Suggestions for Geography

[Shellydon]

I would like to add some sort of geography into our daily (or weekly) schedule. Any suggestions of programs you like?

 

Thanks so much.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Sheldon

[Tracy]

What age/grade level?

[robsiew]

I would like to add some sort of geography into our daily (or weekly) schedule. Any suggestions of programs you like?

 

Thanks so much.

 

We use the maps from SOTW. We also have started to map the world as described in The Core (I bought the book mainly for this section!). We only do it once a week though so we're moving slow... my goal is before they graduate they can map the world on paper and in their head from memory.

 

Also... I ALWAYS show the kids where something takes place when we are reading.

 

My little guy (5) was working in his AWANA book and we were discussing missionaries. We support a family that is serving in Turkey right now. He needed to find Turkey on the map to show his leader tonight. We went to the map in our classroom and I was going to show him Turkey. He wanted to find it himself and he did! I was shocked! (I was just happy he knew what part of the world to look in!) It's amazing how much goes in, even though I don't think we do a TON.

[Jenstet]

We love this

http://www.visualizeworldgeography.com/

[Shellydon]

What age/grade level?

 

 

In my mind I had written early elementary:001_smile:

1st and 3rd grade

[kfeusse]

We have been using Evan Moor's Daily geography.

[lovinmomma]

I suggest this. I've heard great things about using these, and what a fun way to learn geography!

[fastforward]

I suggest this. I've heard great things about using these, and what a fun way to learn geography!

 

Those puzzles look like a great gift! I think I might get one each for my older 2 daughters. Thanks for posting the link. :)

[2squared]

We just started using CM's map drill with Uncle Josh's outline maps. It's a different approach, but it's been very effective and easy for my 3rd grader.

[Flux]

We aren't using a program right now. We have a couple of those big laminated U.S. and World maps up on the wall. My daughter enjoys taking a dry erase marker to them. She likes to outline the continents and re-label them. On the States map, she likes to draw lines to where different family and friends live.

I like the maps at Homeschool in the Woods, but I haven't actually purchased them yet...

 

By the way, those geo-puzzles look cool, thanks for the link:)

[Poke Salad Annie]

I found a nice laminated map of the U.S. at a thrift store for $1---it's about "50 X 38". For U.S. geography, we are simply laying the map on the floor, and spending time looking over it. I ask questions like, "Which states border the Gulf of Mexico?" or "Find the Great Lakes and name them.", etc. This has been fun and a very cheap activity. I wish I had the world map or even continent maps like this one of the same size.

 

It is so easy to add geography into a day's work, and workbooks take away some of the spontaneity. Make it fun, and they will remember it. You don't have to spend $$$ to have a geography study.

[Wheres Toto]

I'm using Evan Moor Beginning Geography to cover maps, landforms, bodies of water, etc. - the background information of Geography. Then we are going to take one continent at a time and discuss the people (using Children Like Me series, discussing money, flag, government, etc.), the main landforms/habitats, the animals and doing a few countries more in depth. Mostly we are using books and internet resources. Two blogs - Confessions of a Homeschooler and Homeschool Creations - have some great Geography resources. We're finishing up in North America and will start a states study then.

 

We do have a large map puzzle of the US that DH does with them. He gives them hints on where to place a piece (North, Southwest, etc.) and then they just look at it and discuss the various things that catch their interest - it has pictures for each state (a cheese for Wisconsin, etc.). I also bought collage cut-outs from Oriental Trading to decorate and put together into a large wall map of the US.

[MeganW]

My kiddos are younger, so we are going very gently. We used Audio Memory's Geography Songs to learn the names of the continents & oceans. We use world map placemats, and learned the location of the continents & oceans. I used different color Sharpie markers to outline each continent to make the borders easier to find. I also used Sharpies to trace the Prime Meridian and 5 Great Circles (equator, tropic of cancer/capr., arctic & antarctic circles).

 

Then we spent a week or so answering "Is Australia above or below the Equator" and so on. Now we are on to taking sheets of paper and folding horizontally & vertically, then using those folds to draw the PM & Equator. Add the other Great Circles, then add blobs to represent the continents, focusing on getting them crossing the correct Great Circles, somewhat correct proximity to each other (like Europe & Asia touching, and Africa under Europe), and working on somewhat correct size and shape. (Got a long way to go on this!)

 

If you do trace your continents, you may want to draw simplified lines to represent the borders to make it easier for kids to replicate. I tried to limit it to 5 or 6 dots, then connect those dots to make the border. Like Africa is a triangle below the equator, and a rectangle on top with a corner cut off. South America is pictured in this blog if you scroll down.

http://memorize-maps.blogspot.com/

[Tracy]

When dd was in K, we did geography with children's literature. Dd chose a country, and I would find books on that topic. Then we played games where I would think of a country and give clues, and dd would try to guess the country (still a popular game--even ds2 asks to play it).

 

I have listed the books we used on my blog. Even though we are no longer formally doing it, I have continued to update the list as I come across good books.

[Shellydon]

Thanks for the great ideas everyone. I'll spend some time this weekend checking them out. We do have a US map and a world map on the walls of the school room, but I feel like I need to do something a bit more purposeful and structured.

[Vanna]

I would like to add some sort of geography into our daily (or weekly) schedule. Any suggestions of programs you like?

 

Thanks so much.

We are using Which Way USA by Highlights. It's a subscription to state-themed puzzle books with a kid friendly map to help solve the puzzles and learn state facts. Ds 8 and Dd 10 work on about 2 pages a day/3 days a wk.

 

Before Which Way we did Top Secret Adventures (also by Highlights). It came with a puzzle book and full color books for each country we learned about. We had this subscription until we completed all the countries they had to offer.

 

We also have a state puzzle (about 40 pcs) and wall maps for the US and the world that I bought from Staples. My children have competed in the school level Geography Bee by National Geographic through our homeschool group and that has given them a way to "apply" what they are learning as we can't afford to travel. We get videos from the library on the country or state we are learning about.

 

My homeschool group also does an International Taste and Travel Night once a year. It's very similar to a Science fair. Each family showcases the country of their choice and brings a dish from that country to share (enough for folks to "sample" not have a whole dinner from. :D).

 

Anything else "geography" related is covered in the ACE Social Studies that they are doing (this is our 1st yr using ACE for all our core).

[walkermamaof4]

We love this

http://www.visualizeworldgeography.com/

:iagree:

 

Also, every day we sing the kathy Troxel geography cd while we use dry erase markers on a sheet protector over a blank map to label the map. We keep placemat maps that are labeled to refer to as we work. This is kept in our daily tab of our Mnemosyne notebook for memory work. We are covering lots this way!

[Corraleno]

Like Africa is a triangle below the equator, and a rectangle on top with a corner cut off. South America is pictured in this blog if you scroll down.

http://memorize-maps.blogspot.com/

This program looks really interesting — did you buy the whole package? Is it just a PDF of a few pages or is there more to it? I really like this approach.

 

Jackie

[MeganW]

This program looks really interesting — did you buy the whole package? Is it just a PDF of a few pages or is there more to it? I really like this approach.

 

Jackie

 

I did NOT buy the whole thing. I have been tempted several times, but we aren't at the stage where we are learning all the country names (my kiddos are still preschool/kinder). I just adopted his approach with the simplified lines for the continents and used it with the Core's "blob" method as described above.

[merylvdm]

For a full curriculum, My Father's World has a nice geography program for younger kids, and there is Galloping the Globe. My daughter didn't get too excited by either, but they do cover the basics. If you want to do it more informally and in a fun way, I have written up quite a few ideas on How to teach your kids Geography. I include online games, ways to use the news etc.