MorningGlory Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Hello, I am in the very early planning stages for preparing an AP Human Geography course for my son to complete at home next year. I may possibly go through the AP audit process, or I may just have him "self-study" and take the exam. Either way, I need a plan/syllabus for the course. Obviously, one of the first steps will be to choose a text(s). According to the AP site, there are several suitable texts for this course. Could anyone give me some feedback on one or more of these texts? (This list has been narrowed down to 3 based on other info I have found on the internet...if you have an opinion on a text not listed, please share). de Blij, H. J., and Alexander B. Murphy. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and Space. Fellmann, Jerome Donald. Human Geography: Landscapes of Human Activities. Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. Thanks in advance! Jetta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 The de Blij text is riddled with errors that an editor should have caught several editions ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 I just looked and this is what PA Homeschoolers uses for their class: Human Geography: Landscapes of Human Activities, 11th ed. By Fellmann, Getis, & Getis Human Geography in Action, 4th ed. By Kuby, Harner, & Gober Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Thank you, Kai. I've read that the Rubenstein text has the same problem. But some of the Amazon reviews say that the de Blij text is at least interesting. Do you agree? And thank you, Christine. I have looked at the PA Homeschoolers course site several times...each time concentrating on the price of the course! ;) Therein lies my motivation for my son to self-study! I know that the PA course is quite successful, so that text must be at least usable. I just hate to make the purchase without a little more info... Thanks! Anyone else??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Thank you, Kai. I've read that the Rubenstein text has the same problem. But some of the Amazon reviews say that the de Blij text is at least interesting. Do you agree? Parts of it are interesting and parts completely drag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Bumping this one up for this year :) Is anyone doing AP Human Geography----approved AP syllabus or "course with AP exam," or as an online class? If so, what text(s) are being used? Are any texts awful? It seems like all of the books being used, based on syllabi I googled this afternoon, have problems. I want to get a book or two to preread. Dd has a very strong interest in all aspects of geography (political, physical, cultural, etc). She's flying through The Trail Guide to Geography, secondary-school level. I've been reading through threads here and on the College Board site to find additional resources, books and videos, for this year. I think she might really enjoy the challenge of a higher-level course this year. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 My dd is taking it through FLVS, but they do not use a text. The two texts recommended if the student would like additional study material are the same as those listed on the AP website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r_jonhsons Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 The indicated books are good for reference and knowledge, though i have not bought those listed books I have researched and read then in the library. Good choices you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 (edited) I found the Fellmann and Rubenstein books in our library system! The de Blij book isn't available nor is Human Geography in Action by Michael Kuby et.al. The Kuby text was referenced as a secondary source in more than half of the syllabi I found through google last night. It appears to be some sort of a lab book, full of case studies and activities. Thanks Melissa for the FLVS information :) Edited September 5, 2012 by Luckymama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hthnmamax2 Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I can't help with the syllabi and such, but, I have discovered the best way to see inside texts is either through the publisher website, or through http://www.coursesmart.com :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I can't help with the syllabi and such, but, I have discovered the best way to see inside texts is either through the publisher website, or through http://www.coursesmart.com :) Thanks for the link! Using it I was able to see inside three texts whose publisher websites didn't have that feature. My eight book list has been narrowed to four, two which I have on hold from the library and two which I looked at using coursesmart. Hopefully I'll be able to find decently-priced books once I decide :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladykayaker Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I got the de Bilj book for $12 on Amazon. ds in 9th grade is happy with it thus far. I bought this before I saw the comment that it is 'riddled with errors'. That concerns me, I hadn't heard that comment before - and I read up a lot of reviews before getting it. It is very readable. When he has worked his way through the book, he then plans to use 5 steps to an 5 to prep for the AP exam. We looked at quite a few of the AP test prep books, and this is the one that he is happiest with for self study purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez J Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Digging this thread up from the dust bin. :D I am starting to plan a geography course for next year. In googling the title of one text, I found this thread. I would like to see if anyone has any more opinions. I have read that the Rubenstein book is a Common Core Cscope book, so it is very liberal. That leaves the other two as contenders. I really want to maintain a conservative worldview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimberlyI Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I would be interested in opinions also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 By the subject's very nature, and as would be evident from the perusal of an AP exam prep book, nearly everything in this course is going to be outside of a strict conservative worldview. If your main concern is one of worldview I would drop by the library or a book store and read through a copy of any of the AP guides to this test and decide if you want to pursue this topic. It might not be possible to successfully complete the test if you were only willing to accept material written from one perspective. Please note that I don't wish to dissuade you from studying the topic nor do I wish to sound as if I am critiquing anyone's choice to use materials of any given worldview. I am saying that this is a subject that may require one to go outside their worldview comfort zone and provide answers on the AP exam that they might normally disagree with in order to be successful on the exam. I wouldn't write off any given text just because it is included in someone's book list or assume that its content is of any given nature due to its inclusion. At least, not without perusing the text itself. We have been using the Rubenstein text and it has more than adequately covered the topic; we've also had many great discussions as a result. DeBlij is probably one of the next most used and I have seen Kuby mentioned often. On the upside- the publishers of Rubenstein have been willing to work with me and have provided all/any teacher's materials that I wanted without great difficulty. If you are not necessarily interested in AP or even human geography you might look at Runkle's World Physical Geography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez J Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Yeah, I was afraid of that. I have dropped pursuing AP USH because I found the exam questions to not fit with my idea of what a US history knowledge base would entail. Probably going to have to drop the idea of this course as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Yeah, I was afraid of that. I have dropped pursuing AP USH because I found the exam questions to not fit with my idea of what a US history knowledge base would entail. Probably going to have to drop the idea of this course as well. As I said before I don't want to dissuade you from this course, especially as I don't know you personally and so I'm in no position to judge what is a good fit for your worldview. But I would advocate checking out the course, exam and texts to see if it is a good fit-don't just take my word for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez J Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Oh, I will. Just know it's probably not going to pan out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 I wrote this original post, but after really checking out the material and the exam (as mentioned in JumpedInto's response), I decided to forgo the AP Human Geography course. Instead I am putting together a world geo course for my son that is more cartography-based. I think we are going to stick to AP exams like stats, chem, and physics. :) Good luck with your choices, Chez! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Resurrecting this old post as I'm trying to plan my dd's geography course for next year (9th grade) and a cartography-based world geo class sounds like just what she would most like. Did you end up doing that? How did it go? I'd love to hear a general (or detailed! ;)) description of what you did, if you have the time. My dd is just completing Ellen McHenry's Mapping course, which she loved, but that means I can't use that again. I almost wished I'd saved it a year and turned it into something more. If you aren't interested in AP Human Geography...I'd recommend starting a new thread since the title of this thread probably won't get you the answers you are interested hearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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