TOLEDO, Ohio — As Election Day is around the corner, you may be wondering how it's being taught in classrooms full of kids.
At Escuela SMART Academy, a Toledo Public School, teachers are using activities that require full attention and hands-on activities to understand Election Day.
Teachers start with a demonstrational video that shows the voting process. They also explain what the White House is and what rooms are there. To keep the kids attentive, the teacher asks students to repeat phrases such as "the president lives in the White House."
"We want to share with our students the importance that their voice matters and it's important that there's an opportunity that everyone gets the opportunity to vote," Natasha Allen, the school's principal said. "They can't vote quite yet but we want to encourage them."
The kids are also given prompts asking them to count votes and choose a winner based on who received the most votes.
"It begins when they're younger so they can understand the concept of choice and participation and fairness and that their voice matters," Allen said.
Allen said this exposure to decision-making at an early age helps prepare them.
"Just because you disagree with another student in your class, that's fine," Allen said. "We want to teach them not to be angry, you have your own voice for a reason and you get to make your own choice."
Teachers also hand out individual sheets to each student asking them follow-up questions with a few fun spaces for drawing and coloring.
Allen said she thinks it's important for parents to also teach their kids early on that it is OK to disagree on certain topics as long as they are being respectful.