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I've always loved geography, but I wasn't very good at it until we started homeschooling. In fact, I've learned more in the last three years about geography than I did in all my years in school, including five years of college!
My two oldest kids, currently ages 9 and 10, have learned most of their geography knowledge without the use of a formal geography curriculum. In fact, most of the time all we used was a set of 3 by 5 index cards, an outline map of the world, and a couple of toothpicks (to use as pointers on the map). Of course, we also have a great atlas, a large world map on the wall in our hallway (to which I constantly send them whenever we hear a country mentioned on TV that we haven't studied yet), as well as a good globe that we refer to often.
I started off at the very first by teaching them about landforms. We made up a set of index cards with the names of the landforms, and we learned them like flashcards. I would explain what each landform was as I turned over each card, and then I'd go through the deck again, asking them to repeat back to me the correct description. We also picked up a poster at the store that illustrated the major landforms which was a great way to reinforce the concepts.
Here's a list of some of the landforms/geography terms we studied in particular:
- archipelago
- atoll
- bay
- canyon
- cape
- channel
- coast
- delta
- desert
- glacier
- gulf
- harbor
- island
- isthmus (this is where I'd break out in song: "All I want for 'isthmus' is my two front teeth!")
- lagoon
- lake
- marsh
- mesa
- mountain
- mountain range
- peninsula
- plain
- plateau
- river
- rain forest
- savanna
- sea
- sound
- strait
- swamp
- tributary
- valley
- wetland
I then began teaching the kids the names of different places on the map by starting big, and then proceeding to smaller, more specific areas. First I taught them the names of the continents and the oceans; then we moved on to the smaller places, such as bays, seas, and gulfs, major mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, countries, and major cities.
My method of teaching was simple. I wrote the names of the geographic locations that I wanted them to learn on the index cards (such as Europe or the Black Sea, etc.), then I pointed to the specific place on the map and we learned the names and location together.
The key, however, was the competition; that's where the real learning and long-term retention occurred.
I had the kids compete with each other to see who could name or find the location correctly…and faster! And it was amazing how competing with each motivated them to learn the locations correctly, without complaining.
We'd do our actual geography competitions a couple different ways.
Sometimes I'd split the deck of index cards into two stacks, giving them each a stack, then they'd take turns turning over a card and pointing to the location on the outline map with their toothpick. If they located it correctly, they kept the card; if they didn't, the other person had the opportunity to "steal" it by finding the location. If they didn't find it either, then I got to keep the card (after I pointed out the correct location, of course).
At other times I would have the whole stack, then I'd turn over a card, point at the location on the map, and the first one to name it correctly would "win the card."
Once a set of locations was learned, I would add a few more cards (geographic locations) to the deck and then we'd repeat the game. I would generally add 7-10 new locations at a time, but it didn't take long before we had about 175 cards that we played with.
I didn't follow a specific list of geographic locations when I added new cards to the list, but I did keep my ear open for new locations to learn, such as in the news or in our reading—especially history. When I heard of or thought of a new location to learn, I'd make up a card for it and set it aside so it would be ready to add to our working deck when the kids were ready for it.
I also pulled some of our locations from lists in various geography books (like the largest lakes, the highest mountains, the longest rivers, etc.).
At one time I made out cards for the highest point on each continent and we learned those—both the name of the mountain and the country in which it was located. That particular set of cards was a little harder to learn because we had to learn and remember how to pronounce Aconcagua and Kosciusko. That was where the geographic dictionary at the back of our Webster's dictionary came in handy!
Sometime last year, a homeschooling friend asked me for a list of the geographic locations that we had been working on, so I made up the following list, organized by the type of location. It's definitely not a comprehensive list of all geographic locations (obviously), but it's a good place to start if you're teaching your kids geography without a formal curriculum.
