brasilmom Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Greetings, We just finished Beginning Geography by Evan-Moor and in all honesty I found it a good introductory program, but now I am looking into something more substantial. Anyone here have used a strong world geography curriculum that can share? Perhaps you made your own? My next step will be to learn the tropic lines. From there I want to study in depth each separate continent. This would give us enough material for a long time. We are 1st grade here, so of course the in depth aspect is relative to that age group. Anyway, thoughts, resources, ideas, are certainly appreciated. Thank you. Be well Miriam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 We will be doing geography next year and I am accumulating quite the amazon wish list as I research. I am primarily looking at cultural geography, but some are physical geography. No reviews, but here are some things from my wish list that would probably work well in 1st- Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas NG Kids World Atlas A Child's Introduction to the World: Geography, Cultures, and People- From the Grand Canyon to the Great Wall of China Children Just Like Me There's a Map on My Lap! HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto3boys Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I second the Geopuzzles, my boys (3&5) love them and have learned so much from them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Time for Kids has some great resources on their website. National Geographic Kids does too. We also love the Children Just Like Me books. There are three total: Children Just Like Me, Children Just Like Me: Celebrations and Children Just Like Me: Our Favorite Stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarrySanger Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) I think geography is extremely underrated in its importance and the amount of time spent on it. Sadly, there aren't very many good series of geography books, and if there is any geography program for early to middle elementary that is both detailed and really stand-out, I don't know about it, and I've looked. Still, there are lots of good ways to approach the subject. The way we've chosen is by reading a series of books, one or two per country and several general introductions to the continents. We skip over the smaller countries. In a way, we're approaching it long-term and systematically, a little like the SOTW four-year plan, just applied to continents. We've been doing South America for the last five months, 15-30 minutes per day. If you're looking at first grade material, and you wanted to do something similar, the best series IMO would be True Books and, for more introductory stuff, Rookie Read-About books. There are also many text-heavy but still usable single-volume atlases or encyclopedias of geography. We've got several and use them, although the books easily outstrip them in detail. I also like Children Just Like Me which someone mentioned, and it is probably accessible to most first-graders. In addition to books, we spend quite a bit of our time (lately, maybe half) looking at pictures, videos, globes, maps, etc., to help bring the text alive. This really makes geography fun for both of us. We also occasionally trace or draw maps. More discussion related to my approach: http://larrysanger.org/2011/09/what-is-the-best-way-to-teach-geography/ http://larrysanger.org/2011/11/what-are-the-best-books-about-countries-for-children/ http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=326959 Edited February 5, 2012 by LarrySanger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) We don't do geography as a course, specifically. We pick it up as it comes in our other studies and reading, but in addition to a globe, good atlas, and geography book, we are really finding "What The World Eats" by Peter Menzel very interesting as a resource for seeing how people in other countries live. Oh, and we have a bunch of placemats printed with maps of the world and the continents. The company name is "Painless Learning." Love that! Edited February 5, 2012 by jar7709 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 If you liked the Evan Moor book, you could try their 7 continents set http://www.evan-moor.com/Product.aspx?CurriculumID=7&ClassID=158&SeriesID=251 and add in some literature, recipes, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Way2blessed Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 if you have access to an ipad, I highly recommend the apps "Stack the States" and "Stack the Countries". My son can identify about 70% of the world's countries from just a week of playing with this app. He is not allowed to play many video games, so I don't know if video game saturated kids would find the app as exciting as he does. You do need to be able to read well to use the app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddler Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 For anyone who is homeschooling at the high school level, Harmony Art Mom has a free World Geography download: http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/2009/08/world-geography-for-high-schoolers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenangelcat Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I'm accumulating stuff right now for next year (2nd grade). I couldn't find an actual curriculum so I'm making one up. Here's the plan so far -We'll do 9 locations, one a month. Canada, Mexico, Japan, Italy, France, China, Brazil, Australia and South Africa. -I'm going to buy DK's World Flag Sticker Book. It has two stickers for each flag. One of the stickers will go in a fake passport. -We'll also get a world map and mark each location with a pin. -For each location, with the exception of Canada, we'll watch the corresponding Discovery Atlas dvd. -We'll make one big meal from each location. -Arts and crafts from each location -Listen to regional music. -I've been searching our library for picture books and novels set in each location. -Still looking for more movies/documentaries for each location. Other resources are The Kids Book of Canadian Geography Children Just Like Me National Geographic Wild Animal Atlas Around the World in 80 Tales I'll probably continue this format for a couple of years and then do the map drawing curriculum that I can't remember the name of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeplessnights Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I know that Memoria Press is developing their own Geography program. I believe the first year is States & Capitals, the next is Europe, North Africa, & Middle East, and the third year should be the rest. You can check it out here: http://www.memoriapress.com/descriptions/index_American-Modern.html Good luck! 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.