Teachermom2007 Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Hello, We are using BJU Cultural Geography for my 8th grader next year and was wondering if anyone has any teaching tips. We have two toddlers at home, so my focused teaching time is limited. :tongue_smilie: The book is quite extensive and very vocabulary-laden. I am specifically hoping for some ideas about how to summarize and simplify the lessons by someone who has used the text previously. Thanks so much! donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barybar Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 (edited) We picked this up and my daughter seems to love it....so awesome. I, like you, was a little lost until I found inside the 9 grade teacher ed. a suggested format making it a full 2 semester course or 1 semester course. So, that helped. I think with the heavy load we will soon be under cartography skills are going to be important. There are some great mapmaking software out there, too. In fact, I have heard of people using the book straight through HS-assigning a 1/4 a year making it a complete full 1 credit ready for graduation. Hope that this helps us. Because, I think it is fun. When, you read about a far off world in history, one can either go textbook or find the map on the CD, print it out and get a really good idea of where it is located. Good Luck! Char:grouphug: PS we have a 1 1/2 year old turning things into a tornado aftermath........ ;-) Edited July 12, 2012 by barybar addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toteachthemwell Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 My daughter enjoyed this course. We found that doing all of the activities in the Activity book was too much. So, after a while, I began to pick and choose the ones I felt would be most helpful. One other thing I might mention is that we had to adapt the tests a bit. They included questions on details that were hardly mentioned in the text. (ie. not main points in the chapter) I even had to really search to find mention of some of the things that were asked. This was frustrating for my dd, who retained the large concepts, but was not seeing it reflected in test scores. I eventually switched to open book testing. That worked better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barybar Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 :grouphug: Heard through the grapevine that some of the content is hidden in teacher editions in BJU. We have already gone that route this year so will stick it out... I don't think I would hesitate calling someone at BJU and telling them as a teacher I am unable to find the content or the answer anywhere and find out what they say. That will be my plan if I work at it for a long time and unable to find what I need. Thanks for the input and yes, my daughter likes it so far and think it cool that it should tie in with AM and WORLD history! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachermom2007 Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks for all the input. I chose not to purchase the activity book but, after persuing the TEs, and glancing at my friends' Activity Book, I hope to come up with a few activities that route. We are part of a co-op for this where food, guest speakers, music, etc will be presented each week--each family has four or five classes to host. I think I will focus on the "main ideas" as someone has suggested (because there is SO MUCH INFORMATION in this book!) and do some oral testing along the way.... I will post my progress ; ) donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toteachthemwell Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I'm wanted to come back to this topic again, as we are using Cultural Geography with my 2nd daughter this year. We are having the same issue with failing tests after working hard on the material. HAs anyone devised an alternate way of assessing their student's progress? WE did move to open book tests last year with daughter #1. Just wondered what others are doing. Or even if others have an equally difficult time with the tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeinMT Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 We are doing this course this year with a small group. I have had the same issue with their tests but I found out about the BJU testmaker software. They have most of their courses on it (and you can download new versions as they come out) with multiple choice, short answer and essay questions for each chapter. You just choose the questions you want to use, print a test and an answer key. I've found this very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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