One of the most important events in American government and politics is the election of the president. Knowledge Box Central has created a lapbook to help you to study this important event. The Presidential Elections Process K-5th Grade Lapbook is a hands-on study that uses the lapbooking approach to teach your children the value and importance of the presidential elections process. It is suggested for kindergarten through fifth grade, but there is also a coordinating study for older children available on the website.

When you purchase the Pre-Assembled lapbook, you also receive the Presidential Elections Process K-5th Grade e-book. Other available formats include a CD (so that you have a hard copy to keep) and a printed version to assemble yourself.

The Pre-Assembled lapbook comes with all of the booklets already fastened into the folders. Everything has been prepared so that you can jump right in and get started. The graphics are in patriotic red and blue, and the booklets are created in an interesting array of patterns. There are scrolls, stars, a Liberty Bell, the American flag, stars, a map, and even a voting box.

The Student Instruction Guide is a detailed set of directions that walks you through the individual projects in the lapbook. These directions are written in such a way that an older child could read them and do the projects on her own. The Teacher's Guide supplement enables you to facilitate your child's understanding of the elections process. It includes answers to all of the booklet questions as well as information on presidential candidates, national conventions, campaigns, polling places, the Electoral College and the inauguration. There is a chart and map of each state and its electoral votes for your use, a list of additional resources and websites, and a list of online games that have a presidential or election theme. The e-book contains helpful Web links to other information.

You can make this as simple or as in-depth as you would like. The booklet projects deal with voting age, presidential terms, history of the political parties, what a caucus is, and many other terms and events. Through these activities, your children will complete a lapbook that they can refer to later. Having the study in e-book format or on CD will also allow you to use it again later, for other children or as a repeat study on a more in-depth level.

If you purchase something other than the Pre-Assembled format, don't worry. Mrs. Kinney includes a step-by-step Assembly Guide with examples of how to fold the folders and where to place each project booklet. It also has color pictures a completed lapbook. You will find the templates for the booklets on the last pages. Everything you will need to complete your lapbook is included.

If you have the time to assemble your own, it can be a fun art project for you and your children. After some cutting, pasting, and fastening, the lapbooks are ready to write in. Your children can then add whatever embellishments you have available for them to decorate the lapbook. The booklet projects are easy to cut out and fun to do, and they cover a lot of information.

If you want a lapbooking project that is fun, quick, and ready to work on, the Pre-Assembled version of the Presidential Elections Process is a great choice for your homeschool.

Product review by Jacque Dixon, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August 2008