I was so inspired by Kim's post on geography that I decided we neeed to re-think how we've (or I've) been approaching this great subject and try to make it more real and fun! One of the kid's favorite non-fiction picture books is Children Just Like Me, and we'll be using it along with some of the super geography books Kim mentions, like Geography from A to Z, and Material World, as well as our wall maps and Uncle Josh's Outline Map Book, we love these! These are all excellent representations of living books that will help make geography come alive when we're studying a certain region or come across a particular land form in our historical reading.
For a hands on approach for learning the land forms Kim recommends using plastic "zip lock" style containers for the kids to form the land piece in to and then add "blue" water (if necessary) to show some perspcetive. I also really like how Kim took the Montessori "nomenclature" card idea and made her own landforms document by dividing it into large sections. One for the name of the land form another for a drawing by the dear children, and the bottom for the explanation or description of the land form. It's brilliant and so easy and doable and best of all, learnable!! BAM, it's just like Emeril :) We'll also use puzzles for tracing the states and continents and filling in the topgraphical information with salt or paint for more hands-on work. I love this approach and I'm certain we will be doing alot more geography with this new method!! Thanks Kim, your a lifesaver!!
I think Geography just got a little better and certainly more fun!! How do you approach Geography in your home school?? Thanks for stopping by and May God Bless you in your Day!!
I printed her form and Locksley is keeping a notebook of all the forms he has learned and illustrated. We also use the clay and landform pans to reinforce the idea. It is working really well. He tells me that Geography is his favorite time of day.
I have been looking at the Uncle Josh's maps. I am glad to have your review. Did you buy the CD-rom or the copyable book?
Posted by: Rebecca B. | Sunday, October 22, 2006 at 09:20 PM
I have been eyeing Material World for a couple of months now. It looks wonderful.
Posted by: Jennifer | Sunday, October 22, 2006 at 09:22 PM
Rebecca, I have the reproducible book, but the CD would be just a good or better, no loose papers!!
And Jennifer, I found Material world at the library and it's wonderful, my dh loves it!!
Posted by: Meredith | Sunday, October 22, 2006 at 09:24 PM
Great ideas, Meredith (and Kim)!
Posted by: Alice Gunther | Sunday, October 22, 2006 at 10:54 PM
I am re-thinking our geography also, Meredith. Your wonderful post has inspired me!
Posted by: Dawn | Monday, October 23, 2006 at 04:46 AM
Kim's inspiration is spreading! Last week we made land and water form cards, great fun! And I can highly recommend Material World, also Hungry Planet, which we enjoyed even more than Material World.
Posted by: Jennifer | Monday, October 23, 2006 at 11:01 AM
You might like _A Child's Geography_ by Ann Voskamp. You can view it at www.achildsgeography.com
We've been using it for a couple months and *love* it! Thank you for your inspirational ideas; I will work some into our geography days! Blessings, Kathy in MD
PS--I'm an "Amblesider" with 4 dc and have really enjoyed reading your encouraging blog. It has breathed new life into my homeschool-weary soul. Thank you for that. :-)
Posted by: Kathy | Monday, October 23, 2006 at 12:58 PM