Geography Curriculum Selection: Options for Learning Success

Geography can be a blast to study for any child with a specific learning disability because geography can easily be taught visually while making cultural connections for your child. Picking the right geography curriculum for your child will make it an easy and fun subject to learn.

If your child has difficulty with memorization, do NOT spend a lot of time drilling geographic facts, capitals, populations or other facts into your child’s memory. Your child will survive life without memorizing everything. In today’s world, your child can look up a country’s information almost any time he needs to know it.

Let your child learn to love Geography through a more natural study of Geography. I went on a personal quest to find visual, auditory, and kinesthetic means of teaching Geography for my boys. Geography curriculum outside of pure textbooks is surprisingly difficult to find, but here are some supplemental teaching materials available on the market.

My favorite geography curriculum is clever and creative, and I LOVE it! This geography curriculum is called “Visualize World Geography“. . . and is an IDEAL way for a visual learner to master recognition of countries of the world. Theresa Blain, the author, has created clever illustrations out of each country’s shape. Along with the illustrations, she tells weaves tales–based upon the illustrations. The tales include the names of the countries. The short stories and illustrations combine to make a highly effective, visual, world geography mental map. The book contains most countries, and does not contain the individual states of the United States of America. For recognition of the countries taught in World Geography.. you’d have a difficult time finding a better geography curriculum than Visualize World Geography.

In addition, Theresa has a “Pictography Flag Coloring Book”. This title is most suitable for kinesthetic or visual learners. Unfortunately, the Flags book lacks the clever tales and pictography which are so helpful with memorization in Visualize World Geography. The act of coloring the flags will help visual and kinesthetic learners learn the designs of the flags. The Pictography Flag Coloring Book and Visualize World Geography can both be purchased very affordably.

A great stand-by favorite geography curriculum, which gives a light learning activity, is any Geography game. These geography games come in all kinds–card games, board games, strategy games, etc.

Usaopoly Planet Earth Monopoly is great, but it is no longer manufactured. If you happen to find a collector’s edition, it is your lucky day to find a fun way to study Geography. 😉

Another source of great games for studying geography is the National Geographic line of DVDs, games, etc.. You can find National Geographic items on Amazon and easily use them as your geography curriculum. National Geographic offers SO MANY great hands-on products that will benefit kinesthetic, tactile, visual, and auditory learners. I really feel you can’t go wrong with anything from National Geographic. Through creative use of National Geographic DVDs, world art, and world cooking projects, your child can learn about peoples and cultures of the world.

Great Games and Tools for Geography Curriculum Add-Ons:

10 Days Geography games

GeoBee Challenge Game

A Talking Globe

Comprehensive, and somewhat traditional, Geography Curriculum Options:

If you’re looking for a more traditional geography curriculum, there are several computer-based and online Geography programs you can use.

Switched On Schoolhouse Geography has interactive elements, images and videos. Your child can use the program on your computer. This lets you take your “learning to go” if you have the software installed on a laptop. The main drawback of Switched On Schoolhouse Geography is that some memorization is expected for the exams. However, if you are not expecting your child to memorize, you can let your child use an open book while taking the exams. Doing so can be a reinforcing learning activity if your child has to FIND the country in question through research. Only you can gauge how much you feel your child needs to memorize versus understand how to find the information when needed.

Alpha Omega Publications, which publishes Switched on Schoolhouse above, also has an online offering through their Monarch Online Homeschool courses. The courses are very similar to the Switched On Schoolhouse courses. Through Monarch Online, your child will always be working with the most current versions of the learning platform. If you have smart devices that allow access to the Internet anytime, anywhere, then your child can study this geography curriculum on the go.

Great Apps to Use for Geography Curriculum: