• Home
  • Blog
  • Start Here!
  • Free Printables
  • About
    • Products we love & Support
    • Contact
    • Terms of Use
    • Disclosure
  • My eBook
  • Subscribe

Wildflower Ramblings

Home education resources and encouragement for moms & caregivers

  • Homeschool
    • Kindergarten
    • Charlotte Mason Method
    • Reggio Emilia Approach
    • Montessori Learning
    • Waldorf at Home
    • Classical Conversations
    • Early Literacy Stages Series
    • Curriculum choices
      • Tot School (2 years)
      • Preschool (3 years)
      • Pre-Kindergarten (4 years)
      • Pre-Kindergarten (4 years – 2017)
      • Preschool (5 years)
      • Kindergarten (5 years)
      • Kindergarten Homeschool: a gentle and slower year
      • kindergarten secular curriculum suggestions (free printable)
      • First Grade (6 years)
      • Charlotte Mason Schedule: Year One
      • First Grade in our Charlotte Mason Homeschool
      • Charlotte Mason Homeschool: Second Grade Curriculum
      • Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum
      • Third Grade in our Charlotte Mason Homeschool
      • Charlotte Mason Homeschool: Fourth Grade Curriculum
      • Fifth Grade Homeschool Curriculum
    • 12 Months of Sensory Dough
    • Sensory Play
    • Bible Crafts & Bible Cards
    • Practical Life Ideas
    • Before Five in a Row – ISH
  • Baby
    • Montessori Baby Room
    • Treasure Bins for Baby
    • 21 Activities for One Year Olds
  • Tot School
  • Preschool
    • What is Number Sense?
    • ABC Felt Animals
    • Preschool Alphabet Book
    • Our Preschool Notebook
    • Preschool Circle Time Schedule
    • Free 24 Preschool Chants
    • Free Preschool Songs
    • Our Preschool Plans
  • ABC
    • Letter A
    • Letter B
    • Letter C
    • Letter D
    • Letter E
    • Letter F
    • Letter G
    • Letter H
    • Letter I
    • Letter J
    • Letter K
    • Letter L
    • Letter M
    • Letter N
    • Letter O
    • Letter P
    • Letter Q
    • Letter R
    • Letter S
    • Letter T
    • Letter U
    • Letter V
    • Letter W
    • Letter X
    • Letter Y
    • Letter Z
  • Toys & Resources
    • 20+ Tools for Hyperactivity
    • What is Sensory Processing?
    • Best Workbooks & Readers {Ages 2-5}
    • Essential Preschool Tools
    • Essential Craft & Homeschool Tools for Mom
    • Best Art Utensils for Kids
    • Bible Resources for Kids
    • Our keeping and recording memories series
  • Health
    • Online Safety Resources & Safe Links
    • Herbal Remedies
    • The home birth of my son
    • The water birth of my daughter
    • her waterbirth
    • When your baby has a fever
    • Example of Hospital Birth Plan {free printable!}
  • Books
    • My Book Store
    • Free Phonics Readers
    • Early Literacy Stages eBook
    • Books for Children
    • Pop! Squirt! Splash! eBook
    • Learn with Play Book
You are here: Home / Geography / how to teach geography to children

how to teach geography to children

I am excited to share with you our tools for kindergarten geography today.  We use multiple books and hands on items to help my children become aware of our world and where we are located on the map.  I have collected many additional tools that may be of interest to you as you teach your child about geography.  DSC01566-001

{This post contains affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.} 

My children are very interested in our physical world and in the cultures that surround us.  It’s important for children to understand that the world is round, there are land masses surrounded by bodies of water, and that people of all different cultures live in various areas of our amazing Earth!

Physical geography involves the physical properties of the earth.

Cultural geography involves human cultures and society.

In teaching geography to children, it is important, even from a young age, for a child to feel and experience the differences in the globe and raised books.  Experiences can also be enhanced through exploring different foods, dress, music, and tradition.  Maria Montessori developed her method of teaching during a tumultuous time in our history, during the World Wars at the beginning of the 21st century.  She felt that if children understand and accept other cultures and embrace geographical properties for those cultures, than children could become productive and peaceful members of society.

We have not formally begun a curriculum for world geography and culture, but rather these materials are always available to my children and we will introduce experiences and draw on interesting concepts and traditions as they naturally come up.  I love that Kane Miller books have picture books from all around the world, so we have already begun to fill our home with stories from many different cultures.

Our culture is the American culture, and we have also chosen to formally introduce the foundation of our country through the Primary American History guide and literature from Beautiful Feet.  You can read more about this and the rest of our Kindergarten curriculum in our recent lengthy homeschooling post.

Ten Geography Tools for Primary Children

1.  Every child should have easy access to a world globe.  Whether your child is formally learns at home or in school, having a world map in the proper shape is vital for children to understand our world, its land masses, and geographic locations.  We often run to get our globe while simply reading picture books or having discussions as a family.  A must-have.

DSC01556

2.  We love the raised felt in the Montessori Map Work book.  The pages are simple and uncluttered and teach the continents of the world.  (We also love the Montessori Letter Book and Montessori Number Book!)

DSC01594 DSC01557 DSC01558

3.  My absolute favorite geography book for children is the Lift-the-flap Picture Atlas.  I love that it discusses all different cultures in bite size chunks of information.  Children love to lift flaps, and using fine motor skills to make this movement will help children retain the information better.  I highly recommend this for grades Preschool through fifth grade or higher — it’s even fun for adults to read!

