Geography

Monday is geography day. Since we are covering ancient Egypt, I felt it fitting that we cover the geography of Egypt.  I considered printing out a map of Egypt and having Casia learn all the major geographic features like the Nile, Cairo, the Sahara Desert, etc., but then I thought about how dry an activity that is; just looking a map and trying to remember what's on it. Instead, I decided to give Casia a blank map. I told her to put whatever she thinks is important on it and that she's expected to learn whatever she has labeled. I did hesitate with this decision; what if she doesn't put much of anything on it?  But I have confidence in her desire to learn and decided this was an excellent chance to give her some freedom in her curriculum. I handed her a globe, an atlas and a few books on Egypt that include maps. She really took the activity seriously and included neighboring countries, and all the major cities we've read about in our history books.  

Casia's map of Egypt

After completing her map, I set her up on the computer with a website that is great for learning geography. Since the year long plan for history is to cover all the early civilizations and each continent will be represented at some point, I plan to have her learn all the countries on each continent as we study different civilizations (excepting Antarctica). Now before I get flamed for be a pushy parent, because it does indeed sounds like a lot to learn all the countries, let me explain a few things. First off, Casia loves geography and is into the whole idea. Secondly, I don't expect complete mastery. I just want her to have a general knowledge of where in the world any particular country is located. If we're reading a story about a boy in Peru, I'd like her to know that it's in South America and then be able to find it on a map.  

That being said, Casia is not content with that level of understanding. Today, after only about 30 minutes on the computer she went from knowing only those countries located on her 'Egypt Map' to being able to be given any country on the continent of Africa and being able to drop it onto the map with only rivers and coastlines as her guides (level 4 on the website).  It was pretty impressive. She says she'd also like to learn the capitals, so maybe that will be next Monday.  

If you've got a child that is interested in geography, I highly recommend this site.  In second grade, Casia used it to learn all the states and their capitals. They have other activities as well, like math, chemistry (you can learn the periodic table!) and language arts.