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Map Skills Unit Study Review by Cindy West
Kim KargboSoli Deo Gloria Resources
8965 Brookhollow Dr.
Olive Branch, MS 38654
901-218-5243
http://www.solideogloriaresources.com/
Meant for children in kindergarten through third grade, the unit teaches basic directional skills, basic map reading, "direction" as it relates to the Christian life, and language skills related to the theme. The author suggests the length of the study as two to three weeks.
The activity ideas are broken down into worksheets, math activities, hands-on activities, language arts activities, and Bible activities. All of those ideas are concisely written on three pages, so you don't spend too much time deciding what to do and how to do it.
I was disappointed to find that several additional books and/or workbooks are necessary to complete most of the worksheet and math activities. Mrs. Kargbo gives a reference list of the books needed, but finding them (and affording them) was difficult for me. Without these worksheets, the child would gain no actual map reading experience from the study.
On the other hand, I found the hands-on activities, language arts activities, and Bible activities to be great! In the hands-on section, you choose from things such as playing directional Simon Says and drawing a map of your property. In the language arts section, you are given fun activities like choosing a map in an atlas and developing five questions to quiz your parent.
For the four Bible ideas, the author has supplied worksheets and answer keys. Each of these activities relates a Bible passage to mapping. But more importantly, it takes the passage further and helps your child to understand things like the Bible being our "map" through life and the Holy Spirit being our "compass."
Overall, I found many useful and wonderful ideas inside this unit study. Even without the additional resource books, we were able to learn much about map skills. However, without those resources, I couldn't consider it a complete unit. If I had been able to find the resources at the library or buy them, the unit would have covered map skills thoroughly.
