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Marvelous Monday- GEOGRAPHY

By Kendra | June 1, 2009

We haven’t always studied geography as a subject separate from history because the history programs we’ve used include mapwork that I thought was sufficient to familiarize my students with the globe.

However, I had been reading Ann Voskamp’s lovely blog for awhile and was so very curious about her geography curriculum, A Child’s Geography.  We began with A Child’s Geography: Explore the Holy Land because it lined up nicely with The Mystery of History, Volume I. From the get-go, I loved that Ann’s book was written with her beautiful style and voice.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time telling you the contents of the books, because her site does a better job than I could.  But I will tell you that both volumes are an easy addition to a homeschool with multiple levels and ages to teach.  This year I used A Child’s Geography with my 6th grader, 4th grader, and 2nd grader, and it was another great addition to our Circle Time.

♥

Oh my!  I just took a peek at Cheryl’s Marvelous Monday post and she has far more to say about geography than  I do!  You’ll get your money’s worth at her blog :D

Topics: Educating at Home, Resources, Reviews | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Marvelous Monday- GEOGRAPHY”

  1. Bethany Jones Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 4:25 pm

    hi! My name is Beth and I just read your post on playpen time. A friend of mine sent me the link to it. My 9 month old just started crawling so I started putting him in his playpen when I need to do something. I’m pregnant again, so I spend so much time exhausted and there is SO MUCh to get done. Anyway, I was just wondering, how long do i leave him there and let him scream? I just hate listening to him wail. Maybe it’s just the new mother in me…some people say it will pass as more children come. I just don’t want to make any mistakes that don’t have to be made… :-) of course i say that with the understanding that mistakes will be made. I really admire the fact that you have 8. good job mom! lol

  2. Dawn Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 5:07 pm

    I am so glad you posted about these books!
    I have been considering using them for our table/circle time this next school yr. I have checked out all the samples on the site and been pleased with what I’ve seen. I guess it’s time to order!

    BTW-We did make a day of it at the beach today. I just tucked in some very tired children. Tired, but very happy indeed. :)
    Dawn in SC

  3. Kendra Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 7:57 pm

    Hi Beth-

    I can’t really answer that question for you because each family has their own approach and crying tolerance level. I can tell you some principles we’ve lived by:

    1. Credit card parenting stinks. Letting things slide in the short run always costs more in the long run. Pay your bill (let baby cry a little until he learns to be happy and entertain himself) and you won’t have to pay down the pike (a demanding two-year-old who resents the new baby).
    2. Cryin’ ain’t dyin’.
    :D

    ~Kendra

  4. Jennifer Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 8:23 pm

    Thanks for this post :-) I’ve had my eye on these books for awhile now and wondered if you might be able to answer a question for me. Does it matter which book comes first? My little ones (oldest is 8) haven’t covered too much geography yet, so on one hand I would like to start with Vol.1. However, we are just getting started with the Mystery of History and I love that Vol. 2 lines up with it. I guess another way to put the question is, do the children need some of the info in Vol. 1 to better understand Vol. 2, or can each book stand on its own?

    Thanks very much! Your Marvelous Monday series has been wonderfully helpful :-)

    Jennifer

  5. Kendra Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 8:31 pm

    Jennifer-

    I don’t think it matters in the least. We did volume II first, too.

    ~Kendra

  6. Sariah Says:
    June 2nd, 2009 at 6:22 pm

    Thanks for the reviews you’ve been doing lately! They are wonderful. Because of your math review I looked up the Teaching Textbooks website and I’ve decided we will be making a switch from Saxon for this coming year. We used the Saxon DIVE CDs the past 4 years and its been working okay, but the Teaching Textbooks looks like it will work even better with our learning style and I’m excited that it will work out ALL the problems if needed. So thanks again for your helpful comments and opinions on curriculum! :-)

  7. Kristi Says:
    June 7th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    This looks great! Thanks for another great review. I guess my question for you is how do you incorporate this and MOH? Is it terribly time-consuming? We are actually going to be doing
    MOH Vol. 3 this year, so I would probably do the first volume of the Geography text. I am just worried about the time involved. Any insight?

  8. Kendra Says:
    June 7th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    Kristi-

    I don’t really incorporate it into MOH; rather it just complements MOH nicely. We do our geography during Circle Time, usually on science days. The nice thing about A Child’s Geography is that you can read a couple of paragraphs at a time, if that’s what suits your day.

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