threeofakind Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Just wondering if anyone has ever done a year of no history to focus just on geography? What did it look like and what did you use? Or, would you even do that for a school year- this would be for a 5th grader- and do you think skipping history for year is a no-no? And/ or is there a 'light' history program that made it easy (or easier) to do a more heavy duty geography curriculum with history as a lighter topic? I am trying to leave this open ended to get as much feedback- I am just playing around with thoughts for next year. I feel like we always get to history but geography is easier to skip at times, and just trying to find options here! Thank you!! :thumbup1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kagmypts Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 This is our plan for next year, but I have no idea what we are going to use. I will be watching this thread though. Memoria Press has some Geography sets: http://www.memoriapress.com/descriptions/index_American-Modern.html#geo I may also contemplating using the Usborne Geography Encyclopedia and the Rod & Staff 4th grade Social Studies book (about cultures around the world). confessionsofahomeschooler.com also has 2 Geography programs. I really would love a nice cohesive study, and right now, I am just all over the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2OandE Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I'm considering it for next year - 5th grade. I've got Trail Guide to the World and am going to supplement with a lot of books so that we can go deeper into the various cultures. I am planning art, cooking, handicrafts, literature, etc all around this. I'm even doing fables and myths from around the world so I can tie in iew better. I just don't see how I do history too. I could highlight historical events, scientist, musicians from those countries but I don't think doing a cycle per se will quite fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemommy Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I plan to do this after we finish our first four year history cycle. I think 'traveling the world' through geography study will make our second four year history cycle so much richer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heritagelearningacademy Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 We are doing it with My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures. Some of our read alouds are about missionairies and we hit a tiny bit of history in these I feel. When we have studied different countries, we really have talked some about history too and if a topic interests us, we look at that for a while. I like this approach as we will have a solid foundation for where the countries are as we hit history in detail from here on out. And, we are familiar with cultures of some of the countries and that is a nice addition to understanding history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Personally, I think it's a great idea! We did that when DSs were grades 7 and 8 -- World Culture/Geography and Comparative Religions. It was GREAT! We were really ready for a break from straight history (due to many bunny trails, it took us 6 years to do 1 cycle of history). And it was super prep, along with Worldview material, to really understanding the religions portions of culture and what an impact that makes on history. We focused on East Asian nations, the Middle East, and African nations, as I figured those were most likely the parts of the world DSs would NOT get to hear much about unless we made the time for it. By high school, history is typically American History, and the a World History that is Western Civilization-based (i.e., mostly Europe, with a little ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and medieval crusades and Marco Polo's China thrown in). Things we did: - read non-fiction - watched films set in different cultures - read cultural/historical fiction set in different cultures - made foods/played games/listened to traditional music from different cultures - read Milliken Publishers' "Inside ______" (World's Great Religions) series, plus the DK publishers' "World's Great Religions" (Bowker), plus children's non-fiction library books on major religions - over the year, as we read, we made a comparative religions chart on key beliefs so we could compare - played the Sheppard Software free online geography games to learn nations, capitals, and locations - worked through a geography workbook - made our own "atlas" doing 2-3 countries per week: marked a printable map of the nation, added a sticker of its flag, wrote the capital, population, major language(s), major religion(s), and major resource(s); and then wrote a paragraph based on info we'd read about the country from World Book encyclopedia and the 2 picture atlases we had Sonlight has a core that focuses on Eastern Hemisphere nations and it is targeted for grade 5. It is more about geographic locations, and especially learning about the cultures, rather than history. You do get some history leaking in along the way -- can't really talk about culture or religion without some key people and history events being mentioned -- and that's fine. Enjoy a geography break! