vkay Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I have just started with TG - World and we're on week 5. I'm not feeling 100% about it yet. It sort of feels like something is missing, and then today I realized that the something missing is me 'teaching' them something. Do any of you that use this 'teach' about that section of geography first and then assign the questions for the week? It seems off to me somehow just to hand them a worksheet and set them free. Sometimes it eats up a ton of time on the clock looking from book to book trying to find the climate of a country, or the lowest elevation of .... That sort of thing. Is this how it's done? I do like it once they have their questions for the week complete, I love the map work and the extra digging about specific countries that interest them. I also see the benefit of them learning how to research and find info in a book..... maybe this is half the point?? But it's hard to let time pass by while they try to find one little piece of info when a 2 second google search could answer the question. :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahv Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 We just do the questions of the week orally and together. It takes maybe 5 or 10 min. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkay Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 We just do the questions of the week orally and together. It takes maybe 5 or 10 min. Susie When you do them together, do you provide the answers, do you look them up together, or do you watch them as they look them up? Unless I just give them my knowledge from my head, it's going to take time trying to figure out where the information is and in which book. Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saille Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 My kids use a globe and the National Geographic Student Atlas to answer the daily questions, and so far we've found most of the answers that way, but we're probably doing a different level than you are... I confess the mapwork is a major scheduling problem around here. We're behind. The kids work as a team, and I weigh in as little as possible. I'd really like this to be something they work on semi-independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 When you do them together, do you provide the answers, do you look them up together, or do you watch them as they look them up? Unless I just give them my knowledge from my head, it's going to take time trying to figure out where the information is and in which book. Does that make sense? We always look it up, even if I know the answer. Most of the time this only requires an atlas. Sometimes we look something up on line. Dss take turns looking it up and answering the questions. If there is something new we may talk about it a bit longer. Most of the time this process only takes a few minutes. Today we actually talked about map projection. This took much longer than our usual Geography meeting. I will also pick up a book about mapmaking at our next library trip. We'll read together in the evening. I hope this helps. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanya in KS Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I have mine 3rd & Freshman doing it completely independently. The only day that they work together is Friday when they make a meal & craft for the table to decorate for our dinner. This summer I made binders for each child and set up what they were to do daily. I copied and copied everything. It took a lot of up front work on my part BUT they have learned so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beezus Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I have mine work on this mostly on her own, but I have a middle grader, so I expect her to be able to look on the globe or in the atlas to find the answer. We go over them together when she's done. Like one of the previous posters, we also do a few things like cooking projects together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 We are struggling with this (using TG to World Geo). My kids aren't liking it--well the oldest and youngest are okay with it, but he middle two are miserable! I have the older two (8th/7th) working on level 3, my 4th grader working on level 2, and my 1st grader on level 1. I give them the question, and they each have an age-appropriate atlas to look it up. If they can't find it, I help them, or just look at the answer key. My 1st grader isn't reading yet, so obviously I help her. I think they don't like having to search for the information. And I find the map work to be pretty hard, especially for my 1st grader. It seems like it takes so long to get through the lesson... I was wondering today if maybe I should split into two groups, and give my elder two their assignments independently, even the map, then just check their work and follow up with them when they finish (I've been having them do the questions, then having each child report what he/she learned orally to the other kids.) The younger two I could actively work with together, or even one at a time. I am so bummed, because they've always loved doing mapwork, and I thought this curriculum would be a big hit, but I'm getting grumbles and sighs when it is geography time. I think we need to give it more time, as they are not used to having to look up information or research things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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