Trail Guide to US Geography

Since we've been studying the Civil War and talking about states AND the kids really wanted to do some daily geography (what can I say? My kids LOVE maps), I thought it would be fun to pull a resource off the shelf- Trail Guide to US Geography.

During our Morning Gathering Time, the kids work on a two question geography drill using an atlas or whatever other resources they can come up with.

One day a week we do a mapping exercise with the current state.

Then there is a section of the book called Trail Blazing. Actually, each state has a Trail Blazing opportunity which consist of more indepth questions or a project of some sort.

What a perfect source for The Daily Quest! So, each day the kids find something in the box that will coincide with their skill level. The kids are having a lot of fun with it.

Story of the World- Relaxed Style

Many of you are probably familiar with Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World history books. I've been acquiring them over the last few years to use with our Five in a Row books. I am not a classical homeschooler whatsoever, but the stories are well suited to give the kids an insight into a topic we are already studying with our unit studies.

This summer I was able to get a used copy of volume 1 at a great price which included the activity book. E11 and R9 requested that we do the stories so we started this fall with the introduction. I figured we could start at the beginning and learn a little something about ancient cultures- a topic not largely visited in the volumes of Five in a Row.


There is an activity book that accompanies each volume. It has quite a few activities that match the topics discussed in the text. In addition, there are questions and dictation exercises for each chapter.

We started with the introduction and talked about what history is and how we learn about history. The kids did the Life Time Lines from the activity book.

The idea is to use one or two lessons spots per week to a Story of the World chapter and one activity. Sort of a light approach to Story of the World. I am NOT a believer in chronological history for younger children. The unit study approach to learning that prevails in our home is quite the opposite actually, but it works very well and as our children get older they are absolutely able to place the various stories and topics we have learned into their proper context in the chronology of history. I don't for a minute believe it has to be taught in order for kids to get it.

Still the history is valuable and the activities are genuine. The plan is to work slowly through this as long as it fits with our studies in other areas. Of course, I'm still going to use it as an extra resource when we come across history in our Five in a Row.

I'm working on a new "schedule" to begin after the new year which of course I will share. It's taking me a while because I'm trying to align it with our activity schedule. The idea is that a carefully thought out plan will be easier to maintain long term. I've got a lot of big ideas on streamlining preschool and making sure we hit the passion pursuits in the afternoon.

Great Game!

Ok. I just want to say that this game plays really well. Your kids would enjoy it. I can't wait to get the world version. Throughout the game you have to answer geography questions as you travel around to different landmarks to get a card that reveals a henchman, a stolen item, or a warrant. In order to win you have to name the thing that was taken along with who took it and maybe where it is.

At the very end of the game you have to place all the capitals on the correct states in under a minute. Very cool. If you succeed then you catch Carmen. If not, she is free to roam and steal landmarks again.

Social Studies Boxes

I'm continuing to add to the box categories in the left hand side bar. It's a fun exercise to see what we have on hand that I haven't used in a while. I've been taking new pictures and I began to realize that I've featured many of these items in older posts.

So, I've taken a trip down memory lane and pulled old posts to fit my new categories. One such category is social studies. We have tons of games, maps, and books on history, geography, government, etc.

Keep checking back in on these labels under Workboxes because I'll keep adding as I can. I pulled the first picture below from one of my first game time posts.

The Global Puzzle- you've seen this one in recent posts. We also have the Animal Global Puzzle and a two sided National Geographic puzzle map.

Games include Great States and Great States Jr, Scrambled States of America and the card game, Carmen Sandiego 20 Questions history game, an older game called Global Pursuit by National Geographic.

Computer software in this category would be Liberty Kids, Oregon Trail, and Carmen Sandiego.

Our kids enjoy Oregon Trail whenever we dive into the Prairie Primer.

Amazon and Rainbow Resource both have the board games and puzzles in the first picture. Staples carries the National Geographic Puzzle.

Geography Game- Borderline

I stopped by my favorite consignment shop today after our well checks (remember those three June birthdays?) and one of the first things I found was this little card game.

E9 is setting it up right now so I'll let you know how it turns out. For $1.49 it was worth a shot!

Ok checking back in I can tell you it's a pretty fun game. We played two or three rounds. Basically, you have to correctly identify whether a region or country borders another. It also includes cards on natural and man made wonders of the world, geographical things like the prime meridian and international dateline, plus the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer and the equator. Tricky stuff! The object is to place cards in the discard pile based on what areas border and the first one to empty their hand wins. What a great find today!