E.15 Geography for the 21st Century
I don’t know if you can tell, but this is my favorite topic!
In episode 15, I discuss why geography is still relevant today and outline how I do geography in my homeschool drawing mainly from the Montessori Method but also from Charlotte Mason. It isn’t a product pitch but you’ll also discover how I create my global adventure units, as I share how and why I teach geography the way I do ( since each of my units is tested at home and CoOp before I offer them in my shop.)
I didn’t mention too many specific resources in the episode, as I focused mostly on the why, but I’ll go ahead and throw some of my favorites down below for you to check out at your leisure. Be sure to check out my resources under the continent study tab above too!
Elementary geography gives the scope and sequence to geography in a Charlotte Mason education. It even gives poems to memorize and lessons for you to read a lout to the child. It is fairly open and go. If you like to include more hands on lessons like I do, it is still a handy tool to help you know what to teach first. Eventually I plan to create a hybrid Charlotte Mason/ Maria Montessori curriculum that lays geography foundations but between this, the Waseca album, pinterest, and a little creativity I’ve been able to peice the lessons together beautifully.
Mapmaking with Children is packed full of great mapmaking activities and the the science of what is developmentally appropriate for different ages.
Now before you click through to the next site before warned! You will want EVERYTHING on the webpage, no joke. This company creates BEAUTIFUL geography materials. They have a special deal where you can get $15 off your purchase when you click through this Link: Waseca Biomes which also gives me $15 off my next purchase (win-win!). I’ve posted pics and descriptions of my favorite Waseca products below.
Introduction to the Biomes Curriculum
Continent Stencils
Backyard Biome Mat
The intro to biomes curriculum takes you step by step through lesson plans that introduce the parts of a biome and biomes of the world. It is a great starting point for the science of geography. The stencils I am obsessed with because they are so versitle and really help the kids learn the biomes and landforms of the continents.
I honestly don’t even know where to begin with the living books for each continent, because there are SO MANY so I am going to just post the continent study link above. If you click on a continent you’ll find a link to a blog post that I keep updated with resources for each continent as they are discovered and loved my kiddos.
Lastly I recomend having a subscription to National Geographic to keep the curiosity humming on current geographic issues: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/
Podcast Episode # 15 Transcript:
Intro.
You’re listening to Episode 15 Geography for the 21st Century.
I am so excited to talk to you today because I am SO passionate about this topic.
When most of us think of geography we conjure up memories of memorizing states and capitals with a catchy song or writing in the names of Africa on a worksheet. It’s one of those subjects that bring a twinge of guilt to use homeschooling moms as we think about it because with all the great literature, math, writing, grammar, arts, humanities, science, and history it can be easily overlooked. Furthermore, when we need to know where something is, we can easily pull it up on google maps, or google earth, or just ask our Alexa which can make it seem slightly less relevant than it was in the days when we had to memorize everything to have access to the information.
My current events teacher in high school knew better though. While we talked about the conflict in the middle east, she was shocked to learn that not one of us knew the difference between Iraq and Iran. She immediately canceled the current events class and told us that we were now enrolled in geography because she was not going to send a bunch of outgoing seniors into the world to vote and function as adults without a basic understanding of geography. She had us map our neighborhoods, memorize states and capitals, memorize all of the countries of the world, and bless her heart, quickly recapped key points of history for each area. The funny thing is I remember and use the information from this class more than I did from all my other history classes because it had context. I could see the need to know the names of places as I read newspaper articles, the tumultuous history of the middle east now made little more sense to me, and I can’t tell you how many times a week I find knowing the major cities in the United States helpful! Tying geography beyond the map created clarity not only for the map but for the places it referenced as well. Geography MUST be taught broadly as well as minutely for it to be truly taught. We need to know the names of places, but we also need to tie it to people, animals, landmarks and other fascinating details to take from a list of GDP’s to a vibrant and complex picture with layered meanings.
This is why I am going to start by defining my terms. Geography is the study of earth and its people. More specifically landforms, biomes, and the way people interact with earth’s resources. Geography is more than cartography. It is a science, a history, and a social study. Knowing geography can help you with your math skills, add context to history and current events, lay foundations in biology, geology, ecology, physics, and other sciences. Most importantly though it inherently helps you to make connections between the disciplines and between cultures.
This year as we studied Asia in our CoOp we discussed the people of Mongolia. Living in a farming community these horsemen really made an impression on the many young cowboys in the class as they learned that children as young as 6 would participate in horse races and skill games on horseback. We compared Mongolia’s steppe biome to the grasslands of Montana. How they are both called the “Big Sky” country. We compared traditional Mongolian yurts to the teepees of the Blackfoot Indians. One by one I saw lightbulbs go off above the kid’s heads around the room. Suddenly the Mongolians were the most fascinating people in the world to them because they were so much like them in many ways and yet so different in others. The kids could see how similar environments shape people in similar ways but how culture is different in different parts of the world. In this lesson, I felt like we were getting to the heart of what geography is about.
