Starting Geography in 7th grade?

I think Geography is pretty important.  We have a globe that the kids can play with and also lots of maps.  So, you don’t have to follow and do a geography curriculum but I think the kids should have knowledge of what the world looks like and where the places you’ve read are. I think it really lets them see how big the world is, there are so many other people in the world outside of our country.  If you are doing this and just don’t want to do the guided work I think that would be ok, but to leave it out totally …I am not sure.   An easy way I often include it, is when we are reading about the Oregon Trail, I have my 4th grader show me on the map where they are traveling. That being said, I think each mom has to choose for herself what your ultimate goal is, so if you want to leave it out then its good for you. You know what I mean?

I pasted down below what CM says about Geography for you, so it can help you decide.

Geography

Just as history is the study of people in time, geography is the study of people in places. Charlotte advocated learning about people in their surroundings, not just dry facts about locations, exports, and weather descriptions. Many living books teach geography. You can also simply locate on a map or globe the geographical setting of any of the living books you read together in any subject.

In addition, Charlotte planned for a ten-minute map drill session once per week. We do map drill like this: Give each child a blank map of the region you are studying and provide a detailed and labeled map of the same region. Instruct the child to label a few areas of the region, being careful to copy the names correctly from the detailed map. The next week, give the child another blank map of the same region and instruct her to label as many areas as she can remember. Once she has labeled all that she knows, display the detailed map and check for accuracy, then have her label a few more areas carefully. Continue this routine each week, and over the course of the year she will become quite familiar with the regions studied using this gentle method.

I did very little geography with my oldest, now 19.  The past few years, though, we’ve had exchange students from all over the world.  That has opened our eyes and hearts beyond our little space.  Now my 6yo LOVES learning about different places.  If we look at Italy, he says, “OH, Francois’ grandmother lives there!”  Plus he’s getting a brother from China in a few weeks.  Geography is definitely not abstract places to us now.  Just pulling out a map opens is exciting to him.  If you could find a way to put faces on  your studies, it might make it more real and personal to your children. 

For specific time periods in history, I know that Knowledge Quest as well as Home School in the Woods both sell maps.  Not sure exactly what you are wanting, but that might be a place to start…

http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/OldeWorldMaps.htm

http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Complete-Set-CDROM.html