Trail Guide to U.S. Geography vs. Visits To North America by Simply Charlotte Mason

[bluebonnetgirl]

I have decided to do a year of US or North American Geography and am trying to decide between these two curricula:

 

Visits to North America by Simply Charlotte Mason:

https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/visits-north-america/

 

Trail Guide to U.S. Geography:

https://www.christianbook.com/trail-guide-to-u-s-geography/cindy-wiggers/9781628630060/pd/397198?product_redirect=1&Ntt=397198&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP#CBD-PD-Description

 

Do I have my consensus right? , i.e:  Both have mapping, the difference is the other stuff.  Simply Charlotte Mason Visits To North America focuses more on literature: picture books, cultural coffee table books, and other literature with corresponding writing prompts for paragraphs.   Trail Guides has a menu of open ended research tasks using online research and then notebooking the findings

 

Which is more open and go, and more interesting for middle school age kids who are visual and concrete?

 

Thanks so much for any feedback.

 

 

Edited August 1, 2017 by bluebonnetgirl

[nixpix5]

Trail Guide is good but a bit overwhelming. I wouldn't describe it as open and go. SCM visits is straightforward. You just have to remember to get the books in advance of it coming up in the section. It is based around maps yes, but discussion questions based on readings. I supplemented it with more books and other things but by and large really like them.

 

Trail Guide would take some front work on your part unless your kids are very independent and can navigate choices in curriculum well. Good but just different. I haven't used TG but I own it and a friend uses it so I cannot say how it actually plays out over the year.