Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 22:05     Subject: Civics Class 8th Grade
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think my daughter’s civics class is too advanced for the average 8th grader. They were studying the government shutdown and since no textbooks are that recent they used news articles. One article was from the BBC. I read the article to see how I could help her. I’m following government closely but this article from the BBC was so long and dry I wonder how much she could retain.

She will be tested on the second quarter work and it’s a lot. From what I remember when I looked at her review sheet there was info on the Magna Carta and King John and the Barons and how much was used by the colonists. There was a lot about the constitution and how different areas came about, info on the Tea Party. It seemed to cover a lot of years but just bits and pieces.

Does anyone have a middle schooler taking civics and if so what are they learning?


It looks like they discussed the historic documents that were a part of the basis for developing the Constitution. They probably discussed the two party system and examples of third parties that made a splash, the Tea Party.

Did you ask your child how these things were connected? Or look through the info that is probably on her Schoology page?


That makes sense. At the beginning it was more like I thought civics would be about. They discussed amendments to the constitution. Freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the basic important issues of today. There was something in the first quarter about the repeal of Roe v Wade and states rights.

My daughter is an average student and they don’t have honors classes in middle school except math so I would guess some kids fly through it easily and some, like my daughter, has a hard time getting through the reading. The BBC article was long and dry. Does anyone have tips on helping a student who’s not an enthusiastic reader to get through these types of writing?

Speechify! It’s not cheap (about $100 a year; though sign up, don’t join asap and you’ll get offers). It’s helpful for my 8th grade DS with a similar profile. Upload files and it reads aloud (helpful to read along)—many voices / tonality. I think they also have a feature that chunks
The material visually..

Notebook LM is another option


Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 14:10     Subject: Civics Class 8th Grade
OP here. She brought home a four page outline yesterday that she had to write a paragraph for each question. She has the test Monday so it’ll be interesting how she does. Based on the posters here I guess these subjects are standard for civics.
Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 13:21     Subject: Civics Class 8th Grade
Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't an 8th grader be able to read a BBC article without trouble?


Yes, most news outlets are writing to a MS grade level but the articles can be dense and long. That is why I suspect that it was something that they did together in class and that the child was supposed to be reviewing the material. If you are not used to reading articles in that format it can probably feel overwhelming.
Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 12:10     Subject: Civics Class 8th Grade
Shouldn't an 8th grader be able to read a BBC article without trouble?
Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 11:42     Subject: Re:Civics Class 8th Grade
I just looked at my kids Grade Book. They had a grade for Anatomy of the Constitution recently, that could tie into the historical documents you were discussing. There was also something for the Political Process and Fundamental Principals in Civics.

I would have your child reach out to the teacher about the BBC article. I would ask her if they read it together in class but let her contact the teacher.
Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 07:24     Subject: Civics Class 8th Grade
My child’s 8th grade social studies class pretty much reads nothing. So there’s that side of the coin.
Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 05:54     Subject: Civics Class 8th Grade
I’d email the teacher and explain the BBC article issue and ask how much time your kid should spend plowing through it. It could have been provided by the civics department and thus teacher is not emphasizing it.
Anonymous
Post 12/10/2025 19:57     Subject: Civics Class 8th Grade
This sounds fine to me. My son was in 8HN civics last year. In an article, if it's too long, have her highlight and focus on the first sentence of every paragraph.