When I was working in public education, I modeled our company’s product in the classroom. We were going over what I thought was a basic geography question: “Is our state of Nevada in the East or the West of the United States?” Several kids in the classes shouted “East!” and no one corrected them. It was one of many reasons why I decided that I would homeschool: I can teach my children better than they can learn in a classroom with too many students.
I want to share with you a review of US Geography: A Literature Approach for Primary Grades by by Beautiful Feet Books. This teacher’s guide is divided into five parts, starting with an introduction to geography and moving into state-specific lessons.
One thing I appreciate about this curriculum is its flexibility. It’s not a scripted program, so it allows for adaptation to fit your child’s needs and learning style. Additionally, it incorporates storybooks, maps, and hands-on activities to make learning geography more engaging and memorable.
In the following section, I will provide key takeaways from this curriculum to help you decide if it’s the right fit for your child or you can watch my thorough flip through video here:
Key Takeaways
- The US geography and literature approach by Beautiful Feet is a flexible curriculum that incorporates storybooks, maps, and hands-on activities to make learning engaging and memorable.
- The curriculum is divided into five parts, starting with an introduction to geography and moving into state-specific lessons.
- This curriculum allows for adaptation to fit your child’s needs and learning style.
Overview of US Geography Curriculum
Curriculum Structure
The US Geography Curriculum by Beautiful Feet Books is a literature-based approach to learning geography. It consists of five different parts, with the first part being an introduction to geography basics.
Parts two through five incorporate storybooks in which you are “traveling” through the United Sates through these fun, adventure based books. As you learn about the states and their geography in the picture books, you plot them on a large map as you learn. This map is a core component of the program is can be purchased as a part of the package.
Teacher’s Guide
In the teacher’s guide, you will get your weekly lesson plans that tell you what books to read, what words to include in a notebook, and what to plot on the map. In addition there are many other sections sprinkled throughout the lessons.
Dig Deeper Section
The teacher’s guide includes “dig deeper” sections that provide opportunities for students to learn more about the topic with website and video links. These videos allow students to watch and learn about many topics in geography including mountains, oceans, continents, etc. Since my son is so young and has never seen many parts of the world, I love these included video ideas.
Explore the World Activities
To enhance learning, the curriculum includes Explore the World activities that suggest fun things to do related to the states being studied. These activities encourage students to get out of the house and explore their surroundings.
Culinary Connections
These Culinary Connections provide recipe ideas that relate to the states being studied. This section allows students to learn about different foods and cultures.
Rabbit Trails
Each section includes a huge list of additional books you can explore at your local library based on the states you are studying in the curriculum
Incorporated Maps
The curriculum incorporates maps, most importantly that large map of the United States that the student can color and draw specific landmarks as they’re journeying across the United States. There are also maps in the Teacher’s Guide and in the story books that you are reading as you travel the states.
Recommended Note booking Approach
To enhance learning, the teacher’s guide recommends a blank notebook. This approach allows students to record what they have learned and create a visual representation of their knowledge.
To notebook in Kindergarten, I write down an overview of what we learned that day, and have my son draw, rather than write, the geography terms that we are learning using the Geography from A-Z book
Core Non Fiction needed for the Curriculum
There’s a Map on My Lap
This book is a great introduction to geography for primary grades. It covers core concepts such as directions, continents, and oceans. The book is interactive and has students draw and label maps.
Geography from A to Z
This picture glossary introduces students to geography terms and concepts in an engaging and visual way. It can be used in conjunction with other literature or on its own.
Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America
This book takes students on a journey through all 50 states, highlighting unique features and landmarks. It includes maps and fun facts about each state.
The United States Activity and Fact Book
This is an activity book to help kids learn the United States, covering history, geography, and culture. It includes word searches, coloring pages, and other activities to engage students.
Core Storybooks Needed
Beautiful Feet utilizes a collection of storybooks that you read as you journey across the United States. These books include “Grandma Gatewood Hikes the Appalachian Trail,” “Mike Fink,” “Follow The Drinking Gourd,” “Wagon Wheel,” “Apples to Oregon,” “They’re Off!,” “The Pony Express,” and “The Southwest Sunrise.” These picture books are a core component of the curriculum as a meaningful way to learn about different regions of the United States through story.
Part One: Introduction to Geography
Lesson One: Sun’s Position and Directions
In this lesson, you about the position of the sun and how it helps us determine directions. We woke up early in the morning to find the direction of the sunrise and then drew a picture of the sun and pasted it on the wall. We repeated the same activity in the evening to find the direction of the sunset. By doing this, we learned that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Lesson Two: Using a Compass
In Lesson Two, you learn how to use a compass or a compass app. You are taught how to read the compass and find the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. By using a compass, we were able to determine the direction of the sun and find our way around.
What I love about first two lessons is that it is helping your child learn Charlotte Mason’s “Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six,” specifically number 6:
“To know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows.”
Charlotte Mason
Lesson Three: Giving Directions
In Lesson Three, we learned how to give directions. We were taught how to use landmarks and street names to give accurate directions. We also used the “There’s a Map on My Lap” book for the first time and the “Geography from A to Z” picture glossary to look up some words and do some notebooking. We also used a globe to learn about the different continents.
Lesson Four: Creating Personal Maps
Lesson Four focused on creating personal maps. We used the “There’s a Map on My Lap” book to study more about maps and then made our own map of our bedroom. This was a fun activity that helped us understand the different components of a map.
Lesson Five: Introducing the United States Map
In Lesson Five, we unfolded the United States map and learned how to label our home state, the town we live in, and draw a small house to represent our hometown. We used watercolors or color pencils to color the borders of the map along the ocean blue. This was a great way to introduce us to the United States map and learn about our own state and town.
Parts Two – Five: Lessons on Specific States
In this section, I will be discussing the lessons on specific states covered in the “US Geography: A Literature Approach to Primary Grades” guide by Beautiful Feet Books. Parts 2-5 covers the following states utilizing the corresponding picture books:
Overall, the lessons on specific states are a great way to dive deeper into the geography and culture of the United States. The flexibility of the guide allows for customization based on individual needs and preferences.
Adaptations for Younger Students
Adjustments to Core Materials
As a homeschool mom of a Kindergartener, I found it necessary to make some adjustments to the core materials. For instance, I decided not to use the “United States Activity and Fact Book” as my son is still learning to read and can’t do the included word searches.
Instead of using the “Our 50 States” book, which includes a lot of historical facts that my son wouldn’t understand, I substituted it with “50 Adventures in the 50 States.” This book has a one page spread for each state, focusing only on one adventure for every state, making it easier to focus on one component of every state.
I want my kids to be excited about going on adventures, so this book opens their eyes to the many adventures we can have as they get older. Right now as a Kindergartener, it is more important to me that my son is exposed to the creation of the world God created for us than lots of facts about places in which he can’t make connections.
Substitute Books for Simplicity
I also substituted the picture book “They’re Off! The Story of the Pony Express” with “I Can Read Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express.” The latter is a level three reader book with fewer and less complicated words, making it easier for my son to understand. This was not a Beautiful Feet Curriculum recommendation, but rather my own substitution. Their recommended book had way too much text for a Kindergartener. I
think the picture books were chosen in part because of the included maps in the books. This substitution will not affect our note booking component as we can easily find maps of the Pony Express online and in the Teacher’s Guide to plot on the map.
