I want to do a fun 2nd grade geography this year.

[DarlaS]

This would be for my 6 yo who will be 7 at the end of October.

 

I have ordered:

 

Around the World in 80 Tales and Children Just Like Me.

 

Now what??? :confused: I realize there are a million and one possibilities for this--and I don't want to do a full-blown curriculum. I need to keep it simple and FUN. He'll be sort of tagging along with his big sister's history.

 

Mostly, I'm thinking picture books I can get at the library (since we'll be there every Thursday). Also, if there's a project book with a really good variety of GREAT around the world type activities in it to choose from, I'm all ears.

 

This is where I need to hear from people more creative than me! :D

Edited August 6, 2010 by darlasowders

[Allison TX]

We did something similar a few years ago. A Trip Around the World books have some recipes, activity sheets, flags to color. Global Art has craft projects. We would read a picture book FIAR style for a week that took place in whatever country we were studying (Madeline for France, Little Black Sambo for India, Ferdinand for Spain). Homeschoolshare has some free lapbooks. Another fun thing is to get a fake passport and put flag stickers in when you "visit" a country. There is a coloring book, I think called Around the World, Winter Promise carries it, and so does Amazon. You could also add in animals or habitats from around the world as you study the country. Have fun with it!:) We really enjoyed our geography study.

[DarlaS]

We did something similar a few years ago. A Trip Around the World books have some recipes, activity sheets, flags to color. Global Art has craft projects. We would read a picture book FIAR style for a week that took place in whatever country we were studying (Madeline for France, Little Black Sambo for India, Ferdinand for Spain). Homeschoolshare has some free lapbooks. Another fun thing is to get a fake passport and put flag stickers in when you "visit" a country. There is a coloring book, I think called Around the World, Winter Promise carries it, and so does Amazon. You could also add in animals or habitats from around the world as you study the country. Have fun with it!:) We really enjoyed our geography study.

 

 

You mean this? http://www.amazon.com/A-Trip-Around-the-World/dp/B000F8V2KE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1281124960&sr=8-2

 

I might be able to have a look at that at my local learning store.

 

So far, I have Global Art in my cart and Around the World Cookbook. An activity book like the one you mentioned would probably do it. I'm thinking a couple stories a week, a recipe, a quick art projects and/or a coloring page/map should do it. Less than one hour twice a week is the time I'll likely have.

 

I have a bunch of those FIAR books too. Thanks for the reminder to look at them again. :001_smile:

[walkermamaof4]

Geopuzzles are a fun addition.

[DarlaS]

Geopuzzles are a fun addition.

 

My son LOVES puzzles. My local learning store has these too.

 

That would not even fall under curriculum expense here. :D He hasn't had a new one in a while...

 

Thanks!

[Mert]

Jolanthe has alot of geography downloads and info on her blog... http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2009/01/our-travel-log.html. ~HTH

[mcconnellboys]

Some picture books for world history:

 

I have a book by DK called Children Just Like Me: Celebrations! This looks at the way children in different cultures celebrate various holidays. I also have some cultural atlases that look at peoples from around the world. I used these books, along with one other, to study world cultures in the grammar stage.

 

I have a book called Children From Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World, by Maya Ajmera and Ana Rhesa Versola. This book details info. on one country for each letter of the alphabet and lists all other countries in the world that also begin with that letter. I pulled a list of library books to correlate with each country detailed.

 

You wouldn't have to be using any of the above books, though, in order to get usage out of the (mostly) picture books on my list. So I hope you can use some of them:

 

(This list has just been revised to add some new titles.)

 

Australia:

 

Pumpkin Runner, Arnold

Where the Forest Meets the Sea, Baker

Bossy Boots, Cox

Bright Star, Crew

Dial-a-Croc, Dumbleton

Flood Fish, Eversole

Possum Magic, Fox

Big Rain Coming, Germein

Don’t Dig so Deep, Nicholas! Harrison

Counting by Kangaroos, Hulme

Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo, Lester

Wombat Goes Walkabout, Morpurgo

Rainforest Children, Pittawpy

Farmer Schulz’s Ducks, Thiele

Snap! Vaughan

Wombat Stew, Vaughan

Biggest Frog in Australia

Rescuers Down Under – video

A Waltz Through the Hills – video

Old Shell, New Shell, Ward

Old Woman Who Loved to Read, Winch

 

 

Brazil:

 

