Learning Geography can be fun with Drawing Around The World: USA  from Brookdale House.

Brookdale House is a curriculum publisher for homeschool, public school, and private school.   Most of their curriculum resources are flexible and can be taught on multiple levels at the same time.   They offer curriculum in Writing, Grammar, Foreign Language, Geography, Copy Work of Church Doctrine, Writing Through History with Narration, Dictation, Copywork, and more.

Drawing Around The World:USA

For Fourth Grade & UP, But Flexible Enough For All Ages.

282 Pages (268 numbered pages)

PDF Digital Download eBook $22.95

Printed Book $25.95

This Geography curriculum will teach kids how to draw the maps of the USA, states, capitals, abbreviations, approximate locations of each state, and learn to memorize other important information about each state too.

How we used Drawing Around The World: USA In Our Home.

We received the digital download of Drawing Around The World: USA.  I printed off a copy for each child and placed it into a binder to keep the papers together and organized.   This is a lot of material, a whole week’s worth of learning for each state, so if you have multiple children like I do, plan for a whole lot of printing!

Items Needed To Complete The Curriculum

You will need a computer with an email address and a printer if buying the PDF download edition.  You can also buy the print edition and not have to concern yourself with printing.  You will also need an Atlas to complete the worksheets, crayons, markers, or colored pencils to color maps, regular pencils for drawings and writing, and optional wipe off markers and sheet protectors if you plan to practice drawing maps and wipe them off to draw again and again.

It is suggested for kids to work on this Geography curriculum 4 days a week and it should last you an entire year’s worth of Geography learning.   Kids retain the information better by regularly reviewing what they have learned, and by engaging more of their senses while learning such as drawing while learning.  You will need a notebook or binder to keep all of your papers (incomplete and completed) in each week.

If you do not own an Atlas of the USA, you can find the information you need free online to complete the worksheets.

SCHEDULE: Learning / Memorizing / Drawing

The Drawing Around The World:USA curriculum suggested weekly schedule:

Day 1:

• Learn about a new state..
• Complete the State Fact Table.
• Mapping: Locate and label each new state onto the dashed, black and white map.
• Each week on day 1, draw all states you have studied so far.

Day 2:

• Mapping: Locate and label each new state onto the dashed, black and white map.
• Each week on day 2, repeat and draw all states studied so far.

Day 3:

• Mapping: Locate and label each new state onto the dashed, black and white map.
• Each week on day 3, draw all of the states studied so far.

Day 4:

• Memorization: From memory, list the states studied thus far.
• Memorization:  Using the blank text box, draw all of the states you have learned so far.

We also included fun websites with online Gegraphy games, Geography songs & Videos to find facts and further our learning. Drawing Around The World: USA curriculum recommends adding in these extra learning resources to boost memory.

We have a DK State By State Atlas Kids Guide of the USA that we used to complete the information in the worksheets.

GAMES

Several free web sites and online Geography games are suggested for use in this curriculum. My kids had a lot of fun learning with these and it really helped them in the learning process of drawing.  By including these audio visual, tactile, memory, drawing, etc. skills, they have improved their geography skills as well.  Here are just a few of the suggested online learning sites and a few we found on our own too.

Sheppard’s Software has a lot of fun games and learning activities that fit great with the Drawing Around the World: USA Geography curriculum.   I would definitely encourage you to use this free resource during your studies.

You might also want to use:  “50 States”, “Spelling City” , “Kids National Geographic / Games”, too.  There are lots of online options.  To find free websites and games just put “Kids Online Geography” in your search bar and it will locate a list of great sights for you to use and further the learning.

VIDEOS:

Besides the free web site resources and games, I would also encourage you to include songs, poems , and videos to help kids with the task of associating details about state names and their locations.   My kids are audio visual learners and singing really helps them with making extra “brain connections” when it comes to remembering details.   We found these fun videos with songs to go along with mapping the states and memorizing state names that helped get this information in deep in their heads for memory recall, and inspired them when learning to draw the states and the USA from memory.

Video: Fifty States That Rhyme (color coded)

Video: Fifty States (in alphabetical order)

Video: Tour The States Music Video (THIS IS OUR FAVORITE “MAPPING” VIDEO!!!)

Another thing I would encourage families to include are geography puzzles, story books about traveling the USA, and even building the shape of the different states with Legos.  To build a state with Legos, print out a blank copy of a map of the USA from the curriculum, or draw or trace the outline of a specific state.  Then use that as a template, laying your bricks side by side until you fill in the entire state and it is an exact replica of the state.   If you don’t have a puzzle of the USA, just use a print out of a map of the USA from the curriculum, and then cut it into some shapes that easily fit back together like rectangles or triangles.  If you want to get really challenging, you can cut out the shape of each state.  If you want the puzzle to last a long time, be sure to print it on card stock and laminate it too.  The kids will have fun matching the pieces back together and the hands on activity will improve their memory for drawing the map of the states too.  Anything that uses several sensory skills at the same time will help boost their memory recall.

Before you know it, with the drawing practice and learning ideas in the Drawing Around the World: USA curriculum,  your kids will be drawing (and perhaps singing) all of the state maps and the entire map of the USA from memory.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

You can try out a free sample of this curriculum before you buy.

ENJOY THE ADVENTURE!

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Check out what these awesome homeschool families on the TOS Review Crew had to say about using curriculum products from Brookdale House with their kids.