Selecting a curriculum is always an intimidating process. There are so many options it can be overwhelming. Finding curriculum suitable for a Co-op can be even more confusing with the added elements of a classroom with multiple families and abilities.
Mapping the World By Heart is astudy of Geography on a worldwide scale. Students begin by learning different types of maps and their scales. Information on lattitude and longitude is included. Continents come next along with major bodies of water. Countries, states, capitols and small bodies of water follow. All are colored and labeled on pre-printed maps. As a final project, the kids drawn their own world map, beginning from the lattitude and longitude lines, then drawing in each and every continent, country and body of water.
This program is supposed to be appropriate for middle school thru high school students. It is extremely difficult and at times, next to impossible.
Our students were in grades 7-9 when we attempted this program with our co-op. We found the directions in the book poor, incomplete, and unorganized. The text only contains lists of things to label. No information is given on where or how to find them. Most disappointing was the lack of helpful memorizing techniques. There are more than 230 countries alone in the world. Memorizing them all with correct spelling, plus all the bodies of water, and states, etc.is a daunting dask. All students struggled with this.
We found that atlases and other helpful resources on where to find these details were difficult to find. Even more disappointing was the lack of any useful information on any of the countries or cities that would help kids remember where to place them.
Coloring the maps was not a problem, but labeling them was a nightmare. The maps are so small, even the most organized student with the best handwriting had difficulty in labeling all those tiny countries, states, etc. The frustration level was so high among the kids, we ended up typing all the things they were to label on clear return postage stickers, and sticking them on the maps. Even this was a challenge.
This program is far to vast and time consuming for a co-op class. We spent months and months on this project. I can see it being used daily in a classroom, but not for a co-op that meets only once a week or once a month.
The final project was the worst of all. We used poster board to draw the maps on. It took the kids weeks to get the latitude and longitude lines on them. Most of the kids had erased so many times because of the poor directions in the book, they actually had holes in their projects before we even started putting the countries in place.
It may sound like a simple task to draw a country that starts at X degrees latitude and ends at X degrees longitude, but it is not. I have an art degree, even I found it difficult to do. The kids all found it a very frustrating experience, next to impossible for our children with learning disabilities.
Overall we spent more than a year on this frustrating program. My advice would be to color and label the main parts of the maps and skip the fine details and final project. You may find it easier to have the maps that are included blown up to poster board size so they are easier to manage. If you have children who struggle at all with writing, you can save yourself a lot of agrivation by using stick on labels.
If you are looking for resources to help your child prepare for the National Geography Bee, Mappig the World by Heart is not all that helpful. The Geographic Bee is much more about geography TRIVIA then it is about actual location and placement. Mapping the World contains no useful information about countries and their related cultures, only the placement of them. You would be much better off to look at the recommended resources on the National Geographic Bee website.
Designer Mom
Mapping the World By Heart is astudy of Geography on a worldwide scale. Students begin by learning different types of maps and their scales. Information on lattitude and longitude is included. Continents come next along with major bodies of water. Countries, states, capitols and small bodies of water follow. All are colored and labeled on pre-printed maps. As a final project, the kids drawn their own world map, beginning from the lattitude and longitude lines, then drawing in each and every continent, country and body of water.
This program is supposed to be appropriate for middle school thru high school students. It is extremely difficult and at times, next to impossible.
Our students were in grades 7-9 when we attempted this program with our co-op. We found the directions in the book poor, incomplete, and unorganized. The text only contains lists of things to label. No information is given on where or how to find them. Most disappointing was the lack of helpful memorizing techniques. There are more than 230 countries alone in the world. Memorizing them all with correct spelling, plus all the bodies of water, and states, etc.is a daunting dask. All students struggled with this.
We found that atlases and other helpful resources on where to find these details were difficult to find. Even more disappointing was the lack of any useful information on any of the countries or cities that would help kids remember where to place them.
Coloring the maps was not a problem, but labeling them was a nightmare. The maps are so small, even the most organized student with the best handwriting had difficulty in labeling all those tiny countries, states, etc. The frustration level was so high among the kids, we ended up typing all the things they were to label on clear return postage stickers, and sticking them on the maps. Even this was a challenge.
This program is far to vast and time consuming for a co-op class. We spent months and months on this project. I can see it being used daily in a classroom, but not for a co-op that meets only once a week or once a month.
The final project was the worst of all. We used poster board to draw the maps on. It took the kids weeks to get the latitude and longitude lines on them. Most of the kids had erased so many times because of the poor directions in the book, they actually had holes in their projects before we even started putting the countries in place.
It may sound like a simple task to draw a country that starts at X degrees latitude and ends at X degrees longitude, but it is not. I have an art degree, even I found it difficult to do. The kids all found it a very frustrating experience, next to impossible for our children with learning disabilities.
Overall we spent more than a year on this frustrating program. My advice would be to color and label the main parts of the maps and skip the fine details and final project. You may find it easier to have the maps that are included blown up to poster board size so they are easier to manage. If you have children who struggle at all with writing, you can save yourself a lot of agrivation by using stick on labels.
If you are looking for resources to help your child prepare for the National Geography Bee, Mappig the World by Heart is not all that helpful. The Geographic Bee is much more about geography TRIVIA then it is about actual location and placement. Mapping the World contains no useful information about countries and their related cultures, only the placement of them. You would be much better off to look at the recommended resources on the National Geographic Bee website.
Designer Mom
This was very helpful information. I had thought about doing it with the boys but decided not to this year. Sure glad I made that decision.
ReplyDeleteTeri