Count your way through Brazil, Haskins

How Night Came From the Sea, Gerson

Amazon Boy, Lewin

In a Bottle with a Cork on Top, Skurzynski

 

 

China:

 

Ruby’s Wish, Bridges

Story of Kites, Compestine

Visit to China, Packard

Moon Festival, Russell

Chinese New Year, Schaefer

Chinatown, Low

My Chinatown: One Year in Poems, Mak

 

 

Dominican Republic:

 

Dominican Republic – Cobblestone

The Color of my Words, Lynn Joseph

A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia, Julia Alvarez

How Tia Lola Came to Visit and Stayed, Julia Alvarez

The Secret Footprints, Julia Alvarez

 

 

Ecuador:

 

Kid’s Discover: Equator

Cultures of the World: Ecuador, Erin Foley

The Fate of the Yellow Woodbee, Dave and Neta Jackson

Galapagos: Islands of Change, Lynne Born Myers

Lost Treasure of the Inca, Peter Lourie

We're Sailing to Galapagos, Laurie Krebs

 

 

France:

 

King’s Day: Louis XIV of France, Aliki

Giraffe that Walked to Paris, Milton

Joan of Arc: Heroine of France, Tompert

King Tree, French

Boneparte, Chall

Happy Lion, Fatio

Happy Lion in Africa, Fatio

Happy Lion’s Quest

Happy Lion’s Rabbits

Happy Lion’s Treasure

Happy Lion’s Vacation

Three Happy Lions (Do all these really have to do with France? Well..... they're written by a French author....)

Jean-Marie at the Fair, Francoise (and other Jean-Marie books)

Inspector Peckit, Freeman

Dinner at Mabritte’s, Garland

Truffle Hunter, Moore

Harry and Lulu, Yorinks

 

 

Guatemala:

 

Mama and Papa have a Store, Carling

Abuela’s Weave, Castaneda

Sleeping Bread: Story, Czernecki

Iguana Beach, Franklin

 

 

Hungary:

 

Song for Lena, Hippely

The Amazing Pig: An Old Hungarian Tale, Paul Galdone

Cooking the Hungarian Way, Magdolna Hargittai

The Glass Man and the Golden Bird: Hungarian Folk and Fairy Tales, Ruth Manning-Sanders

The Good Master, Kate Seredy

The Good-hearted Youngest Brother: A Hungarian Folktale, Emoke de Papp Severo

The Little Rooster and the Diamond Button: A Hungarian Folktale, Celia Barker Lottridge

(also, similar title by Margaret MacDonald)

 

 

India:

 

Heart of a Tiger, Arnold

Story of Little Babaji, Bannerman

Story of Little Black Sambo, Bannerman

Lakshui, the Water Buffalo Who Wouldn’t, Gobhai

Cow for Jaya, Grant

Poombah of Badoombah, Lillegard

Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a, McDonald

Gay-Neck: Story of a Pidgeon, Mukerji (audio)

Golden Serpent, Myers

Rikki-Tikki – video

Nine Animals and the Well, Rumford

 

 

Japan:

 

Old Man who Made the Trees Bloom, Jijii

Magic Fan, Baker

Crane Girl, Charles

Painter and the Wild Swans, Clement

How My Parents Learned to Eat, Friedman (audio)

Ten Oni Drummers, Gollub

Girl from the Snow Country, Hidaka

Kenji and the Magic Geese, Johnson

Yoshi’s Feast, Kajikawa

Carp for Kimiko, Kroll

Seven Gods of Luck, Kudler

Yoshiko and the Foreigner, Little

Moshi, Moshi, London

Dragon Kite, Luenn

Pair of Red Clogs, Matsuno

Cherry Tree, MacCaughrean

Emperor’s Plum Tree, Nikly

Tea with Milk, Say

Long Silk Strand, Williams

 

 

Kenya:

 

Ndito Runs, Anderson

Family in Kenya, Griffin

Brothers in Hope, the story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Mary Williams

Count your Way through Kenya, Jim Haskins

For you are a Kenyan Child, Kelly Cunnane

How it was with Dooms: A True Story from Africa, Xan Hopcraft

How the Ostrich got a Long Neck, Verna Aardema

Kenya, Bridget Tanguay

A Kenya Christmas, Tony Johnston

 

 

Lithuania:

 

Music of the Soviet Union (Lithuanian folksongs)

Lithuania, Lerner Publications

The Grey Fairy Book, Andrew Lang (I think has stories from this country)

I am Your Misfortune: A Lithuanian Folktale, Marguerita Rudolph

 

