Geography Curriculum

Many school subjects aren't so much important in their own right as they are useful in understanding others. Geography is such a subject, and while it's fascinating and fun to learn about the earth, its terrain, and its people anyway, it's absolutely essential if you intend to study history, science, or literature with any confidence or understanding.

As a result, we tend to privilege geography curricula that put the study in some kind of broader context as opposed to those programs that simply teach it all by itself. Fortunately, most of those we carry take this approach; bigger publishers like Bob Jones and A Beka place their geography texts within their history programs, usually at the beginning of high school.

But what is geography, anyway? Basically, it's the study of the earth, its features and inhabitants, its lands, and its phenomena (everything from climate to volcanoes). How it relates to other subjects should be fairly obvious: history is senseless without an idea of territories and regions, science relies entirely on observable phenomena, and literature is as much a product of cultures and places as individual authors.

Here is a quick summary of the Geography curricula we offer, in alphabetical order:

A Beka Geography Grades 3-9

A Beka supplements their history curriculum with geography workbooks (trivia- and map-based) starting at grade 3, but takes 9th grade to focus on geography. This course offers kids an in-depth look at the world's countries, both demographically and in terms of their physical geography. It is student-directed, and emphasizes hands-on map exercises.

Around the World in 180 Days Grades 1-6

Around the World in 180 Days is the first product published by Apologia Press that was not written by Dr. Jay Wile. A unit study program, there are no stand-alone elements: instead, the student book presents a number of questions and a list of resources to help find the appropriate answers. This works well both as a geography/history course, and as an introduction to research and study skills.

Beautiful Feet Geography Grades 2-8

An excellent way to get a sense of the interrelatedness of geography with other disciplines is the unit study approach. Beautiful Feet Geography uses the colorful and engaging Holling Clancy Holling books to integrate geography, history, literature, science and nature study. This way, students learn an often daunting subject, while enjoying a variety of sources and approaches.

BJU Cultural Geography Grade 9

Unlike the program from A Beka, BJU Cultural Geography is more textbook-oriented. There are activities for students to complete, but they're much more about answering questions and written work than identifying places in an atlas. There's also an emphasis on people groups, so kids will get a good feel for the ethnic makeup of the earth's population.

Child's Geography Grades 1-6

For a geography-centric program that uses a wide variety of texts, try any of the Child's Geography texts by Ann Voskamp. These texts are God-centered, so that kids learn everything from the perspective of studying God's Creation. Voskamp also attempts to use the same engaging style of V. M. Hillyer, but updated for a contemporary setting.

Evan-Moor Geography Grades K-8

There are multiple Evan-Moor geography series designed to reinforce content students have learned elsewhere. Daily Geography Practice is the most comprehensive of these; other books offer unit studies based on continents, map skills, etc. These are excellent resources for reinforcement, but they don't comprise a complete geography curriculum.

Geography Matters Grades K-12

The family of products from Geography Matters helps kids learn geography by cooking, map studies, workbooks, and the Galloping the Globe and Cantering the Country unit studies. Each book is colorful, kid-friendly, and genuinely educational without ever lapsing into boring or pointless exercises. While these aren't as comprehensive as some programs, they make excellent supplements.

MCP Maps/Charts/Graphs Grades K-8

One of our favorite geography programs is Maps/Charts/Graphs. The focus is proficiency in map-reading: kids learn the cardinal directions, read legends and scales, interpret complex road maps, climatological maps, and topographical maps and charts. This isn't a complete course by any stretch, but it is a great place to start (the books are a good way to teach younger kids to follow directions).

Memoria Press Geography Grades 3-6

If you're looking for an easy-to-use course to get your kids feet wet in the oceans of geography, this could be what you want: students will get a feel for the basics of world geography, and be able to identify each state and country on a map. The factual information is fairly cursory, and no research is required, but this could be beneficial if you want to encourage further study on your own.

