In my last blog post, I shared that I pieced together a World Geography study for my 6th and 7th grade boys this year. Today, I want to give you all of the details on the resources I chose, activities we’ve been doing, books we’re using and how we schedule everything. Before that, however, I want to give you a little background on why we went this route.
I was looking online for a good World Geography homeschool curriculum that would cover enough detail, but not too much. Something that we could commit to 1-2 times per week (max) and that wouldn’t require too much writing or strenuous work. Our workload is heavy enough with Morning Time, daily writing journal, Essentials in Writing, Wordly Wise (for vocabulary), Math with Confidence, history, literature and science. I didn’t want to pile even more on top of that.
If you want to know more about what we chose for this year, check out this blog post.
My goals for World Geography were very simple: expose my children to a variety of continents and their countries, culture and maps. I don’t need them to be able to label every country in Europe, but I do want them to be able to locate Europe on a map, and know that there are 7 continents. I want them to know that Egypt is located in Africa, where the Amazon Rainforest is located (and the layers of the rainforest), and about the Great Wall of China. I don’t need them to become geographical experts — I simply want them to have exposure and a good foundation. If their friend visits France, I don’t want them to wonder where that is.
Our General Plan
I decided that we’d study each continent, selecting a couple of coutnries from each that we’d explore in more detail along the way.
We started in Asia, spending time in China and India. There, we studied The Great Wall of China, Giant Pandas, Bengal Tigers and the Taj Mahal.
From there, we’re moving into Africa, beginning with Egypt. Egypt gives us so many natural rabbit trails to follow—the Nile River, deserts, pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, hieroglyphics, ancient civilizations, and modern-day Egypt.
From Africa, we’ll eventually make our way through:
Europe
Italy, France, and Great Britain
Australia & Oceania
Australia, the Pacific region, and the Great Barrier Reef
Antarctica
Which I’m intentionally saving for winter because studying Antarctica in January just feels right.
South America
Including Peru and the Andes, and Brazil and the Amazon
North America
Canada, Mexico, and the United States
We’ll finish there because it gives us an easy transition into a more in-depth study of United States geography that we’re using from Beautiful Feet Books.
This isn’t a rigid schedule. We might spend two weeks somewhere I expected to spend one, and that’s okay.
What We’re Actually Doing for Each Place
I printed off some great resources from WildFeatherEdu to help serve as a “framework” for our learning. I added other resources from Etsy and ones that I created to fill in any gaps. Most of our learning however, comes from books.
For each country or region, I pull from some combination of:
- living books and picture books
- maps and atlases
- documentaries and short videos
- food
- art and music
- important landmarks
- animals and ecosystems
- major historical events
- biographies
- folktales and traditional stories
- occasional hands-on projects
We don’t do every one of these things for every country. Because I have learned that the fastest way for me to ruin a perfectly good homeschool idea is to turn every interesting thing into an assignment. In the words of my 11-year-old, “This doesn’t have to become a whole thing.” His favorite lessons that we’ve done have been surprisingly simple, leading him to want to learn more on his own. And I think that’s kind of the whole point, right?
The general structure of our lessons is: read a picture book or two, look at maps, look up the country in our resource books and atlases, and complete a notebooking page and map work. I prep for the week ahead by requesting all of the library books that may correspond, choosing the hands-on activity we want to do, looking up any cool food item or recipe, and printing off any extra materials.
The Map Is Our Anchor
We use maps and globes during every geography lesson. Every time we move somewhere new, I want the boys to know where we are.
What continent are we on?
What countries surround it?
What oceans or major bodies of water are nearby?
How far is it from the last place we studied?
What does the land look like?
I’m less concerned with memorizing every country on a blank map right now and more interested in helping them develop a mental map of the world.
The more places we encounter through stories, history, food, animals, and people, the less the map feels like a collection of random shapes. Those shapes begin to mean something.
Geography Naturally Connects to Everything Else
This might be my favorite part of studying geography this way. It doesn’t stay neatly inside a subject called “Geography.”
China and India gave us opportunities to talk about history, religion, architecture, inventions, animals, landscapes, and food.
Egypt will naturally pull us into ancient history and archaeology.
The Amazon will bring in biology and ecology.
The Great Barrier Reef can become marine science.
Europe gives us endless opportunities to connect geography with the artists, composers, literature, and history we’re already encountering elsewhere.
We’re building connections, immersing ourselves in interesting topics and naturally learning. I am careful, however, to not let it pull us in too deep. Immersive learning can quickly swallow an entire day (or month). I want to enjoy learning without it taking over our entire homeschool.
I’m Not Trying to Cover the Entire World
This was something I had to give myself permission to accept. We aren’t going to deeply study every country.
There are 190+ countries in the world. If my goal becomes “cover all of them,” we’re probably going to end up rushing through a lot of places without remembering much about any of them. I’d rather choose representative countries and regions, linger where we’re interested, and help the boys learn how to learn about a place.
Resources That I Use and Recommend
I highly recommend this Maps book for elementary and middle school.
Countries Around the World is great for looking at info on each country you explore. This is one I borrowed from the library but chose to buy after.
Where on Earth Atlas has been a cool addition to our bookshelves. I like the unique pages it offers as opposed to our typical atlases (like nighttime views of continents that demonstrates how populated an area is.)
Give Your Child the World is my favorite for giving book recommendations, ideas and inspiration. I use this when placing my library pickup order!
Little School of Smiths provides the most amazing ideas for hands-on activities. While they may be geared towards younger kids, I find that some can be adaptable for older children as well.
Use your library as much as possible for picture books! I can’t say it enough. As we continue our geography studies, I can share more about the specific books we use if there’s interest!
Creating Your Own Geography Study
I’m adamant that you don’t need a formal curriculum to create a great geography study. I truly think that with good books, atlases, a globe, a notebook and a few YouTube videos, you can create an amazing Geography study that will work wonderfully for your family.
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