Rhonda in TX Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 DS used BJU Cultural Geography this year and it was fine. He liked the class, but, like others have said, it's a real fact cram. DD will be using this text next year, but I want to change it up and figure out what is really important for her to know. So, I'm interested in knowing what you think is important for them to learn from a high school level geography course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 The thing about geography is that it's a huge subject! You can go in so many directions. My must-knows: names and locations of all countries -- I want my dc to be able to fill in a blank map with every country in the world. important country capitals major US historical and physical landmarks (mountain ranges, rivers, etc.) major world physical landmarks understanding and reading types of maps, map distortion, map markings, map keys, latitude/longitude general latitude and longitude of countries and continents Fleshed out generally with: major culture, history and religion of regions some basic physical geography any current events relating to the country or region HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datimasa Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Lisa, what program do you use to teach all that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Wow, isn't Lisa's list impressive! My goals are much more modest. My youngest already knows much more geography than I did at his age (I got on a plane to the state of Georgia, and then looked in the airplane magazine to find out where Georgia was :) ). He will likely only get a semester credit in geo before he graduates. But he's had geography throughout his education (he uses MFW, written by a family who lived in Russia & is quite geography-conscious). It's interesting to think through the goals there. I would say that in the long run, I hope he retains some of these basics. - locate maybe half of the states on a blank map - locate major countries in each continent - know the major ways that political borders and country names have changed over the last few centuries - understand physical geography enough to know where general biomes are located on the planet - recognize the oceans, seas, major manmade canals, a few of the largest rivers, and the relationship of waterways to populations - recognize a lot of state and national capitols - know the locations of some of the natural and manmade "wonders" of the world - know the locations of major political unions and tensions currently and at several points in history - understand the relationship between physical geography and political borders (warmwater port issues, mountain barriers, etc) - be aware of some of the natural products and produced goods that define different nations I'm a big picture person rather than a small detail person. But interesting topic for thought. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Well I just lost my entire post, so you're getting the super SHORT version here. I finally concluded the *what* depends on what interests the particular child. Skills are different from that, and test-taking and synthesis, well that's kind of universal. But the actual what really can vary with the kid. My kid is a history and context kind of person, so I concluded it wasn't going to work well to use the BJU straight. Not enough context or narrative. But I like their synthesis. My *theory* right now is to do in-depth country studies using the Trail Guide and books from the library then use the BJU chapter to take it to the next level, get synthesis, take notes, and take the test. I'll let her take the tests open note. That was just my compromise to deal with the fact cram issue. I decided the particular facts weren't as important to me as the process. We're doing the states this summer using this methodolgy, and so far we're having an awesome time. My main concern at this point is whether it will get overwhelming to do every single country. Honestly it really would be better at that point spread over 50 weeks. (200 lesson days) It takes us 3-5 hours to do one state, so I can't fathom it taking less for these countries. It's just a lot of work to keep up at a frantic pace. What I did was to make a weighted scale to apply to just the select chapters I want to do in the BJU. We *may* push Europe off to the following year to do alongside World History, jsut to keep things reasonable. Anyways, I figured if I used a ratio of the number of days to where I want to end up and multiplied that against the number of days they suggested for those chapters (in the tm) I'd end up with proportional amounts of time and emphasis compared to where the emphasis ought to be, kwim? So if the tm recommended 5, I ended with 8 or 9. 6 became 10. 7 became 11/12. 8 became 13, and 9 became 15. Tweak slightly for common sense. I figure within that we'll go into countries individually as time allows and scrapbook regionally for the rest. That's as far as I got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TippyCanoe Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 The thing about geography is that it's a huge subject! You can go in so many directions. My must-knows: names and locations of all countries -- I want my dc to be able to fill in a blank map with every country in the world. important country capitals major US historical and physical landmarks (mountain ranges, rivers, etc.) major world physical landmarks understanding and reading types of maps, map distortion, map markings, map keys, latitude/longitude general latitude and longitude of countries and continents Fleshed out generally with: major culture, history and religion of regions some basic physical geography any current events relating to the country or region HTH, Lisa I hope to accomplish this. I can't find a curriculum for it but would love one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 It's late (for me) and I'm tired, so this may not sound too coherent. I figure dd has gotten a lot of, and will get more about individual countries informally, and/or through travel (hers or family members'). We've already done Mapping the World By Heart, watched documentaries on various countries, gone through National Geographics, etc. What I'm more interested in having dd learn more about are topics such as: --where stores of crucial resources are located, why this is important, how this affects political relations, what happens when nations fight over things like water upriver in another country being siphoned off or dammed up, pollution spills spreading to other countries, etc. --trade routes and world trade patterns, why this is important --border disputes, problems with borders imposed by outsiders which messes up tribal or other pre-existing communities or states --historical and current patterns and crises in human migration --historical and current patterns of geographical exchange: of plants/animals, bacteria or viruses, etc. --the relationship of geography to the distribution and spread of various religions --climate change and its predicted effects on places already affected by drought or flooding --changing patterns of land use and their consequences Harm de Blijj's Why Geography Matters is the kind of book I'm looking to use, plus more cultural geography-type resources -- not as a separate formal course, but as part of history, and just as general necessary knowledge for thinking about current politics. Like Julie, we gravitate toward the big picture. I really like your list, especially the "why" questions. I'm thinking of doing geo in 10th grade, and can't decide whether I want to do it myself or enroll my dd in PA Homeschoolers AP Human Geography class. Food for thought, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Wow! I had a busy week last week and didn't get a chance to check this. Wonderful ideas and many great things to think about as I plan for next year. Thanks to everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Lisa, what program do you use to teach all that? I hope to accomplish this. I can't find a curriculum for it but would love one. Wish I could point you to one resource for all of this. I haven't found it! I have taught geography twice and both times, I've pulled resources together using MTWBH and the student book of Runkle geography as the frame. My older dc were really into geography and participated in the Geobee so we have a geography shelf. That, together with library resources, comprised the bulk of our class. I think AP Human Geography deals with many of the issues in Doodler's post. My oldest followed our middle school geography studies with that class. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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