avazquez24 Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Thinking of taking a break from history next year (as SOTW wasn't working too well w/ my kids....perhaps they're too young still). I thought of then focusing on geography instead, partly because I can't seem to find a history program I like right now. Also doesn't seem too off base that the kids should have some geography down prior to really gettting into history as well. So, I would love to hear what you recommend for geography for a 1st and 2nd grader (I want to use one program and teach them together). Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimmy Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I'm on my first kiddo so my experience is limited... We have been using the Evan Moore daily geography series along with the Geography Songs CD and a nice map on the wall to find places we come across in our reading. Everything is very simple and fun and DD seems to be retaining a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 We are keeping geography simple and fun with a world tour. We use the following to put our tour together: Kingfisher Geography Encyclopedia Children of the World: How We Live, Learn and Play in Poems, Drawings and Photographs Flags Sticker Book (Usborne) Around the World Coloring Book (Dover) A globe and world map Home Art Studio Grade 1 (the projects for this year are country themed) Ds picks a country he wants to learn about. We stamp our homemade passport with the applicable flag sticker, locate the country on the map and globe, read the encyclopedia entry, discuss the Children of the World pages about that country, listen to music from that country (from the library or Internet radio station) and cook a dish or meal from that country (modified to suit our allergies). We use Google Earth to "fly" over the country and zoom in to see various details. If Home Art Studio has an art project that corresponds with the country we do that during the week, same with coloring a page from the Dover book. We use the internet to look up what animals are native to that country. I research a picture book set in that country (if possible) from the library to read together. We make a journal page with a photo of our meal and pictures of something memorable from that country from the Internet (a special animal, landmark, etc.) and add it to a binder along with the coloring page or a map. At the moment our chosen country is Columbia. We actually got a field trip for this one as our local Butterfly Gardens has poison dart frogs. Ds was SO excited! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avazquez24 Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Thanks! I don't really have any direction as far as geography curriculum goes, so I love to hear everyone's input! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Here's another recent thread on this... http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/467308-geography-study-for-the-younger-set-moved-from-gen-ed-forum/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Galloping the Globe (world) Cantering the Country (USA) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawlas Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 We're not doing a lot of geography this coming year, but we plan on using Beginning Geography by Evan Moore and I just ordered Little Passports, world edition. I'm thinking if possibly suplementing that with a bunch of library books. We've been finding countries on the globe or world map as it comes up in everyday life and worked on memorizing names of all the continents and oceans as part of memory work this past year. Oh and over the summer we'll bedoing some activities around the book Me on the Map. We've also been listening to Geography Songs and will continue to do so. So not a really focused 'every country in the world' kind of plan, but some exposure so that more depth will be easier at a later time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 We've got a geography-lite year lined up for next year (with a K'er and 2nd grader). We're basically hitting the continents/oceans by name, doing different habitat/animal studies for each continent, and finishing up with a read through of the Sassafras Science chapter book (not using the whole program). In December we'll take a break and do a "Christmas around the world" type month... We'll be using: National Geographic Kid's World Atlas N.G. Wild Animal Atlas Children Just Like Me The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book (plus other stories from around the world) Scholastic's "Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats" (Donald Silver) Evan Moor's "Habitats, Grades 1-3" (Science Works for Kids series) Leap Pad's interactive world map + a few free printables I've found... a few art projects for each continent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DandelionPrincess Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 We're using Evan Moore Beginning Geography K-2. it covers everything from symbols on a map, the compass rose, to landforms, oceans and continents. I've also heard good things about Evan Moore daily geography books. It would also be easy to expand on anything introduced in these books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaraH Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 We enjoyed Evan Moor's Beginning Geography series and our subscription to Little Passports which my son loved. We also have Trip Around the World which I don't really love, but others have enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berley Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler has Expedition Earth that you can download for $15. I just purchased it for next year and it looks incredible. You have to purchase three books to go with it, but I found them all on eBay and Amazon for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avazquez24 Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 Thanks! Someone linked another thread and this EE was also mentioned...I've checked it out and I may go along w/ that! I also added in some other books an above poster mentioned as well. Just gotta finalize my list before ordering everything on Amazon as well. Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler has Expedition Earth that you can download for $15. I just purchased it for next year and it looks incredible. You have to purchase three books to go with it, but I found them all on eBay and Amazon for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 This might be above first/second grade, but we're going to use the Great Google Earth Puzzle Challenge next year with our third and sixth graders, adding supplemental books about each country/area as we get to them. I'll have my kids write out the answers to the questions, but they'll also draw the flag of each country, read some books about it (maybe try some recipes/snacks from a country, or learn about animals from the area), mark the locations on a blank map, and look at the pictures in the book and on Google Earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorrelZG Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler has Expedition Earth that you can download for $15. I just purchased it for next year and it looks incredible. You have to purchase three books to go with it, but I found them all on eBay and Amazon for cheap. What are the three books? I read through the web page for it but didn't find them mentioned. It looks interesting but I'm unable to buy books and have no library so was hoping that by some chance I already have them. :-P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystie Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Geopuzzles & Geography Songs are great supplements. Here's how I have done geography: Geography without lesson plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 What are the three books? I read through the web page for it but didn't find them mentioned. It looks interesting but I'm unable to buy books and have no library so was hoping that by some chance I already have them. :-P If you download the Brazil sample you can see them, but FWIW I don't use her exact resources, I use what I have on hand. Any geography book with info on the country would work, any geography encyclopedia, etc. So I didn't buy the required Trip Around the World books, we just read from the books we have. I do use CJLM and others that aren't on her list, like Around the World in 80 Tales, Geography A to Z, etc. Also Global Art which I thought was on her extras list but I don't see it now. Here's a habitat diorama ebook in the current dollar days sale (instead of the one on her extras list) http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Habitat&name.x=0&name.y=0&name=Search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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