Pin
Pinterest Hidden Image

Don’t groan! Geography can be a fun and fascinating topic to study in your Morning Time. In fact, when you get a kid who is into geography they can be so excited over something as simple as locating countries on a map. It is so much fun to see. Join me and Gather co-author Heather Tully as we dig in to all the ways we have done geography in our Morning Baskets through the years and dish on all of our favorite books and resources.

This is Your Morning Basket, where we help you bring truth, goodness, and beauty to your homeschool day. Hi everyone. And welcome to episode 123 of the Your Morning Basket podcast. I’m Pam Barnhill, your host, and I’m so happy that you’re joining me here today. Well, on today’s episode of the podcast, I am joined by Heather Tully.
Heather is my co-author of the book Gather: Exploring the Wonder, Wisdom and Worship of Learning at Home. And one of the things that we wanted to do for you was take a little time to break down some of the subjects that we cover in the gather book. And today’s episode is all about how Heather and I do geography in our home schools, and most importantly, in our gathering time. And so we each talk about the different tactics. We use some of the different topics we cover, and also some of the books that we have used and enjoyed. So I really think you’re going to love this episode.

Now, before we get started, if you would like to bring a little delight to your homeschool day, try out our free month of Morning Time, Morning Time plans. With these Morning Time plans, we have chosen the books. We have chosen the music, and the art, and the poetry and all the wonderful things. And we laid it out for you in a block or a loop schedule that you can follow in your homeschool for a whole month. And it is absolutely free. So find those pambarnhill.com/month. And now on with that podcast.
Heather Tully is a mom of 10 kids. Who’s been practicing Morning Time in her home for over 18 years. She’s a documentary photographer who seeks to capture the wonder in everyday life. You can find her online heathertelephotography.com, where she shares her work and the photos of her family from their Georgia home. Heather is also the co-author of this great new book called Gather: Exploring the Wonder, Wisdom and Worship of Learning at Home. And we’re laughing because Heather’s my co-author on that particular book. And goodness, it’s been out for four or five months now, hasn’t it?
It has. It’s exciting to see it, you know, to finally hold it after all that time, it Really, really is. And it is filled with the beautiful photography that Heather took of all the different families.
But one of the things that we wanna talk about today, there are a lot of how-tos in that book and we want to bring some of those how-tos to life for you, and we’re gonna start with geography. And so that’s what this particular episode is all about.
So Heather, just real quick, can you remind listeners a little about your homeschool and how long you’ve been doing Morning Time?
Yeah. So thanks for having me again, Pam. So we have been gathering together. This is our 19th year and it’s our 16th year of homeschooling officially, but I started back when Patricia was three and I had a baby and I probably was close to expecting so 19 years of gathering together and I’ve got about, let’s see, 14 more years to go with the children.
And then I get to gather just me as Cindy Rollins taught us. Right?
Yeah. You get to do your mother’s morning basket for sure.
So what does geography look like in your homeschool? Is that something that you, you always do in your gathering time? Or do you sometimes do it independently? Like how does it fit into the whole overall plan as far as related to Morning Time?
Yeah, so we do a little bit, a mix of both. We have some geography time that we gather all of us together and then big kids work independently. And then I work with some maps with little kids. So I try to find a book. I kind of call it my spine, a main geography book that I can read to all of the children.
Sometimes I pick a book that’s just gonna be one place. We’re gonna read it all year long. Sometimes I pick a book per term, so we might read two or three different books, but I kind of do that summer planning and decide, where would we like to visit? What part of the world or what part of our state do we wanna learn more about?
And I’ll read that book to everybody at the morning table. Okay. And, and so we start there. Sometimes we even do some map work together as a family. I might do that once a week, pull out a blank map lately. We’ve been studying North America. So we have a blank United States map. And then we have a blank has Canada, the United States, and a little bit of Mexico also. And so as we’re reading in our book, when we come to a new place, we’ll fill it into our blank map. So it kinda, it depends on how the morning’s going. If I’ve got everybody’s attention and, and the five year old isn’t falling apart yet, we’ll pull out those blank maps.
I keep ’em in a binder. So they’re easy to find and we’ll just do it right there at the table together. But often I have the big kids do that on their own. So it’s just, they can pay better attention. So would you say that you have something geography related going on in your homeschool all the time?
Yeah, pretty much. We start when they’re little books by the Holling’s and I know we’re gonna go over, like, what’s some favorite books, but there’s geography books you can do when they’re just first starting and then all the way through high school. And it doesn’t just apply to a geography book. If we’re reading something in the Bible, I pull out a Bible Atlas and we look at a map. When we’re reading things in history you know, during our gathering time, we often read a history spine, I’ll pull out an Atlas and we’ll look, where is that happening? And so geography can kind of span several different subjects and then it can also be its own subject.
Yeah. So I would say we don’t always have something geography related going on. I would say that probably about once a year, we take a little portion of the year and do something geography related. So like last year we took a portion of the year and one of the books we read in our gathering time was Halliburton’s book of Marvels. We read the Occident, which is the non-orient section of the world. And just really in love, you know, really, really enjoyed that and loved it. But then we’ve also done a whole year where we didn’t do history at all. And we just went around the world and studied different world cultures as well.