North Star Geography Grades 7-12

This may be our favorite single-volume geography course. Covering geography skills, physical geography AND human (cultural) geography, the volume is attractive, the text is readable, and the content both interesting and relevant. The Companion CD includes hands-on activities, atlas building, note taking, vocabulary and memorization questions, quizzes and tests. Can be used in as little as a semester (bare bones), or even over two years. 

Runkle Geography Grades 6-10

Physical World Geography is a textbook/worktext approach. The earth itself is in focus, and the author evidences no specific ideology, whether Christian or evolutionistic. The course can be student-directed, though some parent interaction is recommended. Kids become conversant in everything from the atmosphere to map-reading skills through fun and creative activities and exercises.

Spectrum geography Grades 3-6

If you'd rather not spend too much time on geography but want your kids up to snuff for testing or grading purposes, Spectrum Geography offers a series of workbooks to fill in the gaps and provide a raw sketch overview of the topic. We also carry maps, markable atlases, region-specific books, and other resources that can provide a more enjoyable method of geography study.

Veritas Press Geography (Legends & Leagues) Grades 1-6

There's no law that geography has to be boring, and Ned Bustard seems to be one of the few geography curriculum authors who actually gets that. His series is highly educational but also highly fun. None of the Legends & Leagues books are intended to be a full geography curriculum, however. These are supplements and introductions, and should be used as such

Along with math and writing, geography seems to be a subject many homeschool parents don't cover as well as they should, either because they don't think it's important, or because they don't know much about it themselves. We think it's very important, though we don't think you need to devote inordinate amounts of time to it, at least not formally. Give your kids the tools to understand maps and atlases, give them a globe, and let them explore on their own. These courses are a great place to build the foundations they'll need.

