Liberty and Justice For All: An Introduction to American Government

This class will be broken down into seven sections:

Weeks 1-3: Introduction & Foundations of American Government o Comparing forms of government o America’s founding principles o America’s founding documents o Roles and relationships between the federal, state, and local governments

Weeks 4-5: The Legislative Branch o Legislatures and the legislative process

Weeks 6-7: The Executive Branch o The presidency o The cabinet

Weeks 8-9: The Judicial Branch o The courts o The criminal justice system o Constitutional law

Weeks 10-11: “We the People” in Government o Citizen participation in American government o Political parties and interest groups o Public policy o Elections and political campaigns

Week 12: America and the World o Foreign policy o American interaction with global issues

Week 13: Student Presentations Outside of class time, students will be expected to complete reading assignments, homework, assessments, and preparation for in-class activities. During class, students will engage in discussion and class activities to focus on exploring core ideas, dissecting worldview(s), and applying learned concepts to their lives.

Class Introduction Video

Coming soon…

✨ 🍋 ✨ Why Lemons-Aid? ✨ 🍋 ✨

A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW: The Bible, infallible and inerrant, is the very written word of God, who has revealed Himself to man. The Bible is like the light we cast on all content areas in order to understand it, whether that be literature, physical science, history, or geometry. Students learn all content through a Biblical lens. Theology is important for understanding all subject areas. We carefully curate courses that capture learners’ imagination while pointing them to God through sound doctrine. THIS is most important!

EXPLICIT TEACHING: We understand the skills and concepts students need to learn and know how to teach them. Lemons-Aid’s materials are top-notch, organized, and clear for students and parents to understand. We are especially skilled at breaking down a complicated process into understandable parts. Further, explicit instruction is “a structured, systematic, and effective methodology for teaching academic skills. It is called explicit because it is an unambiguous and direct approach to teaching that includes both instructional design and delivery procedures. Explicit instruction is characterized by a series of supports or scaffolds, whereby students are guided through the learning process with clear statements about the purpose and rationale for learning the new skill, clear explanations and demonstrations of the instructional target, and supported practice with feedback until independent mastery has been achieved.”

• Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching by Anita L. Archer and Charles A. Hughes.

Anita Archer trained Mrs. Lemons in workshops, and it changed her teaching. Read a little more about the research behind explicit teaching here and here.

STUDENT ACCOUNTABILITY = ACHIEVEMENT: Students master skills with us and make gains. We have a high degree of accountability. Since we make promises here and parents are paying good money, we understand you trust us to work! Students have to work too, and let’s be honest: they’re kids and don’t always want to. We push it. We teach them how to stay engaged, we cold-call on kids, we tell them to use the chatbox, and we want them to use emojis! If they are resistant, we contact the student through the teacher tab first. If that doesn’t work, we call in the big guns–Mom and Dad. We want kids to learn. We don’t want them to pass through our classes without gaining skills and doing great learning.

DO HARD THINGS. Boost your confidence, master new skills, learn new concepts. This takes a commitment to do hard things. Like the standards we have for our teachers, we also expect our learners to do hard things, whether that means they stand firm in their convictions, learn geometry, write an essay, or give an oral presentation. You can do hard things!

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS: To balance our high expectations for their learning and behavior, we build relationships with them. We want them to know we care about and know them. We’ll ask about their play last weekend or the new trick they’re trying to master on the skateboard. We also want students to get to know each other and encourage community engagement.

DEPENDABLE: Multiple teachers are teaching this class, and we have an entire year of lessons planned and scheduled. Since we are a mission-driven organization, we protect our brand and the relationships with our families. We are accountable to our learners. When things come up for teachers, we work to get substitutes and do everything we can before canceling a class. We do not like canceling or changing, and we often teach classes at a loss to give others a chance to join. We have limits, of course, but we are not flippant or irresponsible about canceling! When things come up for students, since we have multiple sections, they can transfer from section to section. All our teachers teach the same content the same week, giving families even more flexibility!

TEACHER FEEDBACK: The back-and-forth work between a student and teacher significantly benefits a student if done well. We follow best practices in designing class time, assignments, and routines. According to Pennington Publishing, effective writing feedback (or grading) is:

• Specific, not general
• Immediate, not postponed
• Routine with a revision / feedback cycle
• Explanatory
• The right amount
• Targeted to the most critical issues
• Varied (written, audio, and video comments)
• Holding students accountable

WORKSHOP TIME: We use “workshop time” so students will work while the teacher answers questions, gets them started, and holds them accountable. In a writing class, the teacher “visits” learners on their Google Documents and watches and helps them write. The immediacy of the feedback/revision cycle with the instructor allows writers to improve rapidly. Additionally, once we started using this method in writing classes, we saw nearly a 100% completion rate in student essays!

GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS: Students need graphic organizers to help them see the structure and breakdown of a concept or process. For example, we use them to help learners understand how to write a paragraph or essay and to use the writing process. This is how they learn to develop coherent ideas. They don’t figure out how to do this magically; the graphic organizers and the intentional, explicit teaching help them learn the skills!

STUDENT MASTERY: Each class includes explicit, direct instruction with teacher modeling. Students are guided toward mastery of skills and understandings to grasp the concepts and become independent. Students are held to a high standard of academic work, including often ignored skills like the use of grammar and neatness in math.

STUDY THE BEAUTIFUL

We are surrounded by the mediocre, which is not good! We see this in expectations at some schools, the poor customer service at a store, and even architecture like in a gray, uninspiring complex of high-occupancy housing.

In contrast, we are surrounded by the beautiful, which is good! We see the beautiful in classic literature, music, and beautiful architecture like pictured here.

The mediocre demoralizes learners while the beautiful inspires.

At Lemons-Aid Learning, we study the beautiful: classic literature, artful sentence construction, art, poetry, maths, God’s hand in all of history, and God’s very creation. His creation glorifies Him, and in our study of all content areas, we learn about who God is.

We do not compromise. This means we don’t choose a graphic novel of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We read the original play. We know how to make the complexity and beauty of classic study approachable and understandable to a modern audience. It’s more difficult, but worth the effort!

For over a century, progressive education reform has been “anti-content,” which means they de-emphasize rich content and focus instructional time on things such as self-esteem and “skills” they hope will benefit a learner in the future. This is why American kids do so poorly in testing compared to nations with content-rich curricula. We want our learners to increase in knowledge and grow in wisdom, which our content-area experts foster while teaching.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

We serve the Lord and we work hard for families. We work to give quick responses to questions, authentic and careful feedback, and to solve any conflict. As home educators ourselves, familiar with the joys and struggles of teaching our own children, we can relate! We are supporting families, equipping learners, and serving Christ. We are 100% devoted to Him and to you!

To read more about our teaching and learning methods, read our blogs, written by our teachers and staff.

The Lemons-Aid Team

Lemons-Aid teachers have a few things in common.
❤️ They love their students and value each of their unique strengths and personalities that make our classes special. Our classes can be described as fun, personal, academic, challenging, and supportive.
🤩 We work to keep learners engaged, so there is always a degree of student accountability for their attention and focus, whether that be through asking them direct questions or by using the chatbox.
💭 We know all kids can learn, but sometimes things are hard! To support students, we teach them how to develop effective thinking and learning habits that will bring them success in class and in life.
🌟 Building relationships with students so they know we care about them helps us balance the high expectations we have for them regarding their effort, work quality, and behavior. Our students are encouraged, cared for, and they achieve!

𝙆𝘼𝙍𝙀𝙉 𝙇𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙉𝙎: English Language Arts
#High-Energy #Skilled #Experienced #Relational #Fun #Faithful
Karen is the Founder of Lemons-Aid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English, a minor in Education, and a master’s degree in Education Administration from Liberty University. With a teaching certificate and a principal’s license in both Washington and Colorado, she has many years of experience teaching English Language Arts and History / Social Studies at the middle school and high school levels. Additionally, she is TESOL and TEFL certified and enjoys teaching English Language Learners from all over the world. She has worked in private and public schools at every level and is currently an affiliate faculty member at Colorado Christian University, supervising teacher candidates in their undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs. She is a teacher of teachers. A homeschool mom herself, she admits that teaching other people’s kids is easier than teaching her own teenage boys! She lives in the Denver, Colorado area where she cheers on the Broncos, Avs, and the Rockies, but her favorite athletes are her own kids who play hockey and baseball!

𝑱𝑬𝑵𝑵 𝑹𝑰𝑨𝑳𝑬: English Language Arts
#Experienced #Knowledgeable #Empowering #Patient #Rises Above the Ordinary.
As a certified English teacher, Jenn has taught in some capacity over the course of the past twenty-five years. She has taught middle school and high school English classes in both private and public school settings, tutored international ESL students online, developed and taught literature and public speaking classes for a local homeschool co-op, and homeschooled her own two children. Jenn has a bachelor’s degree in English Education. A strong believer in lifelong learning, Jenn has also taken several graduate-level courses related to teaching. Jenn enjoys spending time with her husband, Mark, and their two teenagers. She enjoys taking day trips close to where they live in upstate New York. In her spare time, Jenn enjoys singing and performing in plays. Additionally, she enjoys curling up on the sofa to read a good book. More than likely, one of her four cats will be curled up at her feet.

