Dolphin Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 We are going along pretty smoothly now, it only took 4 years! :glare: I was going to do Mapping the world by heart, and I just never seem to have the time. Is there an independent Geography that my 6th grader could do on his own? Just something easy that I could throw in so that he is getting something? I still want to do mapping, but I am finding that teaching 1st grade for the 1st time is kicking my tush! (we started with ds in 3rd). Thanks in advance. ETA: Update on post 18. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 You could let him explore the games on Sheppard Software's site http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/. This year (8th), I handed my daughter the dvds for Mapping the World with Art by Ellen McHenry and she did it entirely independently, at least the mapping portion, and found it easy. When she was in 5th, I believe, we did a lot of watching Globe Trekker episodes (the only one I had issues with for appropriate content was one on festivals, where they went to various parades and festivals, some of which were way too adult---in their defense, it's not marketed as a kid's show). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 We are using Discovering the World of Geography workbooks. I have only used the first of the four workbooks so far. It has been excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc26 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 We are using Discovering the World of Geography workbooks. I have only used the first of the four workbooks so far. It has been excellent. That's what I have planned for next year. Actually I got the 5-6, 6-7 and 7-8 as e books and printed them for both my kids. I think they look great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedogfarm Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 We are using Trail Guide to Geography for the second year in a row. We did world geography last year and are doing US this year. They have three different levels (a sixth grader would probably use the intermediate level). If you get the student pages (a disk contains them all) you can just print out the workbook. VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you get the atlas that she casually mentions because some of the questions can not be readily answered by just any atlas (one in particular I am thinking about was which country produced the most coffee among the 4 she listed. We struggled to find the answer--turns out the atlas she casually mentioned that might be a good one to use had a BAR GRAPH on the continent page. We were using the beginner level so it was a rather tough question for the younger folk to research out). We have a set of encyclopedias which make the "trails" very easy to do do if we don't have a book on the particular topic. This way you do not have to have steady stream of library books available at just the right time. My kids are in 4th and 5th grade and they do geography daily and with very little help from me. If I had the time and the desire I would go through the pages more thoroughly and throw out some of the questions, mapping, etc. but overall it's a decent program (if you buy the student page disk!). And in actuality, you could just get away with the student pages if you didn't feel the need to have the answers from the book itself--that would make this program really inexpensive! I hardly ever use the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 obviously not a thorough program, but I started my 10 yo on stack the states - he's actually learning them lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Not a thorough program either, but my kids have learned a ton watching CNN Student News with a globe in front of them. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Similar to previous posters, our "get 'er done" option that could be handed off and done by the student solo contained these two elements: 1. Sheppard Software free online geography games 2. workbooks (completed 2 workbooks in 1 year -- I recommend doing BOTH types of workbooks, as they emphasize different skills): Discovering the World of Geography (more "thinking" questions) gr. 5-6 = United States gr. 6-7 = Western Hemisphere MCP Charts & Graphs (more map work) level F (gr. 6) = Eastern Hemisphere level G (gr. 7) = World Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 Wow, I have a lot of options to look at. Thank you sooooo much. Of to do internet research now. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 My 7yo is learning a lot just from the iPad app Stack the Countries. I have her play it a few times a week. It teaches the names, major cities, locations, flags and languages of each country. We focus on one continent for months at a time. Also, we have a world map hanging on the wall next to our kitchen table. We have been working on Europe for a few months now and she is better than I am at locating the countries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 Such great ideas. After looking at everything I am definitely going to make use of Sheppard's. I am also going to give the Memoria Press Geography a try. I didn't even realize that they had it. Thank you again for all the responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddlemomma Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Someone on here shared the fact that Stack the States was offered free on Amazon. (THANK YOU!!). Anyway, I got that on my Kindle Fire and showed it to DD. The kid is now addicted. Within a couple days, she had her states memorized. Now I can give her a blank US map and she can fill in all the states. Not only that, but she knows half of the flags and most of the capitols as well. I also have Stack the Countries which she has worked on some and knows quite a bit of her countries, especially Europe due to her work with TOG. She has told me that when she exhausts "Stack the States", she will concentrate more on "Stack the Countries". If you can get those two games: State the States and Stack the Countries, you'll be surprised how much your kid learns in a relatively short period of time. Of course it doesn't replace a whole curriculum, but if you don't have a lot of time and are trying to squeeze geography in, these programs may be a great alternative to get the job done until you can get a more fleshed out program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Similar to previous posters, our "get 'er done" option that could be handed off and done by the student solo contained these two elements: 1. Sheppard Software free online geography games 2. workbooks (completed 2 workbooks in 1 year -- I recommend doing BOTH types of workbooks, as they emphasize different skills): Discovering the World of Geography (more "thinking" questions) gr. 5-6 = United States gr. 6-7 = Western Hemisphere MCP Charts & Graphs (more map work) level F (gr. 6) = Eastern Hemisphere level G (gr. 7) = World I like these THANKS!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 That's what I have planned for next year. Actually I got the 5-6, 6-7 and 7-8 as e books and printed them for both my kids. I think they look great.Could you tell me where you managed to find these as ebooks? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 You could let him explore the games on Sheppard Software's site http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/. This year (8th), I handed my daughter the dvds for Mapping the World with Art by Ellen McHenry and she did it entirely independently, at least the mapping portion, and found it easy. When she was in 5th, I believe, we did a lot of watching Globe Trekker episodes (the only one I had issues with for appropriate content was one on festivals, where they went to various parades and festivals, some of which were way too adult---in their defense, it's not marketed as a kid's show). Is there a source for streaming the Globe Trekker episodes? The disks on Amazon are a bit steep if I wanted to cover several parts of the world... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 The Memoria Press Geography arrived last weekend. We have done it this week (we only do a 4 day week). It is great. Open and close. DS is fine with it, and he is now learning geography. Thank you all so much! He is doing the geography 1 and the states and capitals book. 1 a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 USE Mapping the World by ART by Ellen McHenry. Great DVD's that lead the whole drawing process. I just put it in the player and the kids get the supplies needed--paper, pencil, eraser, black pen usually. And off they go....they press the pause and play button as needed. We have been taping the maps on the wall in our living room so the first thing people see when walk into my house is a wall of maps my kids made. Really cool! Geography done once a week. I don't do the readings or any of the extra projects. We will probably do this again in a few years to insure the 10yrs old gets it and will do the reading and extra projects then. The readings are often above my head too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Evan Moore has a daily geography series. I have been looking for something for my geography loving third grader (for next year, 4th) and have it on my list of possibilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Is there a source for streaming the Globe Trekker episodes? The disks on Amazon are a bit steep if I wanted to cover several parts of the world... Globe Trekker is on many PBS stations. It comes on quite late here, but you could program a DVR to catch episodes. They might have some free online through your PBS station, but I've not looked into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Some Globe Trekker episodes are also on Netflix. You could also check Youtube or even Lonely Planet itself for clips. I think National Geographic also has a kids' site where you can see clips. Not sure about these, though. Will have to check for myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.