DSC01559 DSC01560 DSC01561

4.  We also love the Children’s Picture Atlas.  There is so much information about differences in land forms and cultures.  There are also suggestions for how you can extend your reading to work at home — for activities such as cooking, dressing, or listening to music.  Each continent is filled with information about cultures and food and animals.

DSC01562 DSC01563 DSC01564

5.  Map work that allows children to get involved using their visual and tactile senses is perfect for understanding.  We have a map of the United States, picked up from a garage sale — here is a similar one. We also just scored an old Nienhuis pegged United States map which I’m thrilled about.  We also hope to get a puzzle of a world map.  Later I will share how to help children make their own map through tracing and pinning the states on their own.

DSC01565

More geography resources that we love:

6.  Montessori Sandpaper Land and Water Form Cards help children to understand different land and water shapes: bay-cape, strait-isthmus, archipelago-chain of lakes, peninsula-gulf, and island-lake.  The beige sand surface represents the land and blue smooth finish represents the water.

41SvZ1nhyuL

7.  Geography Trivium Tables from Classical Conversations is an amazingly simple way to point and teach various continents, countries, and land masses.  Check out the link to see a detailed video on these tables and maps.  Each laminated table lists the geography terms for the current Foundations cycle (there are three different ones), map keys, and a large black line master for students to trace, color, or copy as they learn.

cycle-1-geography-trivium-tables-13

 

8.  States & Capitols CD — These catchy songs teach both the geographic location and capital of each state.  Must-have during long car rides that can become learning time!!

51KpO1VPHEL

9.  Flags Sticker Book contains pictures of 200 flags, the national flag of every country in the world, each one with a sticker to match. Maps of the continents show where each country is located in the world.

0000713_300

10.  Sticker Picture Atlas of the World — this amazing sticker book is such an amazing tool for reinforcing geography work as children use their fine motor skills to place the stickers for each continent, for animals, and many cultural aspects of each country.  Packed with over 350 stickers, children can explore the maps to see the world’s most famous sights, and find out where different people and animals live.

0008643_sticker_picture_atlas_of_the_world_300

I hope you find time to share our world’s geography and culture with your precious ones today!! Thanks for joining us in looking at Kindergarten Geography tools!!

Related Posts

  • Author Spotlight: Margaret Wise BrownAuthor Spotlight: Margaret Wise Brown
  • Why should I rhyme with my child? {free printable}Why should I rhyme with my child? {free printable}
  • lessons at the bus stop {Guest Post from my friend Bekah}lessons at the bus stop {Guest Post from my friend Bekah}
  • pre-kindergarten curriculum & workboxespre-kindergarten curriculum & workboxes
« around here
learning shapes for preschool »


Comments

  1. Shanna Schultz says

    at

    These are some great suggestions. We are looking to start working with teaching geopgraphy and cultural references to our 3 year old (and by osmosis our 1.5 year old as well, as she likes to learn whatever her brother is working on) as we want to get back to traveling more and would like our son to have a basic understanding of where we are going to and coming from. Thanks for the suggestions!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Connect

Amy is a former Kindergarten teacher, M.Ed., turned homeschooling mom. Sharing her imperfect life and her love of teaching & learning, reading, herbal remedies, parenting and more.
Read More →

Search

follow

I heard about Wim Hof “Iceman” from a convention last June. Simple and free ways to improve my health, yes please!
Happy Monday friends! I'm so glad I can brighten your Monday with another giveaway!
Who else is enjoying the beautiful snow?! My son found Narnia! ✨ #snow #childhood #family
Did you know that we have a FULL tab dedicated to alphabet resources? This is a gold mine for any parent who is ready to start teaching the alphabet. There are plenty of articles on teaching techniques and activities for every single letter! Head over to the blog and click the ABC tab today!
Happy Monday friends! I'm so excited to share a copy of this lovely book with one of you.
Art is not something I’m familiar with. Growing up, I thrived in theater and music, but never art. Unfortunately, I always felt like “I wasn’t good” or “that’s not my thing.” I’m sad about this! Since homeschooling my children, I’ve come to realize that I’m indeed a wonderful artist!! I can draw plants and bumblebees and even an octopus! I just need a bit of time, good materials, and a good teacher.

<script>” title=”<script>
<script>

banner-001

Favorite Posts

1legos 1quiet memories 1act 1chants 1closet hyp note classical dots 15act 1reggio 1turtle 1around 1bible1 sidebar bible1 crafts reggiomath essentialoils print

Note

Unless otherwise stated, all words and photos on this blog belong to Wildflower Ramblings. You may pin from my site, but do not use a photo, or any text, without my permission. All content is copyrighted. This is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links on the sidebars and in posts. I only share products that I love and enjoy with my family. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I receive a small commission. Occasionally, I will receive products free of charge and share them here.  Words and opinions expressed will always be my own. Please email me with questions or comments. Thank you for visiting. Amy Smith, M.Ed. wildflower ramblings @ gmail . com

instagram

I heard about Wim Hof “Iceman” from a convention last June. Simple and free ways to improve my health, yes please!
Happy Monday friends! I'm so glad I can brighten your Monday with another giveaway!
Who else is enjoying the beautiful snow?! My son found Narnia! ✨ #snow #childhood #family

Facebook

Facebook

More

Categories

Archives

search

Copyright © 2023 · Wildflower Ramblings [footer_backtotop] · Genesis Framework · WordPress