 

Mexico:

 

Mexico ABC’s, Hieman

Hummingbird’s Gift, Czernecki

Manuela’s Gift, Estes

Nine Days to Christmas, Ets

Under the Lemon Moon, Fine

How Nanita Learned to Make Flan, Geeslin

In Rosa’s Mexico, Geeslin

On Ramon’s Farm, Geeslin

Moon was at a Fiesta, Gollub

Twenty-five Mixtec Cats, Gollub

Lorenzo, the Naughty Parrot, Johnston

Day of the Dead, Johnston

Magic Maguey, Johnston

Ghost Wings, Joosse

Piggy Bank Gonzales, Kent

Butterfly Boy, Kroll

Hill of Fire, Lewis (audio)

Blanca’s Feather, Madrigal

Trandi’s Braids, Madrigal

Blue Bug Visits Mexico, Poulet

Today is the Day, Riecken

Mice and Beans, Ryan

 

 

Nigeria:

 

Take a Trip to Nigeria, Lye

Bikes for Rent! Olaleye

Grandfather’s Work, Onyefulu

Mysterious Gold and Purple Box, Watson

Saying Goodbye, Onyefulu

 

 

Oman:

 

An Arab Family, Dutton

Oman, Leila Foster, or also one by Calvin Allen, Jr.

 

 

Philippines:

 

Take a Trip to the Philippines, Oleksy

A Basket Full of White Eggs: Riddle-Poems, Brian Swann

Children of the Philippines, Elaine Little

Fairy Tales from the Philippines, Dorothy Robertson

Race for the Record, Dave and Neta Jackson

 

 

Qatar:

 

Qatar, Augustin

 

 

Russia:

 

A Look at Russia, Frost

Babushka Babayaga, Polacco

Philipok, Tolstoy

Little Kim’s Doll, Yaroshevskaya

Three Cheers for Catherine the Great, Best (audio)

Apple Pie and Onions, Caseley

A Piece of Home, Levitin

Trees of the Dancing Goats, Polacco

Uncle Vova’s Tree, Polacco

Dream Jar, Pryor

Twenty-two Russian Tales for Young Children, Tolstoy

 

 

Senegal:

 

In Bikole: Eight Modern Stories About Life in a West African Village, Gilroy

Senegal in Pictures, Lerner Publications

 

 

Turkey:

 

Take a Trip to Turkey, Lye

Abu Ali: Three Tales of the Middle East (can be used for Qatar and Oman, too), Dorothy Woerkom

Constantinople; City on the Golden Horn, Horizon Magazine, David Jacobs

 

 

United States

 

Since we’re also doing a more specific US study, I’ve chosen books from all the other “U†countries:

(I have a whole list, by state, for the U.S.)

 

 

Ukraine:

 

Ukraine – Cobblestone

The Bird's Gift: A Ukrainian Easter Story, Eric Kimmel

The Castle of the Cats, Eric Kimmel

The Cat and the Rooster: A Ukrainian Folktale, Ivan Malkovych

The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale, Jan Brett

One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes: A Hutzal Tale, Eric Kimmel

Sirko and the Wolf: A Ukrainian Tale, Eric Kimmel

Ukrainian Folktales, Marie Bloch

 

 

Uganda:

 

Beatrice’s Goat, McBrier (this is about the Heifer Project)

Gorilla Walk, Ted and Betsy Lewin

Songs and Stories from Uganda, W. Moses Serwadda

 

 

Uruguay:

 

Uruguay in Pictures, Haverstock

 

 

United Kingdom:

 

The Queen’s Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet, Davidson

Anno’s Britain, Anno

Country Mouse Cottage: How we Lived 100 Years Ago, Brooks

Town Mouse House: How we Lived 100 Years Ago, Brooks

 

 

Vietnam:

 

Vietnam, Allard

Lotus Seed, Garland

Grandfather’s Dream, Keller

Walking Stick, Trottier

 

 

Western Samoa:

 

Samoans – Cobblestone

 

 

Yemen:

 

Yemen in Pictures, Lerner Publications

Queen of Sheba, Naomi Lucks (longer)

Yemen, Anna Hestler

 

 

Zimbabwe:

 

Gugu’s House, Stock

Where are You Going, Manyoni? Stock

Do You Know Me? Nancy Farmer (she has a bunch, but most are longer than this one....)

Tales from Africa, Mary Medlicott (can use with other African countries, too....)