This course is designed to give a high school student everything they need to know about being an American citizen. This is accomplished by presenting America’s philosophical roots, historical background, and political structure. By the end of this course, students will understand what it means to be an American.

How to get the most out of American Government with Paul Hyatt:

• First, read the course materials for each week. Reading is not punishment. It is probably the most important way that we grow in knowledge. Set aside about a half an hour to one hour each day to read your Bible, the books for your courses, and perhaps even something for the pure enjoyment of reading (in my case, anything by Tolkien). You will benefit, greatly, from this in life.

• Then, have a notebook ready and available for taking notes. This is very important as people generally retain knowledge better by writing it down, by hand.

• Watch all videos each week. In these videos, I will guide you through the key concepts that you need to have a firm grasp of in order to attain mastery of the material covered in this course. These videos are to be a tool for you to use in order to be successful.

• Do the assignments and any extra work assigned for that week.

• Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.

Special Notes: Course materials provided free. This course includes a writing component.

Total classes: 12

Duration: 55 minutes per class

Prerequisite: None. However, an interest in politics and the social sciences will be helpful.

Suggested grade level: 11th to 12th grade. An advanced, enthusiastic 10th-grade student could do well in this course.

Suggested credit: One full semester Government

Instructors: Paul Hyatt

Course description: This course seeks to get students ready to act in the world by introducing them to the political makeup of the country they live in. This will be accomplished by discovering America’s philosophical and political roots, America’s political structure, and how America’s political structure and philosophical roots have been expressed throughout American history. This is all done to get students to see how the very foundations of American government impact their everyday lives.

Course outline:

Weeks 1 & 2: Foundations of the United States Constitution – Topics discussed: American Philosophical roots, Principles of Government, The United States Constitution

Week 3: Federalism – Topics discussed: The Constitutional Basis of Federalism, How Federalism works, National Supremacy, What Federalism looks like today

Weeks 4, 5, & 6: The Legislative Branch – Topics discussed: Structure and organization of Congress, Elections, Leadership, Committees, Staff, Roles, Privileges, Powers, Lawmaking process, Tactics, and interest groups

Weeks 7, 8, & 9: The Executive Branch – Topics discussed: Origins of the Presidency, Becoming the President, Vice President, Presidential Powers, Limits on Power, Presidential character, Bureaucracy

Week 10: The Judicial Branch – Topics discussed: Federal Court System, Structure of the American Judicial System, Judicial Selection, How the Court works, Judicial Philosophy

Weeks 11 & 12: Rights and Duties - Topics discussed: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Duties as an American citizen

Course materials: This course will not utilize a textbook. We will instead utilize a series of primary sources that will all be accessible through sites like https://www.archives.gov/. We will also, from time to time, utilize news articles from events that are going on currently, in order to discuss how our government works in real-time.

Homework: Homework will consist of 6 essay assignments, a midterm, and a final. The essays are meant to see what students have learned from their weekly readings, the course itself, and potentially from beyond the course. The midterm and final exams will be multiple choice exams that are meant to be a review of the material covered in the course. Answer keys and rubrics are provided. All assignments can be graded without the instructor.

Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2022 Homeschool Connections and Paul Hyatt.   All rights reserved. This course is designed by Paul Hyatt.

• This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws.

• You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.