mompotter Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I want to really focus on geography next year. I have not really spent very much time on geography with any of them. We use SL but never got around to using the maps very much. I am hoping to do Sonlight core 5 with them all (that was my original plan) but so far I have no money for curriculum. Whether I get to do core 5 or not, I really want to tie in geography and make that our main focus for one year. If I don't get to do core 5, I am not sure what I will use. I am thinking some good stories to go along with the area of the world we are studying at the time. I know there are a lot of online resources and plan to use what I can find but I would really like some kind of spine text or series of books to use. I also do not want to reinvent the wheel by trying to write my own curriculum. I just don't have the time to do it. Any ideas/links will be appreciated. I will also have a K'er following along so will be searching for some coloring books or other things for her. Can anyone give me some starting points? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 Anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I am not great at geography myself, but what about A Child's Geography by Ann Voskamp? It's written in a lovely narrative style. I think you could have your older one do independent reading or research to add to it if you felt they needed it. It's written for K-6 but I think it would work for older students too. Also, you could look at Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography. I've linked to an HTML version, and you can also find it for free in Google books as a PDF that would work better for printing. Queen's Homeschool also has it in a printed version with some updated language, according to their website. I think a read-aloud book like this would work the best for your age spread. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginny May Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I am going to be using Trail Guide to World Geography by Cindy Wigger. I am excited about that. I like that you can use the same book for all grades 3- 10th. I also bought the cd and the Eating around the world cookbook to go with it. Also CB.com had it a little cheaper but their copy is older and RR.com has the brand new copy that just came out. Hope that helps. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 I am not great at geography myself, but what about A Child's Geography by Ann Voskamp? It's written in a lovely narrative style. I think you could have your older one do independent reading or research to add to it if you felt they needed it. It's written for K-6 but I think it would work for older students too. Also, you could look at Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography. I've linked to an HTML version, and you can also find it for free in Google books as a PDF that would work better for printing. Queen's Homeschool also has it in a printed version with some updated language, according to their website. I think a read-aloud book like this would work the best for your age spread. Hope this helps! Thank you. I will look into both of these. I am going to be using Trail Guide to World Geography by Cindy Wigger. I am excited about that. I like that you can use the same book for all grades 3- 10th. I also bought the cd and the Eating around the world cookbook to go with it. Also CB.com had it a little cheaper but their copy is older and RR.com has the brand new copy that just came out. Hope that helps. :001_smile: Thank you. I will check this out too. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 A bit of a bump. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I'm not sure of anything else, but I love A Child's Geography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5knights3maidens Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 How about http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com My 7th and 11th graders love these. I will be using this with my little ones this next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann@thebeach Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 How about Beautiful Feet? It's only for up to 6th gr but you could have your older one do some more map work and some additional reading. http://www.bfbooks.com/Literature-Packs/Geography-Through-Literature-Packs Or Trail Guides to World Geography would fit all ages as suggested above http://www.geomatters.com/product/trail-guide-to-world-geography Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann@thebeach Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Expedition Earth looks good too and fit all the ages: http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Expedition-Earth.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra in va Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Expedition Earth looks good too and fit all the ages:http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Expedition-Earth.html Yes, this is a great resource. I bought it thinking we were going to do world geography this year. It has info about all the countries of the world with a CD full of lesson plans/worksheets/etc. If I were doing geography with the ages of your kids - I would probably do Runkle Geography with the oldest (physical geography but with the activity guide, they memorize all the countries of the world). For the younger ones, I would probably do A Child's Geography vol. 1 (also physical geography) while working on memorizing the countries and doing some fun cultural stuff on the side. There are a lot of resources like the Trip Around the World books, cookbooks, and Global Art for hands-on activities. Geomatters, Knowledge Quest, MFW ECC are all great resources for book ideas. (ETA: another idea is to practice drawing the world from memory - The Core by L. Bortins has a chapter on this that is really helpful.) You were probably looking for an all-in-one, so this is not much help! Maybe something will be of value to you. Sorry SL 5 won't work out for you this year. We really enjoyed it two years ago - hopefully you can add in some of the readers from the library to your geography year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Have you looked into My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginny May Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 :iagree: How about Beautiful Feet? It's only for up to 6th gr but you could have your older one do some more map work and some additional reading. http://www.bfbooks.com/Literature-Packs/Geography-Through-Literature-Packs Or Trail Guides to World Geography would fit all ages as suggested above