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What is your favorite "living book" for geography...


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I would love a book that is a story of traveling the world and discovering countries and things about those countries etc that could be used as a jumping off point for studying geography. I don't really want to do geography workbooks or fill out a bunch of maps. Are there any books and/or curriculums written like this?

 

I know a lot of people use Verne's Around the World in 80 Days for this but this is for a 4th grader and I don't think I'd use that for her age.

 

Ideas?

 

Heather

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I just subscribed to weekly reader magazine, if you remember those from school. I used to love them. They also make a Time Magazine for kids, but I ordered Weekly Reader. So that's that. I'm not not sure what's in a world almanac, but there is a world almanac for kids and I've read in the forum that some people's kids love it.

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You can do a "search inside" on google books for the Halliburton book. Here's the results from one I did for Golden Gate...

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=2fsOAQAAMAAJ&q=Golden+Gate#search_anchor

 

And if you run "Richard Halliburton" through bookfinder dot com, you can find it a wee bit cheaper... http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t5_5&qi=XH5UpYxAmXcrzoT2Im4VO.N6,oE_6694479362_1:282:840&bq=author%3Drichard%2520halliburton%26title%3Drichard%2520halliburton%27s%2520complete%2520book%2520of%2520marvels

Edited by momto2Cs
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Mater Amabilis has chosen quite a few books

http://materamabilis.org/

 

For example for grade 2 --

 

Year 1: [Themes: Europe; Maps and Plans; Weather]

 

(1) Peoples and Places [Europe] (12 lessons each term)

 

Choose one book each term from the list below to read aloud (not for narration) over the course of a term. Before each lesson, spend five minutes studying the map of the region. Aim to be able to quickly name and locate countries, capital and other major cities, important rivers and mountain ranges.

 

Vendela in Venice by Christina Bjork [italy]

The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren [sweden]

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson [France]

Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil [italy]

The Wheel on the School by Meinhart de Jong [Netherlands]

 

And grades 4&5:

 

 

 

(2) Peoples and Places (Ad.Lib.)

 

Choose one book each term from the selection for independent reading.

 

Year 1: The Americas

Where the Flame Trees Bloom by Alma Flor Ada (Cuba)

Maya Quest: Interactive Expedition by Dan Buettner – bicycle trek through Central America

The Cay by Theodore Taylor (Caribbean) – fiction

Secret of the Andes (Puffin Book) by Ann Nolan Clark (Peru) – fiction

Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa by Francis Kalnay (Argentina) – fiction

 

Year 2: Africa

Hippos in the Night: Autobiographical Adventures in Africa by Christina Allen

Africatrek: A Journey by Bicycle Through Africa by Dan Buettner

Journey to Jo’burg by Beverley Naidoo (South Africa) – fiction

Jock of the Bushveldt by Sir J.Percy Fitzpatrick (South Africa) – classic fiction about a dog

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Do any of you know anything about the Hilyer Geography book that is quoted for WWE level 1? Something like a Child's Geography of the World? I'd look it up, but I put those materials away for the summer. The quote sounded appealing.

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Do you know if there is somewhere I can see a sample of this? It's pretty expensive so I want to see if I'll like it.

 

Heather

 

I am sorry. I don't know about samples but I didn't notice the price. I didn't pay anywhere near that amount! It is good and if you can find it for $30 or less, I would call it worth that.

 

Do any of you know anything about the Hilyer Geography book that is quoted for WWE level 1? Something like a Child's Geography of the World? I'd look it up, but I put those materials away for the summer. The quote sounded appealing.

 

Oh, I forgot about this one. It was on a different shelf so thanks for reminding me! I do like it. It has a similar feel as CHOW, for those who are familiar with that volume. I have the 1951 version and I don't know if it is the last printing but I remember hearing something about earlier editions having some slurs that were edited out later. The earlier copyrights were for 1929 and 1935. The 1951 version shows that it was revised, so that is a good sign (for once, LOL).

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You want samples of Faces? It's on the publisher website. It's the same place that does Muse and the others. It looks a little young for my purpose, but for a younger dc (4th-5th), it might be really interesting. You could see if your library has it.

 

Oh, I assumed she meant the Halliburton book but the magazine subscription is pretty pricey too, so thanks for mentioning it. We have been very blessed that DH's Granny buys each kid a subscription to a magazine from Carus Publishing every year for Christmas.

