Election Day 2008

This morning Mane came with me to vote. We talked about how people cannot advertise or campaign at the polling station (or within a certain number of feet of the polling station), and that's why she couldn't wear a sticker for the presidential candidate. We also talked about how this election isn't just for president but for many other state & local offices as well.

At home we printed a U.S. map & practiced finding the states and writing down the number of electoral votes each state gets. This means that, of course, we talked about electoral votes and how they work. We talked about red states & blue states, the symbols of the donkey & the elephant, and we printed pictures of Obama & McCain for her notebook. Tonight we'll color states red & blue according to their electoral votes. We briefly discussed other parties, too (and that the word party refers to a group of people, not a fiesta!).

Mane asked a lot of questions today about the differences between the candidates for president, and we ended up talking about how taxes work, along with the basic issues of the environment and education. It always amazes me how much she's interested in everything AND how much she learns when she's interested.

We have been working a fair amount on learning that disagreeing with the other political party doesn't mean that we hate them or that they're bad people. This is a difficult concept for children who are still in the concrete and literal stage of development. As a matter of fact, this is a fairly difficult concept for most people, too, especially during election season. I know that Mango & I speak harshly of the other political party, and having small ears listening is teaching me to speak with more care and grace. It's hard to teach that it's ok to be frustrated (even angry?) about another political position without thinking the other person is bad. I've been repeating this type of thing a lot: "Mr. ____ just has different ideas about how to take care of the earth. I think his ideas are wrong, but that doesn't make him a bad person." Maybe we should all work on that.

We read Papa's Mark by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert, which tells the story of a black man voting for the first time & also raises the issue of how African American people were not allowed to learn to read, write or do math as long as they were slaves. We followed up with the story, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom , by Carol Boston Weatherford, as a continuation of talking about slavery & freedom.

Tonight (and tomorrow) we'll add electoral votes together for math practice!