Our social studies lessons will equip students with the knowledge and understanding of the past necessary for coping with the present and planning for the future, enable them to understand and participate effectively in their world, and explain their relationship to other people and to social, economic, and political institutions. We believe that social studies can provide students with the skills for productive problem solving and decision making, as well as for assessing issues and making thoughtful value judgments. Above all, social studies education help students to integrate these skills and understandings into a framework for responsible citizen participation, whether in their play group, the school, the community, or the world.