We hear statistics all the time about how people on the street are asked simple geography questions and can’t answer them correctly. We certainly don’t want our homeschooled kids to be part of those statistics. With the right tools, any child can learn a lot about the world around them and how it works. Here are the tools you need to teach Geography in school at home:
1. When you hear of countries or places you haven’t heard of before by listening to the news, reading stories, or just listening to others talk, pull out a good map and find that place with your kids. There is no reason to ignore other places in the world when we have some of the best maps available in our country.
2. When you go on a trip, let your child plan the route and find interesting places along the way. Ask them to keep track of how many miles you travel. You can even do this for shorter trips in your area. This helps your child become more aware of the world around him.
3. Talk about geographical terms. When you or your child comes across new words like plateau, delta, or reservoir, find out what they mean. You might even be able to find a picture of this geographical term to better understand the definition. Geography is not just about locating places. You can also explore statistics for a given area, photos, and terrain type in your geography study.
4. Use the Internet, computer software games, and even board games to teach geography. Games teach a great deal of knowledge, sometimes without the child knowing it. When it comes to competition, many kids will do or learn anything to win. Games make learning fun. Use them once a week or so to spark a love of geography.
5. Get maps and geography tools like atlases and almanacs. Children always want to know where they are on a map. You can start there and point out where other family members live in relation to them. When you’re reading a story about a faraway country, look it up on a map so your kids can see where it is in relation to where they live. If you are going on a long trip, when you come back show them how far you traveled in the balloon. This will give them a good understanding of how big our country is.
Take advantage of the many great resources and ideas and enjoy your exploration of geography. When you are interested in the world around you, your children will capture that interest.