As I stated before, I spent a good deal of this summer brainstorming ideas and gathering resources for the new school year. One of the main areas we needed to improve upon was Geography – and by “we”, I mean ME included.
SO…this fantastic month of November ALL of my posts will relate to/revolve around GEOGRAPHY!
Are you excited?
As excited as you can be about Geography?
Well stick around, you might be surprised by how EXCITING it can get!
Just ask Licador Licorice Laun, our resident Vanna White.
That Was Then, This Is Now!
In the past several years Geography has consisted of pointing to maps in our texts and labeling a large markable map that came with our curriculum. Unfortunately, while we were always faithful to complete the task, it somehow wasn’t doing the trick.
It was too rote.
It wasn’t interesting.
It didn’t “stick”.
We needed something MORE.
Since Texans do everything BIGGER I figured it was about time for me to live out my state creed.
So, this is what I did:
First, I ordered some map tacks, some with flags and some without, from Amazon.
Next, I drove to our local Office Depot and purchased two 48″ x 36″ cork bulletin boards.
Then, the very next day I drove out to our nearest teacher supply store (a half hour away – geez louise we need one in this town) and purchased two full-size, non-laminated maps – a world map and one of the United States.
Finally, Emelie helped me move the apple-green dry goods pantry out of the schoolroom to open up a large span of wall space. With the wall ready for use, I affixed the maps to the cork bulletin board; when Jeff returned home from work we hung one atop the other on the wall.
The maps were an immediate hit.
A “Worldy” Treasure
Jeff and I kicked off the map labeling by using the flag map tacks to label where each of the kids were born. Then, we added all the places we’ve lived as a family. Finally, the kids labeled all the places they’ve ever visited.
The first evening the maps were up, we all stood around them for over an hour thinking of all the places we’ve been, reliving memories, and discussing where we’d like to go. Before turning in for bed, each of the kids selected a map tack color to use this school year when labeling locations from their Read Alouds, Independent Readers, and History texts.
The next day, wanting to help make our maps “come alive”, I pulled out the photo of the kids’ visit to the Inner Space Cavern in Georgetown, Texas. Their Uncle Don and Aunt Betty had them over to spend the night and took them to see Texas’ best preserved cave, discovered by a Texas Highway Department core drilling team in the Spring of 1963.
Using a piece of yarn, we tied-in the photo with the actual location on our World Map.
Then, I suggested we cross-map label, and so Meredith helped me stretch the string from the photo up to the U.S. Map and label it there as well.
A day or two later, when Kenny and I finished reading Red Sails to Capri, we decided to look online to see if the Blue Grotto on the Island of Capri was a real place. We were delighted to see that it WAS real – and just as beautiful as the book described.
After watching several of the YouTube videos, we printed off a couple of our favorite photos from Google images and affixed them to our cork bulletin board.
Kenny quickly located Italy and labeled the Island of Capri. Again, we used yarn to tie-in the photos to the location.
The kids and I quickly decided we wanted The Blue Grotto to be our next field trip! So, if any of you want to send our family of five to Italy – let us know.
ANYWAY…
I look forward to watching the maps “fill-out” over the course of this year. We talked about adding more photos, drawings, pamphlets from places we visit or write to learn about, and of course, more labels.
I was amused a few weeks ago when Kenny led Jeff into the schoolroom to show him where the country of Oman was located (it was his World History lesson of the day).
“Look Daddy, Oman is slightly northeast of Yemen. And did you know that before they found oil their main trade was Frankincense?”
I kid you not.
I’m not sure if it’s the size of the wall maps, the proximity, the visual cue, or how interactive we’re making it, but the kids’ haven’t lost interest and even share with each other the places they labeled that day.
We’re only a couple of months into our school year and all four of us have learned and retained more about Geography than we have in the past several years.
What are you doing to make Geography come alive? Is it a big focus for your homeschool or does it get pushed aside/tucked away like ours did for so many years?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Since 2001, Heather Sanders has worked from home in the following industries: web design and development, branding and consulting, web graphics and social media promotion, and copyediting and freelance blogging. Wanna start a blog? Looking for someone to copyedit or proof your posts? Need some social media graphics? Contact Heather today!
