I am learning geography along with my kids through their homeschool geography lessons. I know I must have been taught the basics in public school, but I hardly remember any of it. I feel foolish when I don’t know where a country is when it’s talked about on the news. If we’re going to learn geography in our homeschool, it’s not going to be boring and it’s not going to be easily forgotten! I’ve since found learning and teaching geography can be so much fun!
We are relaxed homeschoolers, sometimes unschoolers. I love the idea of “strewing”, an unschooling term, which is where the mentor (teacher/parent) leaves interesting materials out for the learner to come across to possibly peak their interest. So, I like to think I am strewing geography around our home.
Create an immersive learning environment for geography
As learning geography is a main focus this year, I decided to set up my home to have maps that are easily seen. The more we look at maps, the more they’ll be ingrained in memory. I hung large wall maps in our hallway, a U.S map and a world map, that the kids walk by multiple times a day to get to and from their bedrooms. The kids always get their school supplies, books, and a couple fun things on the first day we start a new school year, so they woke up the first day of school to see these gorgeous new maps.
I also placed maps as big as would fit on our dining table covered with a clear vinyl table cloth protector over it. Again, I used a map of the world and a map of the U.S. Every time we sit down to eat we’re looking at those maps. Once in a while I will turn them so they face a different direction or swap places, moving the U.S. map to the side of the table the world map was on and vice versa. So everyone at the table has a chance to see the different maps right side up.
We also have a globe that sits on a low shelf, so it’s easy to access anytime. When we’re doing geography lessons I will often place the globe on the table so the kids can touch it, move it, look at it if they want. We see these various maps throughout our days.
I once read that having a shower curtain with info you want to learn is a fantastic way to memorize facts. You’ll look at it whenever you’re in the bathroom. If we used shower curtains (we have doors), I’d get a shower curtain world map, too!
We have Atlases and many books about places and cultures readily available on our living room shelves. Some of our favorites are listed in my post: How to Read Maps and Kids Geography Books. I’ve also put together book lists of specific places, such as Children’s Books About China, Books About India, and many more places to add to your geography unit study. See all book lists by topic here.
In upper elementary ages, my kids enjoyed Richard Halliburton’s The Book of Marvels to wet their appetite for learning about far away places.
We have many more wonderful books about geography and cultures now that we are using Guest Hollow’s Geography Curriculum. Almost daily, we read about people and places, watch videos, including a full length video once a week based in the culture we are currently studying. And we cook a cultural recipe from around the world at least once a week. Read how we use Guest Hollow’s Geography Curriculum in our homeschool (and don’t miss the discount code!).
I’ll be sharing more about the cultural recipes and fun ways we’re learning geography soon.
Speaking of immersive learning… we’ve decided to take a road trip across the U.S. and back. What better way to learn where the states are and about the United States of America, then to experience them? Follow along on our Epic Road Trip Across the U.S. adventure.