 

Faces sample.

Edited by Alte Veste Academy
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Oh, I forgot about this one. It was on a different shelf so thanks for reminding me! I do like it. It has a similar feel as CHOW, for those who are familiar with that volume. I have the 1951 version and I don't know if it is the last printing but I remember hearing something about earlier editions having some slurs that were edited out later. The earlier copyrights were for 1929 and 1935. The 1951 version shows that it was revised, so that is a good sign (for once, LOL).

 

I had it for a while but resold it. I honestly can't remember much about it, I just felt it wasn't for me.

 

We shared some of our favorite quotes and discussed the old v new versions of CHOW in these old threads

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=214308

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=291223

 

However, Poke Salad Annie recommended Hillyer's multivolume set called Young People's Story of Our Heritage. I tracked it down and I have found it much less problematic. However I only used portions of Europe with my kids so far! I don't know exactly how different it is from the geography book, but physically it looks different (large and thin, whereas the geography was small and chubby, and it has a lot of photos) -- anyway, there has been a lesser amount of bizarre commentary, but I haven't read every word of them. They make me roll my eyes in parts, but CHOW made me shudder (I typed up a few of my favorite quotes in those threads). You can read a blurb about them here: http://www.valerieslivingbooks.info/young.htm

 

For example -- from Young People's Story of Africa and Asia (1966)

The Europeans tend to be more liberal in racial matters. The Afrikaners believe very strongly in the separation of the races, called apartheid (ah-pahr'tate)....It is hard for anyone not living in Africa to realize how completely apartheid rules the lives of both the whites and the natives in South Africa....The Republic of South Africa today is probably the most modern of all tbe African countries, but the growth of apartheid has also made it the unhappiest and the most isolated.

 

The other problem with these old books is that, especially in the era of African independence post colonialism, so many countries have changed their names and so many things have happened, that it's kind of weird to read about Rhodesia, Upper Volta, Bechuanaland and whatnot.

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We are getting ready to do half year with World Geography and are using these books for our kick off each week.

http://www.amazon.com/Children-Just-Like-Me-Celebration/dp/0789402017/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343565397&sr=1-2&keywords=kids+like+me

http://www.amazon.com/Children-Just-Like-Me-Celebrations/dp/0789420279/ref=pd_sim_b_4

These are more about the culture of a country but will give us a jumping off point for my dd.

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Halliburton isn't actually expensive; it's just the pricing-bot weirdness that makes OOP books appear to command high prices. When a seller actually has a copy in stock and checks what they've priced it as, the price drops dramatically. I've seen it many times in the dollar bin (where I got mine).

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You want samples of Faces? It's on the publisher website. It's the same place that does Muse and the others. It looks a little young for my purpose, but for a younger dc (4th-5th), it might be really interesting. You could see if your library has it.

 

Hey Elizabeth!!! I meant samples of Halliburton but thanks. We have gotten several of those magazines over the years but I don't think we ever had Faces. I'll have to take a look.

 

Oh - and if you emailed me in the first 2 weeks of July I didn't get it. The big storm here knocked out our internet for 2 weeks. By the time I got my internet back my email box was completely full and it was deleting emails. At least we had power. :-)

 

Heather

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Hey Elizabeth!!! I meant samples of Halliburton but thanks. We have gotten several of those magazines over the years but I don't think we ever had Faces. I'll have to take a look.

 

Oh - and if you emailed me in the first 2 weeks of July I didn't get it. The big storm here knocked out our internet for 2 weeks. By the time I got my internet back my email box was completely full and it was deleting emails. At least we had power. :-)

 

Heather

 

Yeah, I didn't think Faces looked too hot. God's World News would get you to the same place. I got it for my dd around that age and she enjoyed it. I was looking at it again last night (one of their higher age magazines obviously) to see if dd would like it again. I thought I'd show it to her and see.

 

People lost power in our area for upwards of a week with that storm, though thankfully we were up after just a few days. 2 weeks is a LONG time, wowsers! You must have been beside yourself, mercy. Oh, it's Virginia. When we lived there years ago we lost power in the great ice storm. That would have been late 80's... It was out a similarly long time. Well whatever, glad you're back up! I'll definitely write you! :)

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Hey Elizabeth!!! I meant samples of Halliburton but thanks. We have gotten several of those magazines over the years but I don't think we ever had Faces. I'll have to take a look.

