I believe in teaching children in an active way whenever possible. When studying the Civil War, we toured a real battlefield. When studying science, we built models and carried out experiments. When studying local history, we went to see historical reenactments at a nearby state landmark. Children learn so much more when they are active participants in an experience than when they only read a book. That is why, when studying government, I want to do everything I can to include experiences from real life in my children's education.

Exercising our vote

Voting is an essential part of government. It is the one opportunity that every citizen has to truly make their voice heard. As such, my husband and I make every effort to vote in each election, from the county clerk to the President of the United States. We also do our best to be informed about the candidates.

As we study the candidates running for office, we share what we learn with our kids. We answer their questions hone

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"I'm not concerned about the very poor," Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney told CNN in February. "We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it." But the budget proposed by his Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, targets much of that same safety net, with more than half of its cost-cutting measures aimed at the very poor, including women and children.

Related: Who is Janna Ryan? A stay-at-home mom with a powerful -- and democratic -- political family

Ryan's track record on the issues that matter most to women has come under fire in the few days since Romney picked him to be his running mate. He voted against the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act, is a passionate advocate for fetal personhood, and has voted several times to defund Planned Parenthood. As a first-term congressman in 1998, he said that he favored overturning Roe v. Wade and would let states decide whether to criminalize abortion. (While he says he hasn't called for jailing women who have abortio

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By Mary Kate Cary

In every presidential election since 1964, more women have voted than men. In the last few presidential elections, voter turnout rates for women have equaled or exceeded voter rates for men in nearly every age group; in fact, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, in 2008 nearly 10 million more women than men cast their ballots in the presidential race. Republicans can't afford to ignore the women's vote, which now constitutes 53 percent of the electorate.

Exit polls from Super Tuesday voting showed that one fifth of the those who voted in Ohio were working women; in Virginia, married women made up a third of the electorate. In Oklahoma, more than half of voters were female.

[Read Mary Kate Cary, Robert Schlesinger, and other U.S. News columnists in U.S. News Weekly, available on iPad.]

Many women consider themselves independent voters. In the 2010 elections, the Pew Research Center found that among female independ

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After her husband, newly named Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, introduced her to the country on Saturday, Janna Ryan smiled broadly and waved, but turned down a chance to speak to the crowd.

"You sure?" GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney asked as she politely refused to take the microphone he held out to her after the rally.

It's easy to assume that she must be new to the scene, but Janna Ryan has simply managed to stay out of the spotlight until now. As the wife of a congressman, she knows that everything from her dresses (department store bargains) to her home (eight bathrooms) will be under the microscope, and she's no stranger to politics: A former Washington insider turned stay-at-home-mom, she grew up Madill, Oklahoma, the daughter of two lawyers in a politically active family with deep Democratic connections.

Related: Is there really a "War on Women"?

"She came from a small town, and we had big ideas of going to Washington and making a difference," Sha

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Summer Sanders is no stranger to celebrity. A champion swimmer with four Olympic medals who has forged a successful career as a TV host and sports commentator, Sanders is used to being in rare company. Still, spending the day with first lady Michelle Obama and sitting with her to cheer for the USA Swim Team on the first day of the 2012 London Olympics was definitely a highlight.

"To walk in with the first lady of the United States was pretty awesome," she told Yahoo!. "It was surreal in a way, because it was such a huge moment for me...I was almost pinching myself that I was walking in with the first lady."

Related: More Olympic coverage at Yahoo! Sports

After spending the day together on July 28, "We went and sat down in our seats, and then it became like a fun session for me, sort of teaching her about swimming," says Sanders, who is also the Olympic swimming analyst for Yahoo! Sports. She introduced the first lady to some of the "Who's Who" of the Olympic swimming world, and then

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