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Visits to Africa and Asia
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Hello, I am interested in purchasing the SCM Visits to Africa and Asia. Are there other recommended reading book options to the picture books in these curriculums? Are there other inexpensive book options to these curriculums? I have looked in my library and we only have one picture book. 🙁 What else could I do to make the geography lesson come alive? My children are ages 10 to 4 1/2 years old.
This is not a book suggestion, but one thing we have done with my 8yo dd is have my 19yo dd sit with her and take “journeys” using Google Earth on the computer. There is a “walkaround” option available (I’m sure someone can explain it better than I’m doing, or maybe you already know about this) in which you are virtually walking the surface of wherever you’re exploring. In one case, they traveled to Iceland and they were sailing on a small boat. They’ve gone underwater. They’ve walked around villages in Norway. It’s been so exciting for my daughter to be able to see details and people and clouds and water and all sorts of things.
The most exciting thing they did was “travel” to an area in Uganda where my 19yo daughter has spent much time on her two trips there. She was able to take my younger daughter to many places she had actually been, explain what people were doing (there’s a little girl carrying water in a jerry can, there’s a matoke stand, there’s the spot where we caught the boda boda every morning, there’s the alley to the church, there’s a jackfruit tree, etc).
So, perhaps this is an option for you if you aren’t able to get books. We also use YouTube a lot to watch traditional dances, listen to languages and traditional music, watch people cooking, etc.
We’re doing Visits to Africa this year, and my girls (ages 13, 11, 9, 8) are enjoying it. I’m reading aloud Mogo’s Flute by Hilda van Stockum right now. I have plans to read King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. And further plans to read aloud Star of Light by Patricia St. John.
I think I’m going to assign my 8th grader to read the Benge’s book on Mary Slessor.
I am looking for a book on the Suez Canal….we just covered that in history, it fits perfectly with our geography, I’m rather fascinated by it, and our library system has absolutely NOTHING on the Suez Canal for children. So I’m open to recommendations
For Alphabetica – That is a fabulous idea! I will definitely look into using that feature.
For Karen – those books you are reading are classic literature but they also are from the geographical areas you are describing – yes? That is a good idea too.
Yes, those books are “living books” that are based on the geographical area we’re studying. I prefer it that way.
And I’m always surprised at how much back ground info we pick up. For example, in Mogo’s Flute, the little boy Mogo keeps his flute in his hair. That seemed like a typo, until I looked at the picture and realized that the little boy did indeed have an “afro”, of course! We are studying Africa. It just didn’t occur to me! (I’ve had quite the mommy brain for the past few days….I’ve just been flutter-brained about several things.)
And, of course, Mogo and his people believed in witch doctors, and superstitions. And we learned that there’s a rainy season and a dry season…..all this kind of stuff that my girls don’t realized they’ve learned, but it’s there, becoming background info that will help them as they read articles, hear news reports, etc.
I think if you start here it will work:
Although I’m not sure exactly how. I hope someone will chime in with more knowledge than I have. It was my daughter doing this so I didn’t see how she started.
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