𝙆𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙁𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙈𝘼𝙉: Elementary
#Fun #Inspiring #LoveForLearning
Kristen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with a minor in child psychology from Liberty University. For nearly a decade, she has worked in elementary school classrooms, as a private tutor, and as an online ELL teacher. While passionate about education in general, her favorite subjects to both study and teach are reading, grammar, and writing. She and her husband are actively involved in a church where she works as a Sunday School teacher and Children’s Ministry teacher to ages 4-6. No matter where she is teaching, Kristen tries to find ways to connect with her students and to create an exciting classroom that builds a passion for education. It is her desire to not only teach a subject but also to foster a love of learning which inspires students to want to learn more even once the class is completed. Kristen lives in Virginia with her husband, daughter, and their new baby boy! In her spare time, Kristen loves to create teaching content such as interactive lesson plans, worksheets, and more! She also enjoys doing family outings and crafting.

𝙈𝙍𝙎. 𝘼𝙇𝙄:
Elementary
#Engaging #Fun #Patient #Kind #Encouraging
Ali has a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and has worked with children over the last 11 years. She taught for 6 years in public school, 2 years in Kindergarten and 4 years in First Grade. She has worked as a reading tutor and ESL teacher online for the last 4 years; she has also tutored children in-person in reading, writing, and STEM. Ali believes that every child is a natural learner; she believes that an educator’s goal is to engage each child in the way that they learn best! She is passionate about creating a safe and FUN environment that teaches the whole child. Each time she enters a classroom, whether it is in-person or online, you can find her singing, playing games, and making learning fun. Ali lives in Missouri, near St. Louis with her husband, son, and fur-child (an 80 lb. German Shepherd who doesn’t know how big he is). In her free time she loves reading, writing, crafts, hiking, working out, and spending time with my family.

𝙆𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙀𝙍𝙇𝙔 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙎𝙄: English
#Energetic #Kind #Encouraging #Authentic #Enthusiastic #Guide
Kim loves life, loves people, and loves learning! She views each student as a team member with his or her own unique talents, skills and life experience to bring to the group. She loves helping students expand their knowledge and sharpen their skills to reach their greatest potential. Kim has a Bachelor’s degree from Cairn University in secondary Education with certification in English (NY and PA) and endorsement in music. Her classroom experience has focused on English, PE and Bible education, but she has tutored in a variety of areas including ESL, special ed, math, history, science and music (piano and voice). She lives in northeast PA with her wonderful family. She has homeschooled all of her seven children. The youngest five are still in school and ensure that every day is an adventure. Kim also coaches intramural and competitive sports throughout the year. She loves music, sports, reading and taking long walks up her dirt road admiring wildflowers, listening to birds and reflecting on what she is learning in life!

𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙄𝙀𝙇𝘼 𝙂𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙄𝘼: Spanish
#happy, #joyful, #IloveGod, #Jesusismyking, #creative
Mariela loves reading the whole Bible, but Esther is one of her favourite books. God´s name is never even pronounced, but He is in every moment in Esther´s life but also in His people, Israel. Nothing goes out of God´s control and we can see His power, wisdom, care and perfect will accomplished in every character, even if they wanted it or not. Mordecai´s words, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” are so encouraging, remembering that we have to value and use the place God has placed us in to do what is right. But Esther´s words “And if I perish, I perish” are Mariela´s favourites. What an example of living sacrifice! Mariela has a Bachelor’s degree in Science and Arts oriented in programming in Guatemala and a TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) Certificate in Mexico. She has also studied different diplomats: Word of Life Bible Institute in Argentina, where she lived for almost three years; “Math Their Way”; “Learning thru training fields”; “Biblical Counseling”; and “TPRS 01 Training” in Mexico. Mariela has 13 years of experience teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in kindergarten, elementary and middle school. She also has more than 20 years teaching the Bible in Sunday School. Miss Mariela is a very dynamic teacher who loves hands-on activities, online learning games, using research innovative tools, and having fun in class, while learning and assessing positively to encourage students to enjoy speaking other languages. Mariela enjoys spending time at home with her family, her husband Geronimo, her two kids, Jonathan and Bryana, and her three Jack Russells, Jack, Rose and Tommy. She loves cooking, baking and reading a good book with a hot cup of coffee. She likes swimming as a sport, pretty much because she is afraid of balls 😜 and she loves going to the park to walk and have picnics. She loves spending vacations at the beach because watching the ocean is one of her favorites ways to worship the Lord seeing such an amazing creation!

