Another thought was National Geographic for Kids, the website and the magazines. I know there are some other news type magazines aimed at kids as well that might be helpful. Time for Kids, is one such. I’m just not really sure what you are looking for.
I guess I don’t really know what else you want either. If Charlotte Mason used anything other than map study, map drills, living books, and observation to teach geography, I don’t know of it. Perhaps some suggestions on exactly what you’re asking for would give us a clearer understanding of what you want to add.
More current world events stuff, but on a primary grade level. Like what we see on the news, only for kids. Then maybe I can add the current events for the country we’re studying, show him where news headlines are happening on the map, etc.
Here are a few additional websites to consider to add current photos/news from around the world. I heard about some of these sites in a blog article by Ann Voskamp entitled “How to Feed Brains Everyday”.
I apologize that the hyperlink feature is not working on my computer today.
From Ann’s blog… “We would look at the picture and see if we could guess where in the world this was happening while we ate, slept, worked, read in the last 24 hours… then I’d read the caption, and we’d find the location on the globe. This was a phenomenal resource to give a global awareness of what is happening to real people in real places in real time — today. We’d often stop and pray for the people photographed. If we want to be ourselves aware, and raise children who care about people, the world, I know of no better, *daily, real-time* resource.”
These are news stories told in photographs. Some of them are graphic, so you would need to preview, but there are some amazing photos here. At the top right of the website, you can select the photos by category and some of the categories are geographical.
If you click on downloads, you can download them for free. I’m not sure how many countries would line up with Mod 3 though. There is quite a bit of information on the geography and cultures of each area.
Yes, HollyS, that’s the thing – lining it up with Mod3. This week I need Great Britain (of course, their current events are easy to find). I found some books I like, and I’m headed to the library later to peruse them. Perhaps I’ll end up answering my own question, after all.
I don’t want to pay for another subscription to anything like a magazine. I wanted newer living books that I could get through the library (we have a great library system here). We do get the free quarterly updates from Samaritan’s Purse which are amazing – you see countries you’ve never even heard of and are given ways to pray for them – but I haven’t seen much from SP for the countries in Mod3.
I second (third?) the vote for God’s World News magazines for current events. Also, I plan to look at pianogirl’s links from Ann Voskamp’s blog, since Ann has written geography books. You might be able to find some recent used copies for little cost or even no cost through a local homeschool group or co-op.
What about simply Googling the countries you’re looking for, pre-reading to determine which events you’d like to share with your children, and then discussing them orally?
Because current events change on a minute-by-minute basis, I’m not sure how you’re going to find a book that’s as current as you are wanting it to be.
I know you said you didn’t want to buy anything, but I just heard of this resource today and it sounds great! You can even download a sample at the website below.