We Will Always Have Paris

Afterschooling Adventures: DIY GeoBlocks

 


When my girls and I started our Geography Afterschooling Adventures, I wanted to make something that would symbolize each country we studied.  I loved the idea of having a wooden block featuring the flag of the country we were studying and images to remind us of the things we had learned.

I was able to find 2" wooden blocks at Hobby Lobby for $0.99/each.  I've seen them at AC Moore & Michaels as well:

I painted each block to match the Montessori continent colors:

North America: Orange
South America: Pink
Europe: Red
Asia: Yellow
Africa: Green
Oceana: Brown
Antartica: White

For each block, the girls and I discuss things that we want to remember about that country.  Once we have a list, we search out images using Google Images and print them as wallet size.  We trim them down to just below 2" square (so a little of the block color still shows) and use JudiKins Diamond Glaze to mount them and seal the block.  Mod Podge would probably do as well, I just have a ton of Diamond Glaze hogging up studio space.

Here's a look at our India block:

 

This block features images of the Indian flag, the Festival of Color (Holi), the Taj Mahal, Mahatma Gandhi, Hindu Goddess Lakshmi and the Himalayas.

As we work our way through Asia, we have blocks for Japan, India, South Korea and North Korea.  Next stop:  Thailand!!

 

Afterschooling Adventures: Our Geography Library

Fill your house
with stacks of books,
in all the crannies
and all the nooks.
--Dr. Seuss

When I was a kid I loved to throw my legs over the arm of our living room chair and read all day long.  Although I had plenty of friends, I loved my best friends -- Nancy Drew, Harriet the Spy and Nellie Olson.  In addition to reading kid-appropriate books, I loved to read the books my parents had in the living room of our home -- Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a book on fortune telling and the entire World Book Encyclopedia set. There were more, I'm quite sure, but these are the ones that I remember clearly. I ventured out beyond my everyday "kid" reading because there were other books in our home that called to me. 

Studies show that kids who grow up with 25 books or more in their home have higher reading test scores.  Other studies show that kids who have more types of literacy materials (magazines, nespapers, encyclopedias, books)  in their homes also have higher reading proficiencies.

It is incredibly important to me that my kids have access to books.  Although we are regular patrons at our public library (I'm actually at the library several times a week), I want our children to be surrounded by books in their own home.  We have books in every room of our home.  Every single room.

When we started afterschooling Geography, I needed a place to corral our geography books.  There is no rhyme or reason to the books in our home.  There are kid books on all three floors.  In my bedroom, Christmas craft books are stacked next to Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy" which is next to my battered copy of Shakespeare's "Henry V".  I dream of having an actual library, but I need to sell a helluvalot of Nancy Drew Date Books to add on to our tiny house in the woods.

Instead, I opted for a nice, sturdy bookshelf (found at Home Depot, of all places!) in our living room.

The top shelf actually houses our "Science" library, but that is on it's way to another bookshelf, as we are outgrowing this one.  The second shelf displays items from the country we are currently studying.  Right now, we are immersed in all things Korean:

That's Baby G's American Girl Molly wearing her own hanbok (the traditional clothing of Korea).  The shelf holds the on-topic books we have not yet read as well as a flag of the country and our country blocks (more about this later).

The next shelf holds our general geography books and the books we've already read about the country we're studying:

Below that, the books are organized by continent following the Montessori color-coding system.  So far in our studies, we've only covered Japan, India and North/South Korea, so there are an awful lot of yellow labels.

Our puzzles, games and ArchiQuest blocks are nestled in with the geography books, allowing my girls to reinforce what they've read.



 
For those of you following our Afterschooling Adventures, I hope this helps inspire you to build your own library. Want to see some of the books, puzzles and games we keep on our bookshelf?  Head on over to my Amazon Affilliate Store.

 

Afterschooling Adventures: General Geography

 



It is important to me that my kids understand that there is a huge world to explore outside of our little house in the woods.  Both my husband and I love to travel and I want to instill this love in my children.  We started "afterschooling" geography with our kids a couple of summers ago.  Learning about other cultures gives us unlimited opportunities to try new foods, learn new languages, and gain a global perspective.

If you don't already have geography educational materials in your home, it is easy enough to find freebies on-line or plus up your personal library using coupons/thrift stores/sales.  Our local Hobby Lobby has a great education section and I've been able to find geography board games, flash cards, wall maps and more.  I buy them one by one, using coupons.  Free printable maps can be found on-line as well as a ton of useful youtube videos.  Below you will find some of the materials we used to learn the basics of geography.

