One of the best advantages of being a homeschool family is being able to just grab the children and go! We can have such a freedom to enjoy life and adventures as a family, and our children will still have their schoolwork done.
Whether we are homeschooling online or we choose the old fashioned pen and paper style with the internet access everywhere, we have the ability to accomplish much.
There is a wonderful article that was written by one of our staff about Geography on the Go!
It is a good reminder of how human we each are and that we need to lean on the Lord at all times! It is also important for us to have fellowship and lean on each other so that we have the proper support.
Journey with us as we review what her article had to say, and remember we are all allowed to feel overwhelmed at times. But it will pass, and one day they will be grown up and homeschooling their own children.
This article was originally published in the March 13, 2013, the Homeschool Minute.
We are experiencing "Geography on the Go" right now. Sitting in our 15-passenger van watching the geography go right past as we drive from northern to southern California and back again. We are enjoying the mountains, the ocean, the valleys, the sun, and the snow. As we are visiting our boys in Los Angeles, we are experiencing a whole different culture here in this University City than in our own back home.
We have met people from so many far away geographical places on this trip. Our boys live in a house with students from Saudi Arabia, and the owner has housekeepers who are from Mexico. The pastor of their church is from Ireland, and the owner of one of their workplaces is from Germany. We met their friends from Italy, China, and Sri Lanka. In California, we live in a multi-cultural society that represents a vast geographical map. When we get home, we will look at the map and see where they are located.
This is one way we've taught what I would call living geography. Another way is when letters come from the missionaries and children and organizations we support, we take a look at that country and delve in to study more when we can. Sending our older children on mission trips to other countries is a great learning experience in more ways than just geography. They learn teamwork, compassion, and gratitude as they share the gospel of Jesus Christ. These things are the same in any language or geographical location and are profitable for more than just this lifetime.
Additionally, when the kids are reading good literature, biographies, or history, you can print out a map of the country or countries mentioned, have them mark it up with the book's information, and put it in a binder.
You can get creative with geography, and you can also review a multitude of helpful and entertaining geography products here. Don't forget about the free monthly magazine, where our March 2012 and March 2013 issues cover geography in several helpful articles. Our goal here is to support you in all of your homeschooling subjects, including geography.
What does the Bible say about geography? "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). How better to learn this type of Biblical geography than teaching children at Home Where They Belong.
Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor and Director of Production for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. She has eight children ages 11 to 28 and has been homeschooling for over twenty years. Deborah's mission is to point homeschoolers to the Lord in all they do and to encourage them that they can find everything they need for life, Godliness—and homeschooling—in their knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3,4).
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).