Friday, March 24, 2006

Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids

I am going to write a magazine article on this, but thought I’d throw this out now.
Ben’s Guide, http://bensguide.gpo.gov/ is a kids web site sponsored by the Government Printing Office (GPO). An excellent educational tool, Ben’s guide has sections for every level of student. There is a lot one can discover just looking around: for example, Why Yankee Doodle “Stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni” has always puzzled me. What did the Colonists know of macaroni? But at Ben’s you can discover that macaroni was a style of fancy dress. So, really, the song is calling Yankee Doodle a country rube. Read about it by going here. One can listen to the song or view the words. Viewing the words allows you to see definitions of some words in the song. Your student can also view primary sources such as the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, and the Federalist Papers. There are also links to other Government web sites for kids. Many of them are really nice, including the National Park Service. The CIA also has a section for kids!


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