We started by learning the 7 continents and oceans.  I think every home should have a globe (mine needs to be replaced after a rather rowdy Girl Scout meeting).  If you're looking to add one to your home, try Hobby Lobby's educational section -- you can use a 40% off coupon!  If you don't have a Hobby Lobby near you, Amazon has a great selection.

Explorer Globe on Amazon
(affiliate link)

A globe gives kids the opportunity to see the shape of our planet and see how much of it is covered by water.  This falls flat when looking at a flat map.  Somewhere along the way, I learned a neat trick that the oceans each have their own shape.  On a globe, I was able to show the girls that the Arctic Ocean is shaped like an "O", the Indian Ocean like an "M and the Atlantic Ocean like an "S".

Videos:

Music is a great way for kids to learn and I found the MOST ANNOYING SONG EVER for you.  You'll find the video for "The Continent Song" on YouTube here.  My youngest was able to memorize her continents when she was three and this song gets all of the credit.  Once we learned the words and tune, we sang it everywhere.  We sang it in the bathtub.  We sang it in the car.  We sang it at the dinner table.  You won't be able to get the singsong lyrics out of your head.  You're welcome. (See "Activities" section below for a fun game to play while you play the video.)

Although it is terribly out of date and ridiculous, my kids absolutely loved this Animaniacs classic (found on YouTube here): 

Books:

Building up a Geography library has been an essential in our house.  Located in our living room, our Geography library is filled with atlases, games, puzzles, fiction, non-fiction, paper dolls and children's story books. (I'll post more about our Geography library later.)  I've found great books for mere pennies at Five Below, thrift stores and the clearance section at Books A Million.  I keep a long Amazon Wish List and buythem when they turn up as used books for a penny (with an additional $3.99 shipping).  Most often, the used Amazon books are from public libraries.  Speaking of libraries, check to see if your local library sells off used books.Here are some of my general geography favorites: 

Atlases

 

The Pop-up World Atlas is a favorite for both of my kids, the Usborne Encyclopedia is much more advanced (more like a textbook) and the Picture Atlas is somewhere in between.

General Geography

 

 Other Cultures

 

These books are hands-down my kids favorites.  They love to see what other kids wear, what other kids eat and where other kids live. 

Puzzles:

I love when my kids work on puzzles because they are working more than one part of their brain.  Here are the puzzles we go back to over and over again: 

Activities:

Make An Apple Pie And See The World

There is a great book called "How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World" that gives kids a chance to see how interconnected we all are.  There's nothing as American as apple pie, yet our ingredients come from all over the world.  I found a great printable game via 123 Homeschool to reinforce the lessons learned.  Since you're reading the book and playing the game, why not make an apple pie as well?

Continent Hop Game

I printed and laminated these continent cards  from spelloutloud.com and spread them all over the living room.  Then I would play the "Continent Song" on YouTube on the TV (see above for the link).  As each continent was called, the girls would have to run to that continent card.  They loved, loved, loved this game and we played it over and over again.

Activity Books & Games

I also found a set of printable dot-to-dot continents.  I printed and laminated them and my girls can do them over and over again.

I'll be back soon to share our Geography library with you.  I'm hoping the Easter Bunny will bring my girls some new geography books!

Queen Mum's School: An Introduction

Anyone who enters my home always comments on two things:  my kitchen chalkboard and the number of educational books/toys/games lying around.  I regularly share my kitchen chalkboard with you, but I haven't really touched on all of the educational things we do with our kids. 

My oldest daughter goes to public school (our youngest is still in pre-school).  Just like I did.  Just like my husband did.  We have absolutely no beef with the public school system.  However, I feel like we should fill in the gaps after school.  With common core standards, state testing and all of those bathroom breaks, teachers just can't cover everything.  My husband and I both firmly believe that we are the primary educators of our children.  However, I don't really think I'm the right type of person to homeschool.  I am quite sure that by the end of our first homeschooling week, somebody would be packing their bags.  I 'm just not sure if it would be me or my daughter.  One of us would have to go.

I like the idea of what I call "afterschooling" -- making additional learning fun. I want both of my girls to develop a lifelong love of learning.  A couple of years ago, we started "afterschooling" geography  We started off with learning the continents and oceans.  Since then, we've been immersed in Asia.  The girls and I have throroughly covered Japan and India and now we are knee-deep in South Korea/North Korea (timely, no?). 

When I share what we're doing with other moms, I'm bombarded with questions... How do you keep the kids interested?  Where do you find things to do?  Where do I start? 

I thought I'd share our afterschooling adventures with my readers, hoping to inspire you to work with your own kids.  I call it "Queen Mum's School for Wayward Princesses" -- a tribute to the fact that my oldest is more likely to be found in Chuck Taylors than Mary Janes.  I hope you'll join us!