One of the key values of Hatching Curiosity is innovation. Innovation occurs when the lines get blurred. When you start making new connections to come up with new ideas. In public schools, especially in the later grades. We have 45-minute class periods where we study one subject, close the books, then go to the next subject. This does not breed creativity or connection. Keeping the disciplines isolated will not cultivate innovation. Given the breadth of the definition of geography gives you a lot of room to play between subjects and make fascinating and important connections. Like the one, I mentioned in episode #2 with the diatoms. This connection could have been made in time entirely within a science class but tying it to geography helps raise other questions like how life is sustained in a place like Antarctica? Or how would the Amazon be different without the Sahara? Or what microorganisms might affect the savannah?
When I create a geography unit there is map work, because creating maps is AMAZING for spatial awareness, the hand mind connection, and memorizing locations. It is life for visual learners but also stretches auditory learners to learn how to “see” data. It gives kinesthetic learners something to do with their hands and covers what is traditionally boxed as geography.
I don’t start with political geography though. When my kids are young, I start with the local geography. One of the concepts Charlotte Mason recommends doing when introducing geography to young children is to go on geog walk. Where you go along and point out smaller features like ditches, streams, fields, and hills. These lay the groundwork for explaining larger features like canyons, mountains, plains, and rivers. The more nature study you do the more familiar the kids are with the earth and how it works. They discover the concepts of dams and irrigation ditches very naturally when you play by a creek for an afternoon. They notice how there are more plants near water or in moist forests than there are in dry fields. Nature study is as foundational for geography as it is for science.
When I am ready to start introducing more concrete geography concepts we talk about land and water forms, the parts of a biome, biomes of the earth and start focusing our nature study on ecosystems and connections. Cause and effect. We learn our place in the universe (often pausing to do an astronomy unit and study the planets). Then learn the names of the continents and oceans through song. We discuss how the sun affects the planet and the difference between a map and a globe. We learn the layers of the earth and how the water cycle works. I have them draw me a picture of their home, then maybe a map of their room, or neighborhood to further introduce the concepts of maps.
Finally, I start, as Montessori suggests, with the continent study. I do this in a very Montessori way focusing on the big picture, then the biomes and cultures before going on the political maps. Charlotte Mason encourages you to start with the continent you live on then work your way out to your closest neighbors both in geography and in the study of history and language, but you can really start anywhere. I started with the continent my son was most fascinated by which ironically was the one I had the least interest in. A funny thing happened as I studied Antarctica though. I fell in love. The ocean ecosystem fascinated me, the heroic tale of Ernest Shackleton is forever embedded in our hearts of what it means to endure, lead, survive, and overcome. The Antarctic treaty is a testament to mankind and the science being conducted there is what STEM dreams are made of. And the fact that it was once a lush jungle?! Get out of town! We had so much fun learning about what happens in subzero temperatures, which animals adapt in winter, how Robert F. Scott found fossils that changed the world, and the race to the poles that it was hard to move on to the next place.
In each continent study I create I survey the biomes of the continent, find key natural landmarks, select fascinating animals, important plants, and touch on how indigenous people interacted with the land and what we can learn from explorers or scientists who work there. The purpose of the unit is to introduce the beauty of the natural world and to make connections with history, science, and people.
Every unit I focus on a specific biome and learn as many ecological or geographical principles as we can from that biome. Each unit also has an animal report that highlights different features or interactions of the animal kingdom. I try to find a living book that can be read aloud which will bring the story of someone who lived there to a personal level. Charlotte Mason said, “But let him be at home in any single region; let him see, with the mind’s eye, the people at their work and at their play, the flowers, and fruits in their seasons, the beasts, each in its habitat; and let him see all sympathetically, that is, let him follow the adventures of a traveller, and he knows more, is better furnished with ideas, than if he had learned all the names on all the maps.”
Often times, themes will emerge between people. Like the theme of symbolism in Africa, discovery in the Antarctic, preservation in Oceania, and tradition in Asia. I can’t help but talk about deforestation in the Amazon, desertification in the Sahara, or the acidification of coral reefs in Oceania because as you fall in love with the great barrier reef it is heartbreaking to learn how much of it has disappeared in the last 20 years. Each unit is complex and layered with subjects and ideas intersecting in surprising ways. I do this on purpose to spark interest and make impressions that they can build on with future learning. You will be surprised at the depth of your children’s thoughts and compassion as you discuss current issues.