BODIES OF WATER
Oceans
Arctic Ocean
Indian Ocean
North Atlantic Ocean
North Pacific Ocean
South Atlantic Ocean
South Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean
Seas
Adriatic Sea
Aegean Sea
Arabian Sea
Aral Sea
Baltic Sea
Barents Sea
Beaufort Sea
Bering Sea
Black Sea
Caribbean Sea
Caspian Sea
Coral Sea
East China Sea
Labrador Sea
Mediterranean Sea
North Sea
Norwegian Sea
Philippine Sea
Red Sea
Ross Sea
Sea of Japan
Sea of Okhotsk
South China Sea
Tasman Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
Weddell Sea
Yellow Sea
Bays
Baffin Bay
Bay of Bengal
Bay of Biscay
Chesapeake Bay
Hudson Bay
Gulfs
Gulf of Alaska
Gulf of Bothnia
Gulf of California
Gulf of Guinea
Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of St. Lawrence
Persian Gulf
Straits/Channels
English Channel
Hudson Strait
Strait of Gibralter
Straits of Florida
Lakes
Lake Baikal
Lake Victoria
Rivers
Amazon River
Euphrates River
Ganges River
Indus River
Missouri/Mississippi River
Nile River
Rhine River
Seine River
Tigris River
Volga River
Yangtze River
Yellow River
Other
Niagra Falls
Panama Canal
LAND
Continents
Antarctica
Africa
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America
Regions
Asia Minor
Central America
Far East
Indus Valley
Mesopotamia
Middle East
Scandinavia
Islands
Baffin Island
Crete
Hispaniola
Sardinia
Sicily
Archipelagos
East Indies
Greater Antilles
Lesser Antilles
West Indies
Peninsulas/Capes
Arabian Peninsula
Baja Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
Yucatan Peninsula
Cape Hatteras
MOUNTAINS
Highest per continent
Mt. Aconcagua (Argentina)
Mt. El’brus (Western Russia)
Mt. Everest (Nepal)
Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
Mt. Kosciusko (Australia)
Mt. McKinley (Alaska, U.S.A.)
Ranges
Alps
Andes Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
Appenines Mountains
Atlas Mountains
Caucasus Mountains
Great Dividing Range
Himalayas
Hindu Kush Mountains
Pyrenees
Rocky Mountains
Ural Mountains
COUNTRIES
Afghanistan
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bangladesh
Bermuda
Bhutan
Brazil
Canada
Chile
China
Cuba
Cyprus (Republic of)
Dominican Republic
Greece
Egypt
England
Finland
France
Germany
Greenland
Haiti
Iceland
India
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Madagascar
Mexico
Mongolia
Nepal
New Zealand
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Paraguay
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Slovenia
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Tanzania
Tasmania
The Bahamas
United States
Virgin Islands
I will end this incredibly long and boring post by saying that my children do not remember everything they learned with this method, but they've probably retained at least 90%. And what's more, if they hear of a country or location that they are not familiar with, they know how to use an atlas to look it up—and they're not afraid to do it. And that falls right in line with my basic philosophy of education—you know, the whole "Give a man a fish/Teach a man to fish" thing.
It's appalling to hear how many people today are so geographically illiterate, especially when it is so easy to learn, if you just take the time to learn it. You don't need a fancy curriculum; just get a good map or atlas and a set of index cards, and you're set!
OTHER RESOURCES
- Check out my geography links in my sidebar at the right for some great online geography resources.
- The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide is also a fantastic all-in-one book (K-12) that is very helpful for homeschoolers who want to teach their children geography without being tied to an expensive curriculum.
- Seterra is a free, downloadable geography program that you can use on your PC. It's a great way to have your kids practice on their own.
Visit Crystal's site for more Frugal Friday Tips!
Image by odalaigh
Joy is the wife of 
Thanks for the sites and links. We are geography buffs around here, too. My son participated in the National Geography Bee this past year and that has encouraged all of us to learn even more.
Thank yo
~Erin
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! As much as I've always wanted to learn geography I've just never managed to do it. So you know how it is to try to teach something we ourselves just don't "get." But this will be such a help for me, and the kids will benefit from it too of course. I am absolutely going to follow your method. It is so inline with the way we school here. Again, thanks!
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What a great post!!! We love geography around here! We have a book called 'Geography Bowl' that we have a competition with in a similar fashion. I ask them geography questions out of the book and they get a point for each one they get right. Whoever has the most points wins!
I'm going to print your list though (that must have taken forever to type by the way!!!) and test them with it.
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Lots of good stuff in this post about Geography. I like the idea of turning it into a competition. When we hear about places on TV we look them up on the map, too.
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I am going to use this info. Thanks. I have recently found your site and I have been pouring over it and telling my homeschool friends about it and my friends who have kids in public school. It is great. I notice this post is from 2008, I have a lot of catching up to do.
We are finishing our attic, once it is done I am putting up a huge world map. Now I am using a curriculum for school, but I keep thinking about going on my own. Since it has been two years do you use that Ultimate Geography book, has it worked out well?
Thanks
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Thanks! this is just what I was looking for. I will check out your other links.
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OH MY GOSH. Thank you so much for this post. I haven't even finished reading it totally and yet I am so excited AND I'm putting you on my blog list!!!! Thank you so much!!!! We homeschool and my kids are behind in geography due to my lack of direction in how I was going to teach it. then, I found an idea in an article about using 3x5s but couldn't find a comprehensive list of terms to put on said cards….now I have it!!!
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