𝘽𝙀𝘾𝙆𝙔 𝙋𝘼𝘿𝙂𝙀𝙏𝙏: Spanish
#thoughtful #creative #athletic #silly #adventurous
Becky loves the Psalms because it contains some of her favorite scripture and songs from her childhood. Becky graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Education and a minor in Anthropology from Purdue University. She holds a teaching certificate in the state of Alaska. She is currently seeking her Masters of Arts in Global Studies at Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity. She has been in the classroom teaching high school Spanish for over twenty five years. She also has orchestrated international travel trips and a travel exchange with a school in Spain. Becky’s favorite thing about teaching is her students. She loves seeing the looks of excitement on her student’s faces when they start to communicate in another language. Her classes are fun and filled with a variety of activities and brain-friendly content. Her goals for her students are to be able to engage and communicate within the Hispanic world and to become curious, life-long learners. She loves traveling, hiking, and fishing with family. She enjoys making her own yogurt, kombucha, and sourdough bread. She reads a lot about self-sustaining lifestyles and praises God for the beautiful natural world He created.
🎥 Video coming soon

𝘽𝙇𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝘿𝘼𝙃𝙇𝙈𝙀𝙔𝙀𝙍: Create Arts & Music
#artistic, #curious, #entrepreneurial, #empathetic, #relational
I hold a Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Studies Degree from Western Connecticut State University. I’ve been producing, performing, and teaching music to people of all ages for over 10 years. In addition to teaching, I regularly perform, write, record, produce, and mix various music projects of my own and for other artists and clients. I’m deeply passionate about music and creating, and I love to share the joy and knowledge of how to express oneself musically with my students. My classroom is lively, lighthearted, and upbeat. You can expect lots of encouragement while I give feedback and pointers to improve. I aim to cultivate your creativity, stretch your musicality, and hone in on what sparks your musical curiosity. I love to to laugh with my wife. I love to be with my family and the friends who may as well be family. I love to create, whether in the form of music, writing, drawing, or painting. I enjoy that process. As of right now, my favorite book of the Bible is Ephesians! I love meditating on who I am in Christ and what I have been given access to in Him. Ephesians breaks that down beautifully.

𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙎𝙢𝙮𝙩𝙝: History Social Studies
#patient, #encouraging, #relational, #passionate, #always learning
Mr. Smyth’s favorite book of the Bible is 1 Corinthians. He had the opportunity to visit the ruins of ancient Corinth, a place that made the book come alive. He especially likes that it includes the earliest known Christian creed (1 Cor. 15:3-5). Mr. Smyth graduated from Patrick Henry College with a Bachelor of Arts in Government. He earned a High School Social Studies teaching certification from Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) in 2015. He also studied hermeneutics (the study of biblical interpretation) at Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mr. Smyth has firsthand experience with and knowledge of the American electoral system and legislative system. In college, he supported the U.S. executive branch by providing helpful information and analysis to national security professionals. Since then, he has worked as a writer, researcher, and analyst. He is a lifelong student of history, government, and Scripture. Mr. Smyth’s classroom emphasizes connection, confidence, and critical thinking. He aims to help students enjoy the learning experience while they engage the material and exercise their minds. He sees himself as a coach and a cheerleader for each of his students. Mr. Smyth enjoys spending time with his family, going on walks (and generally spending time outside), watching/reading/listening to good stories, hands-on projects (like auto repair), and volunteering at church. He spends lots of time learning about history (American, British, church, and military are his favorites), machines (cars and airplanes, especially), and technology. He is also writing a historical novel in his spare time.

𝘿𝘼𝙉𝙄𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀 𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀: Science
#engaging, #passionate, #supportive, #knowledgeable, #dedicated
Danielle’s favorite book of the Bible is any of the books by Paul the Apostle, but her absolute favorite of his writings is the book of Galatians. Paul teaches that we are justified through faith, not by works. Our works should make our faith apparent, but are not what get us to Heaven. So no matter how many times we mess up and drift away from God, it is our faith that justifies us, not what we do. Danielle earned her Bachelor’s of Science in General Biology in 2010, then she went on to earn her Master’s of Science in Curriculum and Instruction in 2020. She is currently certified in grade 6-12 for science and biology. Danielle has worked in a traditional brick and mortar school for 7 years and taught online for 1 year. Most of her experience is in middle school, 6th-8th general science and high school biology. She has also taught conservation biology programs at two different zoos as a coordinator and education assistant. Mrs. Mortimore’s classroom is engaging and fun. Students feel welcomed to ask questions no matter how silly they may seem. Students are also asked questions quite often to encourage participation. Every lesson starts with an overarching question that students will answer, and instruction is hands-on and phenomena based. When Danielle is not working, she is often brainstorming on future lessons/courses. She enjoys reading fantasy fiction, playing videos games with her husband, walking their dog, and attending church.

