, we used as many American history activities in our homeschool as we could to learn about the men who have held the highest office in our country.
In 1789, George Washington became the first President of the United States. During his two terms in office, Washington significantly helped shape the path for the office’s future role and powers. Over the past 200 years, more than 40 individuals have filled this role and served as The President of the United States of America.
Here are some cool tools you can use to teach your tweens about them and the Office of the President.
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Table of Contents
The American Presidents
White House Virtual Tour
Although it is referred to as “the people’s house” the White House is also the home and office for the President of the United States. Take a virtual tour inside the White House and watch videos about famous historical artifacts that are inside the home. There are some more tours you can take from home in this list of the best virtual tours of Washington DC.
Online Resources to Study the American Presidents
The White House website also has information about each of the Presidents and First Ladies.
A Timeline Guide to the American Presidents from Scholastic.
Key dates in the lives of each American President from Enchanted Learning.
Videos About American Presidents
Find short videos about each of the American Presidents from The History Channel.
Our favorite video series is The American Presidents, DVDs by Disney Education. The DVDs even include very helpful Educator Guides to print and use as lesson plans.
American President Primary Sources
The National Archives offers information about many of the Presidential Libraries around the country. Find virtual tours, documents, lesson plans and more.
The American Presidency Projects offers a searchable database of more than 100,000 documents related to the study of the American Presidency.
American President Learning Activities
Deliver a Presidential Speech – Using the Presidential Speech Archive, select a speech. Research the context of the speech (when and where it was originally delivered), read (and if available, listen to) the speech, then practice delivering the speech.
Kids can practice writing skills and share their knowledge of current events by writing a letter to the President of the United States.
Play this educational trivia card game with your tween – Professor Noggin’s Presidents of the United States.
LEGO Architecture White House – Build an architectural replica of the White House. 560 LEGO pieces.
Mad Libs for President (Mad Libs) – Fill in funny stories about the presidents, famous speeches and more.
Interesting Books about the American Presidents
- Presidents (Eyewitness Books) – Reference book for kids filled with photos. Clip art CD and wall chart included
- The Everything Kids’ Presidents Book: Puzzles, Games and Trivia – for Hours of Presidential Fun
- American Presidents Coloring Book (Dover History Coloring Book)
- The White House for Kids: A History of a Home, Office, and National Symbol, with 21 Activities (For Kids series)
- Presidential Pets: The Weird, Wacky, Little, Big, Scary, Strange Animals That Have Lived In The White House
Read a biography of your favorite president. Select the biography series that is the best fit for your interests and reading level.
American President Learning Resources
- Presidents of the United States Unit from Our Journey Westward
- President Notebooking Page from The Notebooking Fairy
- U.S. Presidents Fun Facts Cards from Sallie Borrink
- HISTORY Through the Ages: Time Travelers American History Studies by Homeschool in the Woods
As you can see, there are numerous resources available to help you learn all about The American Presidents. Make sure you add some to your American history lesson plans.
What’s your favorite resource for teaching tweens about the American Presidents?
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