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Geography supplements??
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I am interested in adding something to our geography (besides just map drills). I guess this is called “cultural geography”?? Right now we are using Gen-Duet for history and I’d like something to add in here and there. My kids are young and we’ve tried reading Letters from Egypt, but they are just not ready for that. We’ve done some workbooks for your basic “how to read a map” and “landforms, etc” so I’d like something that would focus more on each country/region we are studying. And I’d like something I can use with most all of our history studies (not just this era) – not having to get a new book all the time and not having to scour for more resources – just a good “add in” book if that makes sense. Here is what I’ve looked at: A Child’s Geography: Explore the Holy Land, Trail Guide to Bible Geography, Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide. I just can’t get a good idea of how these books are set up from the previews I’ve seen online. Has anyone had experience with these books? Any suggestions for using these or others to add to your history/geography?
You’ll have to get some other opinions about the A Child’s Geography–we used the first book, not the Holy Land one, and didn’t care for the tone and writing. Drove us nuts. I think if your children are very young, the Trail Guides might be a little over their heads. The Ultimate Geography book is OK but it is much more of a resource; there are a few lesson plans included, for things like using Hans Brinker as a geography book, and there are lots of resource things but I don’t remember anything about sections about actual countries.
Not knowing the exact ages of your kids, I don’t know how well this would work but have you seen KnowledgeQuest’s new Expedition: Earth book? The book is pretty nice–there’s a page on each country, and the included CD of lesson plans has maps and a lesson plan for each country, including websites and other info. I have an older elementary student I’ll be using this with this year (he’s read me out of all my living geography books already!!!) and we’ll also be supplementing with information from my church’s children’s magazine which frequently spotlights children from various countries. Just another thought. The included lesson plans move VERY quickly, but if you were only planning on covering some parts of the world now, you could move more slowly with younger children and probably do fine. Just another thought!
I haven’t done this yet, nor have I used any of the resources you mentioned…but I can tell you what I am planning to do with module 1 next year. We won’t be using letters from egypt either b/c I think it will be over the head of my 6yo (who is my oldest student…also have a preschooler and toddler tagging along)…and also because I find the topic of cultural geography fascinating (and because we live overseas most of the time, we place a high value on giving our children an understanding of cultures other than our own.) Because the Map Drill area is Africa, I was planning to read an assortment of books about Africa during the “geography” slot in the handbook. I don’t have the exact titles I am planning to use handy right now, but have several items that I gleaned from Sonlight Core 4/5 and several picture books (probably available at the library). I was also going to study the pages featuring families from Africa in the other books recommended on the curriculum guide – Material World and Hungry Planet I think? – and also the book Children Just Like Me. Awhile back someone else had recommended these story/activity books too which we may also add in http://www.kidsofcourage.com/downloads. So you get the idea. I will probably carry this through all the modules – adding in various picture books, folk tales, missionary stories, etc about the region of the world that we are studying for Map Drill at the time.
Hope that help some,
Jen
I just discovered this Geography program… Expedition Earth: A Journey Through God’s World http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2010/08/expedition-earth-journey-through-gods.html
I thought it looked fun but too much for us to do each week. I think it should be easy enough to spread one week’s worth of lessons over 2 weeks. I don’t want to rush through all the countries.
We live overseas most of the year and travel alot, so I thought this would be a good introduction to other countries… not only where they are on the map but touch on cultural aspects as well.
I think there are also Missionary stories to go with most of the countries studied, using “Missionary Stories with the Millers”. It is always good for our kids to hear what other missionaries families have done…. helps them see where they fit in.
Blessings, Michelle
We also tried Letters from Egypt without success. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but children ages 5-7 did not. This fall, we are going to use Galloping the Globe, which is a geography unit study by Geography Matters. It gives you book ideas, recipes, maps, activities, etc. for each continent broken down by various countries. Here’s a link with samples if you’re interested:
Here’s a review from Old Schoolhouse:
http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/Homeschool_Reviews/reviews.php?rid=466
Here’s another link with yet a different sample;
http://www.timberdoodle.com/Galloping_the_Globe_p/577-578.htm
Our kids are really excited about this. They will be 1st & 2nd grade. It’s designed for K-4th grade. The beauty of unit study is you can make it your own by doing as little or as much as you need. I do own some of the “spine” or “source” books, as I found them at used book sales, but I also plan to supplement from the library if there’s something of particular interest to the kids.
Blessings,
MelissaI’m going to agree with Bookworm on the critique of the Child’s Geography book – although Explore the Holy Land is better than the first one. That one drove me crazy too!
Also, the Expedition Earth book recommended looks really good – I’ve only had it for a couple of weeks and haven’t used it yet, but am looking forward to it.
My girls really enjoyed A Child’s Geography book: Explore the Holy Land. I actually learned a lot about the culture in each area. We didn’t do all the activities but I’m sure they’d be fun to do! I have no experience with the other two resources, sorry. But if you have any more questions I can answer about the Holy Land book let me know. We just used it this past school year but I’d have to get it out and look at it again.
Tara
Bookworm-
I was wondering if you would share your list of living geography books? I would certainly appreciate it.
One more question, what would you recommend for a highschooler?
Thank you
Thank you all for your reviews 🙂 You have helped me weed out a few things and given me some other great ideas to work with. I knew I could count on you all to help me with this mental pickle 😉 I’ll keep checking back in case others have more to offer!
We used/are using a couple of practically free resources on our kindle – we paid a small amount for them from yesterday’s classics, but I think you can also find them for free – one was called Peeps at Many Lands: Egypt – great living book about Egypt (my dds are 7 and 5) – we skipped one chapter that was just too much about their gods/worship from that time. And we’re currently reading Stories from the Gorilla Country and the girls are riveted with the stories about snakes and gorillas and elephants. Now, let me warn you, there is hunting involved and cannibals, so it might be too much for your kids, but because it’s just verbal, my normally sensitive girls aren’t having any problems with it and are asking me to read more and more!
I was going to suggest the Expedition resource Mum in Zion recommended as well. i have not purchased this, but have purchased other products from this site and they are WELL done and very reasonably priced.
Our library also has cultural events that are quite educational, and the best part is that they invite people from the culture/country to the events. This really is great for our children to be able to see and speak with/ask questions of people from other parts of the world.
I like many of the resources suggested by Sonlight and My Father’s World for cultural geography. I bought several resources for geography earlier this year.
The ones we seem to use the most are Hillyer’s A Child’s Geography of the World and Passport to the World. Hillyer’s is out of print and I paid about $25 for it with 1956 copyright. Some of it is outdated, but it is mostly engaging and still true. What is outdated is called “history”.
Passport to the World has a two-page spread for each country and shows children in cultural dress and landmarks and money and food they eat. It also has 4 words in their language.
We also use Dover’s coloring book of Countries Around the World. I have read a few stories from Missionary Stories with the Millers. My kids liked the 2 I read, but I felt it was better suited for a little bit older child.
All Through the Ages has a geography section in the back. I have gotten several good picture books from the library for the country we were studying which was listed in that booklist. The Giraffe that Walked to Paris and I, Crocodile were good books my kids liked.
I agree with the others about Voskamp’s vol. 1 Child’s Geography. I bought it and really have not used it for much more than the booklist at the end of each chapter. The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story and Me on the Map were some books my kids liked which was listed in that book. I would like to try vol. 2 on the Holy Land. I hope it is better.
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