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kathleenmom
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| Posted: Aug 13 2009 at 9:42am | IP Logged
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We've never done a "formal" Geography unit or used a formal geography program. We've looked at the map and tied it into our history readings, done some American Geography with the Holling C. Holling books. Very gentle.
My concern is my children's actual geography knowledge when the rubber hits the road is probably not much superior to those embarrasing Jay Leno clips where he asks folks on a New York City Street what Continent they live on and they answer "The United States."
Can you accomplish solid Geographical knowledge in this gentle approach or have I just fallen down somewhere? Would your kids when asked to fill out a form to request lost Lego bits know whether or not they speak "North American" or "European" English? 
Kathleen
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ekbell
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I'd say that it would depend on what you have been reading and how interested your children are in the map/globes you own. 
While my kids have enjoyed map activity books and organized 'tours' I'd say that reading books set around the world, a globe (I use an Hug-a-Planet while reading to the younger children since they are fairly indistructible and cuddly) and Google earth have been the best tools with my young children.
Google earth is great for the zoom in, out and around factor as well as the multitude of angles to view things from. My children can spend hours picking places to zoom to and looking at pictures from around the world.
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guitarnan
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Map puzzles (jigsaw) work wonders!
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stacykay
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We have world and US maps on the walls. Whenever we read a book that concentrates on a certain area, the boys tend to want to find just "where in the world" that is. There are many picture books that are gentle and fun to read about various cultures that could be a lead-in on geography.
We learned most of the US geography via an atlas when we travel.
Also, Serendipity
has lots of book suggestions as they travel the various continents.
We have never done a geography text, just read lots of books on various cultures, printed out world, continent, country, and state/province maps to color, watched National Geographic and other videos from the library, used the globe, maps and atlases. I do tend to go in cycles with our history study, somewhat correlating with Ancients, Middle Ages, Discovers-Civil War, and 1865 to present, covering Africa to Asia, then Europe, then North America, and finally South America, Australia and Antarctica.
I hope this is somewhat helpful and along the gentle line you are looking at creating for your dc.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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melanie
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My two oldest kids have gone through this stage of being really confused about the whole concept of geography...they would get cities, states, and countries really mixed up and not understand that we live in a city, that is part of a state, that is part of a country...it seems to be a developmental thing for them to really get that. My 9yo, who still has some learning delays, will call Italy a state, that kind of thing. :)
They both enjoyed map skills workbooks though around 3rd-5th grade. We use Map Skills for Today from Rainbow Resource.
Puzzles are great too. We have a United States one, and we have a very challenging global one too. I remember we all worked on it when I was in early labor with my now 4yo son...lol. We had to break out atlases and everything!
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sunny
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I highly recommend the Oregon Scientific Smart Globe. In my past career, I traveled the world (every continent except Antarctica) and I do not know my geography as well as my ds 5! He LOVES his globe!
(sorry this was edited for very poor typing!)
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Matilda
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melanie wrote:
| They both enjoyed map skills workbooks though around 3rd-5th grade. |
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We don't use workbooks for a lot, but I did pick up some simple Scholastic Success With Maps workbooks thinking they could work on them once a week. They want to do them everyday!
I think is also just depends on the child. My son is always looking at the maps we have up on the walls, but my daughters rarely do. It just doesn't interest them so I have to try to find ways to connect geography with what does interest them. Maybe if they had an American Girl series for every country! Then they would learn their geography! 
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Paula in MN
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stacykay wrote:
| We have world and US maps on the walls. Whenever we read a book that concentrates on a certain area, the boys tend to want to find just "where in the world" that is. Stacy in MI |
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This is what we have done, and it works!
Over the summer we participated in the 4Real Postcard Exchange, and every time we received a postcard in the mail the kids raced to the map to pinpoint where the sender's lived!
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Paula
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molly
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Aussie Annie just recently got my family (OK me ) addicted to Google earth. It is an amazing resource, check out the titanic pics. you can actually see the two pieces.
Off to look around a bit more myself
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Geography embarassing moment