 

Oh - and if you emailed me in the first 2 weeks of July I didn't get it. The big storm here knocked out our internet for 2 weeks. By the time I got my internet back my email box was completely full and it was deleting emails. At least we had power. :-)

 

Heather

 

Halliburton sample in quote below

 

You can do a "search inside" on google books for the Halliburton book. Here's the results from one I did for Golden Gate...

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=2fsOAQAAMAAJ&q=Golden+Gate#search_anchor

 

And if you run "Richard Halliburton" through bookfinder dot com, you can find it a wee bit cheaper... http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t5_5&qi=XH5UpYxAmXcrzoT2Im4VO.N6,oE_6694479362_1:282:840&bq=author%3Drichard%2520halliburton%26title%3Drichard%2520halliburton%27s%2520complete%2520book%2520of%2520marvels

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We read this book and I loved it, but as I remember it is more about the author's life as a displaced person. If I find it (I think we own it but I can't figure out where I shelved it) I will post something more concrete.

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Yeah, I didn't think Faces looked too hot. God's World News would get you to the same place. I got it for my dd around that age and she enjoyed it. I was looking at it again last night (one of their higher age magazines obviously) to see if dd would like it again. I thought I'd show it to her and see.

 

Faces is secular. I assume God's World News is Christian.

 

I think Faces can be more or less interesting, depending on the issue, but my library carries it, which is helpful.

 

I tend to pick books about a particular country at the library. I've had good success with this. I also have watched Families of --- dvds. Each has two different families, and they're told from the kids' perspective. There is another set called Little Travelers about two young girls who travel. Their one in Japan was very nice, but the UK one was not nearly so cute. They spent a much longer time in Japan. The last one of theirs I saw was in Iran. They also went to Bali and Germany.

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One thing I've been considering is having a "Continent of the Month" and then just have a basket of books - non-fiction, fiction etc all related to that continent. I looked at some of the curriculum (Trip around the World, Around the world in 180, galloping the globe etc) but I don't want something that involved.

 

Has anyone ever done geography this way?

 

Heather

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Faces is secular. I assume God's World News is Christian.

 

I think Faces can be more or less interesting, depending on the issue, but my library carries it, which is helpful.

 

 

 

Yes this is true. I'm pretty sure our library has Faces too. God's World News is more news than geography.

 

Heather

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One thing I've been considering is having a "Continent of the Month" and then just have a basket of books - non-fiction, fiction etc all related to that continent. I looked at some of the curriculum (Trip around the World, Around the world in 180, galloping the globe etc) but I don't want something that involved.

 

Has anyone ever done geography this way?

 

Heather

 

That's essentially what we're doing. I'm planning roughly 3 week cycles where we do history, geography, and activities for each continent/region. I'm using the Time Life series "What Life Was Like..." as my jumping point. Not age-appropriate for youngers. I'm actually going to try those Hillyer books on her as geography, just to see what happens. I have the BJU geo, and I know she's not going to be crazy for it. I'm thinking Hillyer, who sees geography as a historian (more narrative, more connected) might be a better click. (click? I mean springboard.) Something SIMPLE might make a complete spine for a younger dc.

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That's essentially what we're doing. I'm planning roughly 3 week cycles where we do history, geography, and activities for each continent/region. I'm using the Time Life series "What Life Was Like..." as my jumping point. Not age-appropriate for youngers. I'm actually going to try those Hillyer books on her as geography, just to see what happens. I have the BJU geo, and I know she's not going to be crazy for it. I'm thinking Hillyer, who sees geography as a historian (more narrative, more connected) might be a better click. (click? I mean springboard.) Something SIMPLE might make a complete spine for a younger dc.

 

I have history mapped out for her already. I'm planning on history 3x a week and science the other two. What I was thinking is to do have geography, art, poetry to be once a week subjects with a "topic of the month' theme. So on say Monday we'd do whatever we wanted for geography (read a book, do a map, project, etc) all related to the 'continent of the month'. Then Tuesday we'd read poetry 'Poet of the month'. Wednesday 'Artist of the month' etc. So each continent, poet, artist would be 4 days devoted to them.

 

Heather

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