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 We are doing this this year...just geography. I am adding in some cultural info but that is it. This is being done with a 2nd grader but can easily be made to fit another grade. I am using primarily Children Just like Me, an Atlas and this web site http://homeschoolcreations.com/Geography.html (scroll down to find links to the continents) Basically we spend 2 weeks on a country, the first week is on the geography and the second week the culture. For the geography week we mark a map with cities, rivers, mountains and anything else that might be important. Paint the flag, Study the topography and temperature plus any special animals. For the cultural week we learn to count in their language, read about a child from Children Just Like Me, talk about special customs or people or artist, and listen to a sample of their music. We are also making a geography terms notebook. An example is learning the term strait while learning about Spain, dd will draw a picture of the term and write a brief definition of it. I have used on the past the Trail Guide books, Around the World in 180 days, and Sonlight Core F. I have also heard great things about My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acsnmama Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I had planned on this myself when my oldest reaches 5th grade, my next in line would be in 3rd, and I want to keep them on the same schedule for history/geography, so we'll be doing Beautiful feet all together this coming fall, and then the following year, we'll be doing geography! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 That reminds me of the Beautiful Feet Geography guide and map pack to go with the 4 wonderful Holling C. Holling books -- 5th grade is a great time to do that. You could also learn states and capitals, and maybe focus on state history/civics/culture as your Social Studies for that year. Another fun resource that is perfect for 5th grade is the Complete Book of Geography and Maps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Just wondering if anyone has ever done a year of no history to focus just on geography? What did it look like and what did you use? Or, would you even do that for a school year- this would be for a 5th grader- and do you think skipping history for year is a no-no? And/ or is there a 'light' history program that made it easy (or easier) to do a more heavy duty geography curriculum with history as a lighter topic? I am trying to leave this open ended to get as much feedback- I am just playing around with thoughts for next year. I feel like we always get to history but geography is easier to skip at times, and just trying to find options here! Thank you!! :thumbup1: I think devoting a year to geography is a wonderful idea. Honestly, I think cultural geography in particular is overlooked too much of the time. With all the talk about the global economy, I think it would behoove us all to learn more about the global community. Think about how much better we would understand history if we had a clearer understanding of the culture, religions, government, traditions, etc. of individual nations. If you are worried about abandoning history altogether, maybe plan to read some books that combine the subjects. For example, In the Land of the Jaguar discusses the history and geography of the continent. http://www.amazon.com/In-Land-Jaguar-America-People/dp/0887767567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358308212&sr=8-1&keywords=Jaguar+South+America ETA: We have been doing some physical and cultural geography unit studies over the summer. They have been enjoyable to the point that I have considered smooshing the 4 year world history cycle into three years and doing just what you propose here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 We are doing this exact thing this year. We just started yesterday with my 3rd grader and my K'er along with two of their friends the same ages. We are using: Geography: combination of Expedition Earth and Galloping the Globe Science: Sassafras Science and Complete Book of Animals to study animals and their habitats from each country Literature: Folk tales from each country or Cinderella story from that country Poetry will be read from most of the countries Read alouds based on the country My oldest dd will be reading four novels: The Whipping Boy for Europe, The Big Wave for Asia, Mr. Popper's Penguins for Antarctica, and Charlotte's Web for North America Art: Home Art Studio and Geography Through Art Extras: cooking food from each country, notebooking/lapbooking, and geography terms based upon country studied (peninsula when studying Italy, etc.) We're finishing up week one this week and I'm hoping to put up what we do and what resources we use each week on my blog. My oldest is also working through Seabird using the Beautiful Feet Geography Through Literature guide on her own. We will do the other books, which focus on American geography, next year when we study American history again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeofakind Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 WOW!! I am excited at all that is mentioned here!! Great ideas, feedback and thoughts. I was nervous thinking skipping history might be a bad idea, but what is being discussed here makes sense to me and I am glad others have done just geography or plan on it. I am going to start looking at all these options, thanks so much!! :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedogfarm Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 If you're concerned about not having any history, you could always just listen to the SOTW CD's in the car or at home to go though the history cycle through the year. That way you are "reviewing" history without formally covering it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolley Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We did! We used Beautiful Feet geography and maps, added in states and capitals, continents, and countries, etc. when dc were 4th grade and younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.