Empower Your Child With Knowledge: The Advantages of Civic Education Books for Young Learners

Children who feel empowered have a stronger sense of self-worth and independence. Empowering them also cultivates their resilience and problem-solving skills so they can overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

The Founders gave us “a Republic if you can keep it,” which requires a virtuous and educated citizenry. But civic education is getting short shrift in schools.

Promotes Independence

The Founders believed their Republic “can only be kept if we have a people trained to comprehend it.” Today’s schools have much more pressing concerns than Benjamin Franklin imagined. Civic education is rarely taught in elementary and middle school and has been reduced to a single course in high school.

In contrast, students who attend a school that supports democratic practices in the classroom and community teaches respect for teachers and peers, and encourages extracurricular activities are more likely to be engaged citizens in adulthood. Civic learning occurs outside the classroom, in homes, neighborhoods, the marketplace, religious communities, and other voluntary associations.

In fostering a well-rounded education for children, parents and educators often explore resources like a civic education book for children, providing valuable insights into civic responsibilities and democratic principles.

Rather than simply filling knowledge gaps, civics literacy should foster democratic dispositions that empower citizens to challenge government entities and confront social injustice. That means teaching children about dissenting voices and forms of resistance, acknowledging structural injustices, and developing avenues for peaceful change.

Helps Build Self-Confidence

Civic education focuses on teaching young people how our government works and teaches students to engage with their local community. This knowledge and the skills they learn are essential to sustaining constitutional democracy.

It advocates an enlightened citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy. It develops high-quality curriculum materials and provides excellent professional development for teachers.

It also publishes the premier elementary practitioner journal that blends practical teaching inspirations with theory. Civic learning experts point out that American schools tend to put a premium on reading, math, and science education while placing less emphasis on civics. The nation’s report card on student achievement shows that only a tiny percentage of students have reached proficient levels in civics.

Encourages Self-Discipline

Although the National Education Goals and curricular requirements in every state express the need for civics and government, this vital part of students’ overall education needs more sustained attention. Too often, it is taught as a byproduct of studying history, literature, economics, or other disciplines.

The school should be where citizens acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to sustain our constitutional democracy. It is also a place where the virtues of civic participation—such as seeking the welfare of others, defending convictions in the face of opposing views and working to build coalitions with those whose values may not fully align with one’s own—are learned through experience. In addition, the school should be a place where people develop their capacity to cherish truth, goodness, and beauty.

Promotes Critical Thinking

As Benjamin Franklin said, we have “a Republic, if you can keep it.” And maintaining our republic depends on civic engagement—the kind that comes from a robust education.

Sadly, civic education often aligns with apprenticeship models that assume young children are acting as individuals and incapable of engaging as community members.

But what if we shifted our view of what it means to be a citizen? What if we saw that the young can engage in the problematic world of civic action just as adults do? To test this, we asked classroom researchers to document and categorize actions that young children took on behalf of others. Then, we analyzed their lists through open coding to develop themes. The results are startling.

Helps Develop Communication Skills

A solid civic education enables individuals to understand how governments function and the structures of democratic systems. It can also help them identify and address societal issues, promoting responsible citizenship.

Advocates of civic learning worry about the current narrow focus on reading, math, and science in American schools. They point out that businesses complain that recent school graduates lack the skills needed to work in a complex, fast-paced world.

Social justice-oriented civics education is critical to developing a functional democracy, as it allows students from historically marginalized communities to envision themselves as critical political actors. It teaches students how to keep government entities in check, impede attempts to undermine democratic norms and processes and create avenues for peaceful change. It also encourages students to speak out against injustices.