Read The Core?

[asmall]

I posted this on the general board but I meant to post it in here.

 

I'm pretty new here, and I've been reading the book The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education. Has anyone else read this? I was wondering because in the geography section the author recommends children drawing their own maps. Does anyone do this? Do your children like this? Do you use pre-made outline maps as well, where the child labels the map? If you do use this method where did you get your map you use for copying?

Just wondering, (thinking about trying this)

Al

[Amy Jo]

That was the best chapter in the book! Many people do that here, hopefully some will chime in. We worked on it in the past and will be going back to doing more mapping next week. I usually have DC draw the map on the back of their math page. We fold both the equator and the prime meridian. My eldest is doing the lines and blobs, my 2nd son is doing the lines still.

 

They don't mind, I think they will like it better as they get into continent maps. They do enjoy drawing and I think this will help them with those skills. The one thing I get grumbles about from DS7is labeling the circles, even when I allow them to abbreviate! LOL! I think that will be improved next week when we restart as DS7 is more comfortable writing now.

 

Be sure to point out places that could interest them. After watching Madagascar 2, I showed them where the country was and they still find it. Same with books like Paddle to the Sea (Great Lakes).

[MeganW]

Copied from prior posts:

 

We use The Core's "blobbing method". It's a method of learning to draw the world map from memory. They start by learning where to draw the "great circles" (equator, tropic of cancer, arctic, etc.). Practice until too easy.

 

Then they have you add the Prime Meridian (straight line down the middle of the page). Draw a "blob" (oval) with the focus being getting the location right. For ex for Africa: Does it start above or below the Tropic of Cancer? Does it go past the Tropic of Capricorn? Does it extend farther east than Europe? Farther west? does it run into Australia? Does it share space with the Prime Meridian? Etc. Then you practice drawing a general outline of Africa. Etc. Etc.

 

I bought those world map placemats. I then used Sharpies to draw a simplified outline around each continent, and to trace the Arctic Circle, Equator, etc.

 

If you do trace your continents with Sharpies, 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/

 

 

I do NOT let them trace, and my kiddos are 5 1/2 & 4. They are able, with practice, to draw very rough (but recognizable) outlines. In fact, they can probably do a better job than most adults in America at this point!

 

The real plus to the placemats is that they look at them while they are waiting for dinner to be served, anytime we talk about "Aunt Helen in Montana", when they overhear us talking about the earthquake in Chile, or when their school friend is going to India for the summer. They LOVED tracking Santa across the world last year using that NORADSANTA.org. They really enjoy finding places that are relevant, and can point out more places on a world map than I can!

 

Be sure you coordinate your colors. In our house, purple is for North America, magenta is for South America, green is for Europe, aqua for the Arctic Circle, red for the Tropic of Cancer, etc. Everybody's map uses the same colors. The huge wall map uses the same colors. Even the globe - I used a Sharpie to outline the continents & trace the major lines.

 

When we draw the maps, we use those color crayons. "Everybody get out your dark orange crayon! Let's look at Africa. Is it north or south of the equator? Is it east or west of the Prime Meridian? What shape is it? YES! A rectangle sitting right on top of the equator, with a corner cut off the top, and a triangle below!" Etc. etc. I guide them through placing the rectangle & the triangle.

 

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We do a "hotdog" fold (longways) and a "hamburger fold" (shortways) first. Draw equator & PM. Add Tropic of Can, Trop of Capri, Arctic C & Antartic Circle. You HAVE to have these lines BEFORE adding any continents!!!

 

THEN go to continents. I always start with Africa b/c it is in the middle. If you start with some of the others, and they draw too big, they can't keep going b/c they are out of room! If Africa is oversized, they can still put other continents on the map, they just end up a little skinny! :) If you do Africa FIRST, then Europe, then Asia, you are much better off than if you start on the left side of the map and work your way over, like would naturally be your inclination!

[Satori]

My DD6 loves to draw maps! She has been drawing them since she was 5 with no instruction (or course they weren't 100% accurate).

 

The Core chapter on geography was a great inspiration. Megan describes it super well, so I won't elaborate. I'll just emphasize that for just $10 or so, that book is so very worth it, even if you just read the geography chapter alone. After we got used to folding for the lines, I made a sheet with the lines already made. (I'm a perfectionist and couldn't stand folding the paper.) I will upload it if others want to use it.

 

I wrote a recent post where she drew the US accurately free-handed. We're going by latitude/longitude lines, but I'd love to get back to the blobs again and start with the world totally by memory. Although she started off free-hand and continues to do so, I don't mind letting her try her hand at tracing to reinforce what she's learning. It certainly has increased her interest and ability!

 

At the same time we're memorizing geographic locations, shapes, and capitals. She's super good at this, and stuns people with her spatial geographic knowledge. We happened to hang out with a person from South Africa and Zimbabwe over the weekend (two separate occasions). They loved quizzing her. What's the northernmost country of Africa? (Tunisia) What country is south of Kenya? What's the only country in the world completely surrounded by another country? She knew them all instantly. The latest Nat Geo magazine talked about several African countries. Both dd and I were able to visualize in our minds exactly where they were talking about. Knowing geography has come in sooo handy and we've only just started!

[smjlangley]

I love that section of The Core! We just started last year. And we began with tracing a little section at a time and increased to drawing free hand. My kids love it! I think it's become their favorite thing to do!