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65 Items found Print
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7 Continents: Antarctica
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
7 Continents: Australia & Oceania
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
7 Continents: South America
by Rachel Lynette
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
$8.40 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Robert Fulton
by Jamie Aramini
Fir from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Geography Matters products (Location: GEO-GEOM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Adventures of Munford: The Klondike Gold Rush
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
Ann Judson
by Sharon James
from Evangelical Press
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Around the World in 180 Days - Set
by Sherrie Payne
2nd edition from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 1st-6th grade
in Geography Curriculum (Location: GEO-CUR)
$52.80
Beginning Geography
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Reader's Edition)
by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
from Rocky Pond Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Boys without Names
by Kashmira Sheth
Reprint from Balzer & Bray
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Canadian Province Notebook
1st edition from A Beka Books
for 4th-6th grade
in A Beka History (Location: HISCUR-ABK)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Day the World Stopped Turning
by Michael Morpurgo
from Square Fish Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Desk Atlas of the United States
1st edition from Geography Matters
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in Oversized Geography (Location: GEO-OVER)
$13.50 (1 in stock)
Don't Know Much About the 50 States
by Kenneth C. Davis
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in United States Geography (Location: GEO-REFUS)
$11.99
Families Around the World
by Jo E. Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$2.10 (1 in stock)
Follow the Drinking Gourd
by Jeanette Winter
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Geography Through Art
by Jamie Aramini, Sharon Jeffus
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 4th-6th grade
in Geography Matters products (Location: GEO-GEOM)
Geography: A Literature Approach (old)
by Rea Berg
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 2nd-7th grade
in Old Edition History & Geography (Location: OHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John Muir: America's First Environmentalist
by Kathryn Lasky, Illustrated by Stan Fellows
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$5.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Journey to the River Sea
by Eva Ibbotson
Reprint from Puffin Books
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Junk Drawer Ecology
by Bobby Mercer
from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-Adult
in Science Experiments & Activities (Location: SCI-EXP)
$16.99
Kidnapped
Dover Evergreen Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Dover Publications
Action/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.99
Legends & Leagues
by Ned Bustard & Matthew Clark
from Veritas Press
for 1st grade
in Legends & Leagues (Location: GEO-VPLL)
$15.00 $7.00 (3 in stock)
Legends & Leagues South
by Ned Bustard
from Veritas Press
for 2nd grade
in Legends & Leagues (Location: GEO-VPLL)
$15.00
Maps of the USA
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for 1st-6th grade
in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
Memoria Press Geography I - Text
from Memoria Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Memoria Press Geography (Location: GEO-MP)
$18.35
Memoria Press Geography II - Teacher Edition
by Dayna Grant, Michael Simpson
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$17.30 $10.00 (2 in stock)
Memoria Press Geography II - Text
by Dayna Grant, Michael Simpson
from Memoria Press
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$18.35
Memoria Press Geography II - Workbook
by Dayna Grant, Michael Simpson
from Memoria Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Memoria Press Geography (Location: GEO-MP)
$16.20
Memoria Press Geography III - Student Text
by Dayna Grant, Kate Janke
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 7th-9th grade
in Memoria Press Geography (Location: GEO-MP)
$20.05
Memoria Press Geography III - Teacher Guide
by Dayna Grant, Kate Janke
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 7th-9th grade
in Memoria Press Geography (Location: GEO-MP)
$20.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Memoria Press Geography III - Workbook
from Memoria Press
for 7th-9th grade
in Memoria Press Geography (Location: GEO-MP)
$20.95
Minn of the Mississippi
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$12.99
New Americans
The American Story Series
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$11.99
Night Diary
by Veera Hiranandani
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
2019 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Paddle-to-the-Sea
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Caldecott Honor Book
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$13.99
Pagoo
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$12.99
Patricia St. John Tells Her Own Story
by Patricia St. John
from Kingsley Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.99
Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein
by Jennifer Rozines Roy with Ali Fadhil
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Profiles from History Volume 1
by Ashley M. Wiggers
from Geography Matters
for 3rd-5th grade
in Trail Guide to Learning (Location: CUR-TGL)
Profiles from History Volume 2
by Ashley M. Wiggers
from Geography Matters
for 3rd-6th grade
in Trail Guide to Learning (Location: CUR-TGL)
Profiles from History Volume 3
by Ashley M. Wiggers
from Geography Matters
for 3rd-6th grade
in Geography Matters products (Location: GEO-GEOM)
Red Pencil
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party
by Ying Chang Compestine
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for 5th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99
Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay
by Patricia & Frederick McKissack
from Square Fish Publishing
for 6th-9th grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$18.99 $13.00 (1 in stock)
Seabird
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1949 Newbery Honor Book
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$12.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
by Jennifer Armstrong
1st Pbk. Ed from Crown Publishers
for 4th-8th grade
1999 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$13.99
Silver People
by Margarita Engle
from Clarion Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Latin America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$10.99
So You Really Want to Learn Geography - Book 1 and Answer Key
by James Dale-Adcock
from Galore Park
for 7th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
States & Capitals - Student Guide
from Memoria Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Geography (Location: GEO-MP)
Tales from Silver Lands
by Charles J. Finger
from Dover Publications
for 4th-8th grade
1925 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
Tapir Scientist
by Nic Bishop, Sy Montgomery
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-7th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$9.99
Ten Mile Day
by Mary Ann Fraser
from Henry Holt and Company
Historical Non-Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in History of Railroads (Location: HISA-19TRR)
$10.99
They're Off!
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Pony Express (1860-1861) (Location: HISA-19PEX)
$7.99
Tree in the Trail
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$13.99
Walk: Jamie Bacon's Secret Mission on the Camino de Santiago
by Esther Jantzen
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.95
Wildheart
from Yosemite Conservancy
for 2nd-5th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
World Geography - Map Studies
2nd edition from A Beka Books
for 9th grade
in A Beka History (Location: HISCUR-ABK)
World Geography - Map Studies Key
2nd edition from A Beka Books
for 9th grade
in A Beka History (Location: HISCUR-ABK)
$8.00 (5 in stock)
World Geography - Test/Quiz Book
from A Beka Books
for 9th grade
in A Beka History (Location: HISCUR-ABK)
World Geography - Test/Quiz Key
from A Beka Books
for 9th grade
in A Beka History (Location: HISCUR-ABK)
$8.50 (4 in stock)
World Reference Maps & Forms
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)