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What do you want in a geography program?


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I'm putting the middle touches (not finishing yet, but way past beginning) on a secular, literature-based, CM-ish, world geography program for K-8. It's kind of like MFW or WP or SL only entirely secular and less random, not selecting a few countries and doing them in depth, but hitting every region systematically. It will include great artists, music, and literature as well as geography.

 

Are there any killer books, resources, study techniques, anything really, that you'd like to see incorporated into a secular world geography program?

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Will it have an art project or two for each region? My kids really enjoyed when we did world geography, incorporating some art projects and a recipe or two for each continent. Sorry I can't rememeber the title of the cookbook we used, but there are several for kids that have recipes from around the world. I mostly picked art projects off the internet.

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If you publish it, could you include the supplemental books as an optional package?

 

And a list of supplemental books in case we want to study a region more in depth?

 

I can try to work up a comprehensive list for each region so folks could go more in-depth. That's a good idea.

 

I'm not sure about selling collections of books.

 

I understand how to set up a webstore that sells ebooks and small self-published runs. I have experience on the author/editor/publisher/marketing side of the book biz. I even have used book sale experience. But I don't have any idea how to be a bookstore that sells new books other people make, and it seems like there'd be more financial risk in that.

 

I wish I could e-mail WinterPromise and My Father's World and say, "any advice for noobs?" but they'd be competitors. (It's not that I would want to take them off the market. They're Christian and there's a need for more secular CM stuff, I think. We'd be complementary.)

 

So probably this will be at least at first an ebook/Lulu sort of thing along the lines of what Classical Writing does, and to facilitate the purchase of the whole set of necessary books I will encourage the creation of Amazon Listmanias. I would love to start up a real curriculum company but I need to focus on one thing at a time, and my priority is getting the lesson plans up and out.

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Will it have an art project or two for each region?

 

Yes. I'm either going to incorporate a traditional folk art or copycat type projects of famous artworks of that region. I'd like to keep supply lists to a minimum though, so there will only be a few of these things. I despise acquiring craft project supplies.

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Definitely interested! We are using A Child's Geography right now (with Evan-Moor Beginning Geography thrown in for map skills).

 

We're not Christian, but I really appreciate its sense of wonder, which I have found missing in most secular texts. Like, "isn't this earth an incredible place??" It's easy in a Creationist book, because there's an acknowledgement of gratitude to a creator, but it might be possible in a secular book as well, somehow.

 

You could probably set up an Amazon store very easily where folks could click through from your site to find the exact materials you recommend and you'd get a small kickback. Easier than having YOU stock the books and you could easily "replace" selections that went OOP.

:lurk5:

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I can try to work up a comprehensive list for each region so folks could go more in-depth. That's a good idea.

 

I'm not sure about selling collections of books.

 

And some people would prefer a list of books that's more like how SOTW AG does it where there are lots of options and you can raid the library for the ones you can get and not worry about not having gotten every single title. :)

 

I'll be curious to see it! It seems like a really good idea. I have heard other secular homeschoolers say that geography is a place where really comprehensive secular curricula is lacking.

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No suggestions but it sounds great. Is there any way to be notified when it's available? I'm afraid I might miss the announcement on here.

 

I'm no where near organized enough for that sort of thing yet. Sorry. Remaining subscribed to this thread is probably your best bet. I will likely come back to to it repeatedly.

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I am currently searching for a geography program. I would like to see simple things like learn where the country is, the capital, the landscape, any famous features like mountains. I have seen several programs tht say it will teach your child to draw the entire world freehand. I don't really understand the point of this (anyone want to illuminate me?), but it sounds like a neat thing to be able to do.

 

I think, however, the deal breaker is cost. I have looked at some neat programs, but they cost over $100. For geography?! I just can't justify that much moola.

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  • 4 months later...

I missed this the first time around, but this sounds great. Any updates? Especially curious on estimated cost.

 

Do you have any samples that you could send out or post? I'm about to start a geography program that sounds really, really similar to what you described, but I'll be pulling it together myself as we go. If you're getting close to finished and your program looks like something I'd use I'd rather wait a couple weeks than do it myself! :lol:

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