KENDRA MANCUSO: Math
#energetic, #caring, #blessed, #organized, #experienced
Mrs. Mancuso’s favorite book of the Bible is James. This book is filled with wisdom, instructions and encouragement for believers. James exhorts believers to grow in their faith and maturity. Mrs. Mancuso remembers James 1:2-4 when she encounters trials; “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Mrs. Mancuso earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from University of Northwestern – St. Paul. She has over 20 years of experience as a private math tutor. Mrs. Mancuso has taught in a private high school setting and as an adjunct at a university. She has taught math levels ranging from upper elementary to college level. She has taught in both a classroom setting and as a private math tutor. Mrs. Mancuso engages her students in her lessons by asking lots of questions. These questions help students discover new concepts, remember old skills and build a strong foundation in math. Her classroom is interactive and exciting for students. When Mrs. Mancuso isn’t teaching or working, she enjoys spending quality time with her husband and sons. She loves to spend time outside hiking, being on the water, or just hanging out in the fresh air.

LUKE LEMONS: Science
#passionate #diligent #thoughtful #efficient #understanding
Luke loves the book of Isaiah! It is an excellent picture of the faithfulness of the Lord to His chosen people and the use of Isaiah, a human, to do amazing things on behalf of God. God used Isaiah as an instrument for His long-term plan. Isaiah didn’t know what the Lord’s plan was but faithfully followed Him and fearlessly professed on behalf of the Lord to His people. Isaiah 6:8 – Then [Isaiah] heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then [Isaiah] said, “Here am I. Send me!” Luke has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and Biomedical Sciences with a dual emphasis in Pre-medical Sciences and Cellular and Molecular Biology. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and was a part of Sigma Zeta National Honor Society. Further, he was selected as a Young Scholar for the American College of Cardiology. He is an Emergency Medical Technician and a researcher for the Master’s University Biological and Physical Sciences Program. He has experience teaching large tutoring groups of college students and especially helps with Anatomy and Physiology, Molecular Genetics and Genomics. He is also a substitute teacher at a special needs school and coaches kids with special needs play to play hockey. With Luke, students will experience a tutor who has been in their shoes before! Science classes are extremely difficult and can be frustrating, so students will be in an understanding environment that recognizes each individual’s level of understanding. Students will feel equipped with tailored explanations of the material and will understand the purpose of learning it by relating it to real-life examples in the field of science, medicine, and research. Students will leave the classroom feeling reassured, reinvigorated, and ready for the class and material they are studying. Right now, Luke spends the majority of his time applying for medical schools. In his free time, he likes to work on his car.
🎥 Video coming soon

𝙍𝙊𝘽𝙀𝙍𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙇𝙎𝙃: Coding/Tech
#developer #experienced #fun #making-learning-relevant #entrepreneur
I like the Gospels, especially Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I also like Acts. I enjoy the Bible not only for its message but also for its historical context, and I think these books in particular give a sense for what it was like in that time period. I hold a B.S. in Secondary Mathematics Education and an M.Ed in STEM Leadership. I am currently certified by the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) to teach a variety of subjects including computer science. While I did teach math in public school for a few years, those degrees book-end a career spent in technology, largely as a software developer. I bring my extensive experience, not only in creating technical products but also in the process of creating technical products, to every class that I teach. Learning for me should be a fun experience, so even though I am very focused on the material we are studying, I believe we can have a good time while doing so. Learning should also be relevant and have a purpose, so I like to give lots of real-world examples and connections. I like sports and played several growing up. I also like to read and work in the yard. The best part of my job is creating the projects that we then do in class. Coming up with new ideas, figuring out how to make them work, then preparing and teaching the lessons is a blast!

𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀𝙉𝙉𝘼 𝙎𝙋𝙍𝙔: English

Christian Teachers on Outschool

We want to serve you on Lemons-Aid! For first-time learners on Lemons-Aid, you can use the coupon code Newbie20 to get $20 off your first class.

However, if the schedule doesn’t work for you, we will happily teach you on Outschool, but we can’t talk about Jesus.

Use this referral code and get $20 off your first class on Outschool: LEMONSA2020

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