Homeschool Geography Curriculum Choices 101

Are you looking for a new homeschool geography curriculum? Let me take you on a journey through our geography studies so that you may explore a number of outstanding curricula that are currently available on the market.

Geography has always been one of my favorite subjects. Those majestic mountains! Those deep valleys and the rushing rivers! And the people! So many of them and each one so different!

Growing up in a small country in Europe, my knowledge of other cultures was relatively reasonable. They were all around me. Even though my travels at that time were very limited due to the communist government restrictions, the library books supplied all the knowledge that my heart desired. Upon visiting U.S.A. many years later, I would almost get offended when people asked me where I came from. The conversations would go like this:

 

Somebody: “Where do you come from? I can hear your pretty accent.”

Me: “Czechoslovakia.”

Somebody: “Oh, is that part of Yugoslavia?”

Me: “No, it is more north west in Europe.”

Somebody: “Oh, I see, it’s one of the former Russian republics, right?”

Me: Shaking my head, politely smiling.

Since then I have learned two things:

1. Generally the American public is not very well versed in the geography of the world.
2. My geography knowledge has also been rather lacking when it gets to the world outside of Europe.

Kathy Troxel’s Geography Songs

One thing I was determined before I even began to homeschool my son was to teach him “real” geography. We would read many books, purchase maps, and discuss other cultures. Second grade was going to be the year to fully dive in! I searched and searched for the right curriculum. And sure enough, I found it! Kathy Troxel’s Geography Songs! Oh how we sang, “Portugal, Spain, Andorra…” and “Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Moldova…” We poured over maps pointing our fingers at the countries as their names were pouring out of our mouths. We played computer games filling the blank maps with names. What a joy!

And then it happened… Our family took part at a Christian international conference in Nebraska. During a lunch break, we happened to be sitting at the table with a man from Burundi. He wanted to make sure we knew where his homeland was located before proceeding to tell us its history and complicated tribal and political situation. “We know where Burundi is,” my son exclaimed. “It’s in Africa right next to Rwanda and Tanzania!” My mother’s heart beamed. Thank you, Kathy Troxel!

Around the World in 180 Days by Apologia

The problem started a year later when I realized there is no geography curriculum available to build upon my son’s already acquired knowledge. Most of the early grades curricula only lightly brush over the world outside of the borders of the U.S.A. In addition to that, many of these combine both geography and history together into one subject. While it is a very reasonable idea and I certainly do not despise it, I had a different idea about both history and geography and so none of the options really worked for us. But then, I stumbled upon a perfect match for our family – Around the World in 180 Days by Apologia. Even though this curriculum also combines geography with history, it can be easily separated and only your chosen pages followed. We had so much fun looking up the highest mountain in Asia, the longest river in South America, and the new name of Mt. McKinley. We added pictures and videos to spice our lessons. I can’t even tell you how many years we spent going back to this blessed book. 

Homeschool Physical Geography Curriculum 101

The following few years were spent teaching geography in a small coop group. As the children were different ages and came from different backgrounds, I first wanted to bring them to the same general level on physical geography before moving on. This time I had a really hard time finding exactly what I was looking for and so I created my own curriculum called Homeschool Physical Geography Curriculum 101 (soon to be made available on our website). It worked and we learned.

Passport to the World by Graig Froman

Next, we dived into world’s cultures. We traveled all around the world with Passport to the World: Your A to Z Guided Tour by Craig Froman. It was the most fascinating and children-driven class I have yet taught. We supplemented the textbooks with many, many videos on the countries we studied and ended up with an end-of-year jeopardy test game. Time well spent! [You can read our detailed review on this curriculum here.]

How the States Got Their Shapes by History Channel

Higher elementary grades brought a need to look more in depth into the geography of the United States. As my son was struggling with dysgraphia and we had just found a suitable therapy for him, I was looking for a video curriculum with minimum writing. Thanks to the History Channel we were able to spend an entire year with How the States Got Their Shapes and enjoyed every moment of it. You can even find a few free or reasonably-priced worksheets for this series at Teachers Pay Teachers.

North Star Geography by Bright Idea Press

Are you looking for a high school geography curriculum? I highly recommend North Star Geography by Bright Idea Press. You will not regret that you have chosen this route.

Whatever your homeschooling needs for geography may be, there is a simple solution available for you. Do your research, but do not get overwhelmed while looking for it. We are working on making our successful resources available to you, so please check back with us soon to see if any of our materials would be a suitable fit for you.

Do you have your favorite geography curriculum? If yes, please leave your comment below. We would love to hear from you.