Africa Geography Study: Algeria

We began our study of Africa last week. I'd been wanting to pick a continent but was having so much trouble until I came across this notebooking packet at Balancing everything. I couldn't wrap my mind around planning out an entire homeschool geography curriculum right now.  The notebooking packet doesn't give all the information a person would need to know, but does include some photos, links, and each countries flag for resources!

I took the kids to the community library and found ONE book on Algeria. I was concerned it would be outdated but seemed to line up with everything I could find online.  It was a children's non-fiction so it had lots of pictures.

Over the course of the week the kids filled out their notebooking pages. Kaileb is in first grade and of course loathes writing, so I gave him the partially-filled one. Haylie enjoyed filling hers out.. The simple fact that I can do a geography curriculum with both kids because Kaileb isn't required to do as much work is worth the purchase to me.

They colored in the flag as we talked about what each color on the flag represents. I printed out some pictures of animals that are native to Algeria for the kids to cut out. I found a picture of a Dinar and printed that out as well. It was interesting to compare the value of our dollar to an Algerian Dinar. I think it was 1 Dinar = $0.012 American dollars.

The one activity we've been doing that has really helped them to retain the geographical information is to trace the black line maps after they've been filled out.  Each day we talk about a landmark or land form in Algeria and add it to the map included in our notebook packet. After I've finished the lesson, the kids use tracing paper to trace the outline of Algeria and label all the places we've gone over. Because we add new things each day, their maps change daily. This way they are getting a constant review of what they've learned. Along with the daily tracing of Algeria, I have them trace Africa once a week. They can point out where Algeria is on the blank maps and my hope is that by the end that will be the case for all the countries we go over. Note: My kids really enjoy this activity, it probably has allot to do with the pretty marker selection! If they didn't. I probably wouldn't have them do it daily at this age.

I have included a document that I created for future reference. I have made it availabe for FREE! It's meant for younger students to get  a basic overview of Algeria for geography purposes. If you were using this packet for an older child, the document probably wouldn't be enough. It doesn't include all of what we studied but does include links to some photographs and helpful information.

Just click the link -> Algeria document

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