Galloping the Globe

Great resources and activity pages. Exactly what I need for Elementary World Geography. I only gave 4 stars because I wish it had more countries, but it provides a rhythm that will help me add our own with the extra pages provided.

The book itself has a lot of suggestions for other books to buy, which can be fun, but in the internet age--and after homeschooling for quite a few years--that's not always the most useful thing. I was really looking forward to the CD (and wishing it were a download, since my computer does not have a CD drive). When I finally got to a computer (w CD), I was disappointed to find that 2/3 of the content was simply a copy of the first 1/3. Notebooking pp WITH lines vs without, with GUIDED lines vs plain. That's great if you need it and IF the first 1/3 is really great already.

It's...not what I'd hoped. Notebooking pp are not really worth money, in my opinion. I'd just as soon grab paper and move on. The activities are primarily NOT geography related (science instead) and are too childish for my K'er--to the point that after printing the first set, I was more annoyed w the waste of paper than anything. Not even busy work--they're too easy to take time.

If you're a first-time hs'er, there are worse programs to splurge on, but if you're on a budget (who isn't?)--you can safely skip this temptation.

My kids love this book.. It's perfectly suited to adjust for different levels and my kids love learning about other countries. Since my kids are young, I'm taking the book slowly and focusing on the most general information. I can see easily repeating this book again in a few years and doing a deeper dig into the biographies and science sections. The print outs make creating a review binder super easy.

I started using this Curriculum in second grade with my son and only wished I had started with it in Kindergarten It's fun keeps kids interested in subjects and allows you to be creative; intertwining subjects to make the lesson easier to learn Also you can move them ahead in subjects or keep them at grade level if need be I have seen the growth in my son It has made teaching a breeze for me; although it does require preparation on my part for the lessons

I purchased "Galloping the Globe" because my child wanted to study children in other countries and cultures "Galloping the Globe" is a unit study which is designed to take you around the world in 1-3 years The unit study is written for Kindergarten through Fourth Grade The curriculum is divided into the seven continents and countries within the continents Each country is divided into the following sections: people/history general reference books literature science vocabulary music/art projects internet resources and the Bible The weaknesses of this curriculum are: 1 The curriculum has no set schedule you will have to create your own 2 The science section is the introduction to the animal kingdom If your child loves science you will have to supplement with additional materials/experiments The strengths of this curriculum are:1 There is a wealth of information in this unit study which can be a bit overwhelming at first However you can pick and choose what sections you would like to cover and what resources to utilize 2 The cookbook "Eat Your Way Around the World" is an excellent resource for cooking up culinary delights from other cultures3 The curriculum is extremely affordable 4 The section on "Christmas Around the World" gives you an opportunity to celebrate Christmas in the tradition of other countries and cultures 5 The Yahoo Group which is owned by the author is a great place to meet other families who are utilizing the curriculumAdditional resources we are utilizing to complete our journey of "around the world in 36 weeks" are: VM Hillyer's "A Child's Geography of the World" The Walt Disney /Walden Media movie version of "Around the World in 80 Days" DK Children Just Like Me DK Children Just Like Me Celebrations DK Animal Encyclopedia Heaven's Heroes and Hero Tales

We used this as an introduction to world geography & cultures for my 5 year old and I have been amazed at how much she has retained Even my 3 year old understands the idea of countries and continents and how people all over the world are the same as and different from us We had so much fun with this program - especially the recipes! This program requires a lot of supplemental books but we had no problem finding acceptable resources at our local library We plan to use it again in a few years at a deeper level because it can be adapted for K-5th grades

We began using this unit study last school year and are indeed enjoying our slow and steady gallop over the globe This curriculum is a unit study which can include Geography Bible History Science Art and Literature We are picking and choosing what we include depending on our interests and resources My two school-aged children are using this resource (my daughter is in the 4th grade and my son is in the 2nd grade) We typically only cover the topic of Geography one day a week so that is part of the reason we aren't sprinting over the globe Last year we studied Asia and Europe and we are beginning this school year learning about Africa My kids have enjoyed the puzzles/mazes/etc that are included in the book; however I don't necessarily think they add much to the actual study There are many suggested literature resources for each country/explorer/musician etc that I have found to be available at our local library and the authors have also included many internet website resources as well There are suggestions to study famous people (artist musicians authors explorers inventors etc) missionaries and their mission work food and animals from each county as well as maps and flag reproducibles My kids have especially enjoyed studying the animals from each continent As we study each animal we also draw that animal using "Draw*Write*Now" books -you can build a world geography study of all seven continents and learn to draw animals from each continent by having Draw*Write*Now Books 4 7 & 8! We put together everything we learn in our Geography Notebooks and enjoy wowing people with the facts we have discovered! We can never eat Raemen Noodles again without one of the children reminding us that the Chinese eat long noodles to symbolize long life As we study new animals from Africa the kids love to try to stump Daddy with new facts as soon as he gets home "Did you know the ostrich has the largest eye of any land animal?" My kids don't know everything about the grade level text material their public school friends know - but what we know is interesting understood and exciting! So every Friday we can be found gathered on the couch reading about a Missionary Hero in Africa coloring flags from the country of our study imagining ourselves herding the family goats in a destitute African village or being fascinated at God's creativity as we study how giraffes have a 6 foot neck yet have no more neck bones than ourselves! This is a resource that is a true value - it is written for grades Kindergarten to Fourth Grade level; however I intend to continue using it past fourth grade because I am confident it can be adapted to older children - most of the resources are library resources - the book is simply a guide to your own studies As the authors state "May this curriculum serve to make your study of geography a pleasure and spur your students to develop a life-long interest in the people and culture of God's wide world" Our family is certainly enjoying our long Gallop of this awesome globe!

I just finished up this curriculum with my two girls last month We did the shorter route going for less than a year We had so much fun learning about different countries around the world inventions that started in those countries doing origami learning about neat people from those countries and missionaries! You can take up to 3 years and if I could do it all over again I would There's even a section about Christmas around the world which was really exciting to do around the holidays I highly recommend this for anyone considering a unit study This was our first unit study and we plan to continue with Cantering the Country As my 8 year old said it was a "year long adventure!"