Hakg Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Hi I'm new to this board - well a long time lurker... this is one of my first posts. I am looking for a recommendation for world geography for my DS7 (going on 8). I have GTG and like it, but the activities seem a little young and more like busy work. I do like the idea of focusing on one continent at a time and also the notebooking approach. I like that there is a fair amount of reading about individual countries and the unit approach. I am also looking at Trail Guide to World Geography which seems more about facts and research and mapping. Does this book cover much in terms of culture? Does it use living books or is that all included in the Teachers Guide. Is it interesting enough for a 7/8 year old or do you think it is better suited too a slightler older child. I have Expedition Earth also but I think it will be too time consuming. I would like something pre-prepared and secular or than can be tweaked to leave out bible portions. Thanks any advice would be greatly appreciated. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanna76 Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Hi! I'm planning to use GtT with my DD who is your son's age. From what I've read in the manual, it looks like a perfect introduction to world geography. I don't think you have to be too strict at this age. I'm planning more of a fun approach for this year...plenty of time for a stricter approach in the older grades :-) Good luck deciding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merylvdm Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I think my DD was your son's age when I tried GTG with her, and yes, she got bored very quickly. I used Trail Guides with my older kids, but they aren't extremely engaging imo. Here is another suggestion - Globalmania. It is free to download and teaches all the continents using online games. It is a while since I looked at it and I can't remember if there are suggestions for books to read. I had forgotten about it until I saw your question and now that I remember it think I will use it with my 12 year old this year. The link: http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Globalmania.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Considering your children are 7 & 8 I'd use GTG & save the other for when they are a bit older. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 We will be using GTG this year for dd 7, soon to be 8. We are using it lightly as a semi guide along with the book Children Just like Me and this web site http://homeschoolcreations.com/Geography.html The activities in GTG do look like busy work and we are not using the Bible or Science ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedogfarm Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Welcome to the boards! We just started school this week and we are using Trail Guide to World Geography. My children are 7 (soon to be 8) and 9. I looked at GTG sample pages and I thought my kids would think of it as busy work, too. I think that the TG will help stretch my kids a little and for me it's a great way to introducing how to do research. My kids are great about grabbing books and learning a ton about what interests them but answering the questions in the TG is much more specific. Great way to get them to use an index, glossary, maps, table of contents, different books, etc. daily. We have both the TG and the CD for the student notebook. I am so happy that I have the CD because it is saving me a ton of work! As for culture, you'll have more suggestions in the TG than the notebook. Not a ton more, but more in general. But the way the children's atlases are designed there is an introduction to the culture of the country and you can always go from there--it will just be more open ended. As for living books--the only book that is used is Around the World in 80 days and the author has designed for it to take 9 weeks. The core of the course is designed to take 26 weeks. If we stop there and do Around the World in 80 days at a later point that would be fine. I am going to see how our year progresses. Our living books are based around our history cycle so that wasn't a concern for me. I hope this helps! I would have to say that using the Trail Guide was a success here our first week. Geography can take as little as 5 minutes/day in our house or we can go down a rabbit hole and get lost. I am treating Geography more as a skills area this year rather than a content area--mapping, finding answers from different sources, vocabulary, and an overview of world cultures. So this course is a good fit for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakg Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 Thank you all for your responses, you've helped me make a decision. Since I have GTG and many of the books, I think I will give it a try (leaving out the mazes, crosswords and busy work [i do like the maps and flags though]). I also have on order, Trail Guide just in case DS does not appreciate GTG, we will have something for backup, plus I can see it being handy in future years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakg Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 Thank you Michelle, your response came through while I was responding. I'm glad that I have Trail Guide coming as well, it sounds like it is working well for your family. The Trail Guide activities look a lot more interesting to me, however I'd like to have the living books too for a 7yo. I'm sure I can add those in though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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