After you have a good foundation of the natural world and how we interact with it you go round 2 mappings political geography. Doing in-depth country reports, guessing what the cultures are like based on surrounding countries, their geography, and what you know of the indigenous people of the area. You continue to do map work as you go through history, so they build on that foundation. Using an Atlas as often as a dictionary. And when you can, if you are lucky enough to be able to afford it, travel. Live out that geography because nothing is as incredible as experiencing different places and cultures for yourself!
When I was 14 my grandparents took me with them to Mexico. I had never been outside of the country before and I was fascinated. I mean completely enthralled, with the people, the humidity, the food, the streets, the terrifying airport where they searched my suitcase then yelled at me in Spanish. The perspectives of a young girl are much different than I would have now as an adult, but I can still smell the flowers, hear the 16th-century bell tower, and feel the weight of the tile I watched someone make for me in a village we visited. I still remember the absolute poverty we saw on the way that I had never seen before and the music that poured into my hotel from the streets. My mind was racing and still filled with rich memories enriched by my senses 20 years later.
Teaching Geography like this, in a living way, is the way Charlotte Mason advocates. She encourages us to use living books, do map work, and move beyond imports, capitals, and currency to really SEE the people that have shaped this world. She defines the value of geography as: “Geography is to my mind a subject of high educational value though not because it affords the means of scientific training. … The peculiar value of geography lies in its fitness to nourish the mind with ideas, and to furnish the imagination with pictures. Herein lies the educational value of geography.”
Some people have criticized the Montessori method studying indigenous people as pegging them into a hole of their past and that it can create or reinforce racist stereotypes. To gloss over thousands of years of culture, make an origami swan and move on to the next thing only to then study European history for years is disrespectful to Asian culture. To some extent, I can definitely see the danger in that. If the only impressions the kids have of Japan are cherry blossoms and geisha girls it gives them a very minimal impression of the depth of the Japanese people. If Africans are always depicted as mostly naked living in a hut it undercuts the beauty and complexity of their societies and discounts the last several hundred years of African history that led to the modern cities of today. I think that introducing kids to the way that people once interacted with the land is very important because it shows the dependence we have on the earth for our sustenance and how culture is connected to geography and evolved from it. I also think that making an origami swan will create a fun and fascinating memory that can lead to curiosity down the road. Introducing people who dress, speak, and think differently than you help breed empathy. As long as you are careful to introduce people with admiration and respect, explain how they have evolved today, and come back to these continents as you study world history (giving their history equal footing) you are on the right track.
When you have a solid foundation of geography you have an understanding of how our planet and its people are interconnected. We start to create a global community.
Geography is just plain fun to study because this world is a beautiful and fascinating place. The fact that you get to sneak in the benefits of learning to read visual data, make interdisciplinary connections and set the stage for history makes it irresistible as an educator.
Before warned though it may create an irresistible wanderlust in your children. One of my favorite homeschool memories was of my young children gearing up to go to Antarctica. In their minds they were GOING. They drew their route out across their map of Antarctica, packed their bags, wore swimsuits under their snowsuits so they could explore under the sea ice and headed out the door with ropes and snacks. All afternoon they climbed over the Transantarctic mountains and battled blizzards to reach the south pole. There was a cook, a medic, a leader, and an “adventure guy scientist who does what he wants”. Everyone had a job to do and they kept encouraging each other “We can do hard things, you go this, don’t give up”. The living books and experiences had made that place come alive for them. The spirit of discovery, endurance, and boundless curiosity was IN them. Antarctica became a part of them that day and as I tucked my middle child into bed that night, he said to me “Mom, when can we go to REAL Antarctica? I’m ready”
I chose geography as my passion for the doors that it opens and encourage you to give it another look as you plan your school year next year or mix things up with the unusual end to this school year. “Books give you a place to go when you have to stay home” and geography transports you across the globe.
I’m going to close with a quote from Maria Montessori because it is just too beautiful not to:
“If the idea of the universe is presented to the child in the right way, it will do more for him than just arouse his interest, for it will create in him admiration and wonder, a feeling loftier than any interest more satisfying. The child’s mind then will no longer wander, but become fixed and can work. The knowledge he then acquires is organized and systematic; his intelligence becomes whole and complete because of the vision of the whole that has been presented to him, and his interest spreads to all, for all are linked and have their place in the universe on which his mind is centered.” (Montessori, pp. 9)
Thank you for listening today! Please check out Hatchingcuriosity.com for geography units, maps, and nature study tools and until next time, stay curious!