Want to teach your kids about another country? After going through a few years of history-geography curriculums with Sonlight, and having looked through a number of plan B curriculums, I am beginning to get the hang of this. It's not anywhere near as complex as you would initially think.
After you pick the country and time period, then you need to do a bit of background research. I would suggest skimming through an encyclopaedia (see earlier post on using encyclopaedia's on CD); and an expedition to the library and choosing some really cool picture books.....Hang on, no need for you to expend one bead of sweat on this project. Pass it directly on to the kids (ok, perhaps you may need to guide them through this part, a function of their age and reading ability!) Here goes: "What are the most interesting things you can tell me about country Auszebritica*? (*fictional name!) Send them off into the wilderness of the library.
So, now you have relinquished yourself of the job of researcher, perhaps all that is left are the deep and meaningful questions you could pose to your children to inspire them to do this research. Once again, this is something you could delegate to them as well....(eg: What type of questions could I ask which would reveal the most about this country/culture/time period?)
Social Studies questions: "How long has this country been an organized community? Has it had different types of governments? Does the population follow a particular religion or a moral code? Do they have a particular type of art or music style? Has there been any big population changes (diseases, wars, immigrations)? Who are these people's heroes? What is their food like?" (NOTE: cook some of it - this is a major attraction within our geography lessons!)
Geography, by far the most fun we have had is with Google Earth. Get them to fly to the country in question. "Let's have a look here....where are most of the towns? Does it look like a good infrastructure (roads, rail, airports...)? Is most of the country jungle, farming or cities? How long do the rivers look? Is the land flat or mountainous? How far (and in what direction) is this country from the equator?" This last questions indicates it's climate and what season it is now.
The Sonlight curriculum for Core 5, which is about countries in the "East" (a relative term if I've ever seen one!), guides you where to look in the encyclopaedia for answers to workbook like questions. This is to help reinforce what they have read. But the best part about their curriculums is that they supply a number of novels (mainly written from the perspective of children, typically Award winning books) which relate to the country-time period being studied. It is obvious to me that my kids learn WAY more from this than from listening to any dry facts. If you can do this for a history-geography program you will help it come alive!
One thing we do on a regular basis is look through a book called Material World: A Global Family Portrait
Aussie Kim
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