Ok, we aren't actually going to Africa. We are however going to be doing a study of the continent for geography. When I asked the kids what they would like to do, Kaileb said he wanted to learn about the Nile river, Haylie said Paris.
You might be thinking "What about North America?" I know it does make sense to start with our home country, but the kids are pretty familiar with the states. Between the Stack the States app and Seterra, they have learned the 50 states. We have been across the country and they grasp how different the terrain is. In Virginia alone we have an array of geography! We will study Canada on it's own instead of North America as a whole.
Before diving into a continent study, I wanted Kaileb to know the name of all of the continents first. We've spent the last couple of weeks mastering the names with a silly song we made up. He is able to tell where they all are and I feel comfortable now moving on. He is still only in first grade so I don't expect him to be able to rattle off all the countries of Africa. I do think it's alarming the statistics of people who don't know where many things are on a map, or even the capitals of the states.
I didn't start out searching for a curriculum. Instead I was going to go through a country a week . I ordered this map so the kids could have a large visual aid to refer to whenever they wanted. As I was searching for things on various countries, I stumbled across this huge notebooking pack. Jessica over at Balancing Everything designed a wonderful notebooking packet full of black line maps for each country, a facts page for each country, pictures to go along with each country, and pages including each flag. The really amazing thing is that you can choose to have semi-filled pages for the littler ones or blank ones for older children. (Jessica does provide a generous affiliate program for people using her program, but I am not part of it. I just wanted to share what we found!)
I am compiling a document that will encompass all the facts and things I want the kids to learn. Depending on how comprehensive it is, I may make it available to all if I can find the time! We will be using library books to take us on our trip, as well as a travelers guide if I can find one.
I hope you get to join us on our trip through Africa. First stop, Algeria!
That is great. My mom has been to Africa a few times. I sponsor a boy that lives in Africa. If you where interested I am sure he would love to wright the kids if they where to wright him with questions. Let me know and I can give you the email.
ReplyDelete