http://www.geomatters.com/product/trail-guide-to-world-geography Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) Have you looked into My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures? I would love to do MFW, SL or WP but I can't. I am working with very little money and cannot afford to buy more than a few books. Not even sure how I will be able to buy any but I know something will work out. ETA - OK, I seriously have several of the books that come with this core. I might be able to come up with enough to buy what I need. :) This is going on my list of maybes. Edited May 12, 2011 by mompotter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 I am going to be using Trail Guide to World Geography by Cindy Wigger. I am excited about that. I like that you can use the same book for all grades 3- 10th. I also bought the cd and the Eating around the world cookbook to go with it. Also CB.com had it a little cheaper but their copy is older and RR.com has the brand new copy that just came out. Hope that helps. :001_smile: I am leaning toward this. Just wish I could see it and look through it first. KWIM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 How about Beautiful Feet? It's only for up to 6th gr but you could have your older one do some more map work and some additional reading. http://www.bfbooks.com/Literature-Packs/Geography-Through-Literature-Packs Or Trail Guides to World Geography would fit all ages as suggested above http://www.geomatters.com/product/trail-guide-to-world-geography I was looking at the BF material today. I am not sure it will work but I will revisit it. I think I am leaning toward the Trail Guide because of the age span. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann@thebeach Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 You know about all the used boards right? I've seen the BF geography and the Trail Guide to World Geography on the used boards quite often-almost daily on vegsource.com and I bet homeschoolclassifieds.com has them too. You can usually get the guides used pretty cheap and the BF guide is often around $8 used and then the other books could be checked out from the library. Do you have a large homeschool conference near you? Even if you couldn't attend the conference maybe you could just go to the vendor hall and check these out? Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxing Hare Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 We are finishing up SL core 5. Have fun with it next year! I would check these boards, SL's used curriculum board, and craigslist to see if you can find it used. Someone on the SL board recommended Visual World Geography from Tender Hearts Press. Their website has some good information/demonstrations. We're not going to do the videos (unless I can find them used!), just the book. It looks cute, and my kids really liked it. I did find the WB for $4, so just keep looking at the used curriculum sites. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 You know about all the used boards right?I've seen the BF geography and the Trail Guide to World Geography on the used boards quite often-almost daily on vegsource.com and I bet homeschoolclassifieds.com has them too. You can usually get the guides used pretty cheap and the BF guide is often around $8 used and then the other books could be checked out from the library. Do you have a large homeschool conference near you? Even if you couldn't attend the conference maybe you could just go to the vendor hall and check these out? Good luck! Thanks for the suggestions. I have heard people mention vegsource but have not checked it out. Not sure I have even heard about homeschoolclassified.com I do have a large hs convention near me but I can't go and they only let you go through the vendor hall if you are a member of the hs organization that sponsors it. :( We are finishing up SL core 5. Have fun with it next year! I would check these boards, SL's used curriculum board, and craigslist to see if you can find it used. Someone on the SL board recommended Visual World Geography from Tender Hearts Press. Their website has some good information/demonstrations. We're not going to do the videos (unless I can find them used!), just the book. It looks cute, and my kids really liked it. I did find the WB for $4, so just keep looking at the used curriculum sites. Good luck! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 This sounds like exactly what you are looking for. I know the a couple of the reviews aren't good, but I have to wonder if they even looked at the sample pages. http://www.christianbook.com/around-the-world-180-days-volumes/sherrie-payne/pd/338504?item_code=WW&netp_id=420389&event=ESRCN&view=details Also here are some more samples: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=13 The section from the Table of Contents and Author's Notes are helpful. It does come from a Christian slant (missionary bios are some recommended reading), if that makes a difference. You probably could just leave that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I would love to do MFW, SL or WP but I can't. I am working with very little money and cannot afford to buy more than a few books. Not even sure how I will be able to buy any but I know something will work out. ETA - OK, I seriously have several of the books that come with this core. I might be able to come up with enough to buy what I need. :) This is going on my list of maybes. There is a MFW sale and swap board for used books that are very reasonably priced. Have you looked on that? If you already have several of the books that might be a VERY cheap option for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mompotter Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 This sounds like exactly what you are looking for. I know the a couple of the reviews aren't good, but I have to wonder if they even looked at the sample pages. http://www.christianbook.com/around-the-world-180-days-volumes/sherrie-payne/pd/338504?item_code=WW&netp_id=420389&event=ESRCN&view=details Also here are some more samples: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=13 The section from the Table of Contents and Author's Notes are helpful. It does come from a Christian slant (missionary bios are some recommended reading), if that makes a difference. You probably could just leave that out. This actually sounds really good. Decisions! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginny May Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 I am leaning toward this. Just wish I could see it and look through it first. KWIM? You can look at the book at Barnes and Noble:001_smile: I have to get them to order it but you do not have to buy it. :) 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.