Yeah. And I was gonna throw that out there too, that I think not only do we wanna study, like where is it in, you know, where is it on the map, but we also wanna dig deeper and go, what is the culture? Like, what are the people like, what are their songs and their dances and their food. Just this past week, we were studying Brahms Hungarian dances. And so we went and looked up there dancing, and we looked on the map where Hungary was.
And so, geography can go beyond just a specific location. And then I think it helps to flesh it out. It makes it really interesting when we see those things that make a place specific to it that’s different from where we are.
Yeah. I would say other than books, YouTube is probably one of the best geography resources out there. Wouldn’t you?
Yeah. I’m so grateful for YouTube, spend the money, get the premium so you don’t get ads popping up and it is such a great resource. You can make playlists. So yeah, I use YouTube in our Morning Time almost every day.
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. If you’re looking for a way to get in touch with other cultures that certainly, other than books, that’s certainly one of the ways to do it. Okay. So in Gather, I laid out how I did map drill with my kids and it sounds like they’re probably really similar. The only thing is I would not start map drill with, I wouldn’t give my kids an Atlas. I always made them a model that they then learned from, because I found that when I, if I tried to give them an Atlas, their eyes just kind of glazed over because there was way too much information on the page.
Yeah. That’s really good. We might start with an Atlas. We tend to start there and look at it for a few weeks before we start a map drill. And so like the first time we’re talking about a location, we do pull out that big Atlas or the big wall map and just spend time looking at it. What close by. What do you notice? Are there mountains? Are there rivers and lakes? So spend some time getting familiar with it before I give them the blank map and ask them to be more specific in what I’m wanting them to learn. I love maps.
We have several different Atlases on the shelf. We have a big wall map and we have small ones that we bring to the table. So I tend to collect them. I love looking at maps.
Yeah. And I love a good line map, you know, and I I’ll put some resources in the show notes for those. I usually get mine from notebookingpages.com. I’m a member over there. And a lot of times I’ll get my, my kind of black line master maps from that. And then I used to have a CD ages ago. This tells you how old it is. Uncle Josh’s outline maps was another one that I used to use.
I have a different CD. So I’m one of those old homeschoolers too, that I still have my binders of CDs that I pull out for resources.
Oh My goodness. But you had a different one. Yeah. I had a different one and I was just gonna say, I think it’s a really great idea to have your children drawing maps. That’s what we mean by map drilling, having them physically draw it, not just fill in the blanks, but have them outline when you’re learning your state, have them learn the shape, have them draw in the lakes. Don’t just label them. There’s a connection there with the brain when they physically draw it, that it’s just different. And it helps with memory versus just filling in. So I think a combination, sometimes we fill in a blank map and then other days they’re drawing it.
They’re drawing it. And as some families, I know, do the drawing on, they do it on like a whiteboard or something like that. The child doesn’t necessarily have to draw it on a piece of paper. So we have the books. I don’t know if you ever did these or not, but we did like the Draw Europe, it’s the Draw the World series of books. We did draw Europe, Draw Asia, Draw Canada. Or, we didn’t do Draw Canada. Excuse me. Draw the US. Did you ever use those books?
Yes. They’re awesome. I love those. And this year, because we’re doing North America, we’re gonna draw the US or yeah. USA, and we’re gonna do that right in our Gathering Time, just a little piece each day. And by the end of it, you’re able to draw the United States. It’s pretty amazing.
Yeah. And that is one of the great things about this book is she does show you step by step. Like, you know, each book is what, 40, 50 pages or something. And you turn to the first page and she helps you add a little segment each and every time.
And so one of the ways that I used to use this with my kids is we would go in and we would do the first segment. And we would add for a while, we would add a few different segments and then I would have them go back and start fresh every time. And then sometimes we would add onto one that we had already started.
And then other times we would go back and start fresh. So we were not starting fresh at the very beginning, every single time. And the kids feeling like, oh my goodness, like every single time I sit down to draw the USA, I’ve gotta start with a blank piece of paper. Sometimes we would just add on to the old ones, but so we kept them all as we worked. And so sometimes we would be starting from the beginning and then other times we would be starting from something that already had a beginning to it. If that makes sense.
Yeah. That makes sense. And then we did similar things. You’re gonna want cheap copy paper when you use, because you do go through a lot of paper, but it, that just little sections each day is really doable and it’s good. You can, you know, pause if your kids start to get overwhelmed, especially as the map grows bigger, just repeat a day several times, but that one’s really handy. And so we just, we do a combination. I like the detailed map that we work on throughout the year that we’re filling in, but then learning a broader map. That’s a little less filled in, but they have it memorized is I think a really good tool for kids to learn.
Yeah. So, you know, we’re talking about, it’s good for the kids to do this. Why, why is it good for the kids to know these locations? And I will tell you, I am not ashamed to say that the reason I want my children to know is because if anybody walks up to them on the street with a microphone and asks them a geography question, I don’t wanna look like an idiot.
Exactly.
But I’m sure you, You probably have a more, you know, a higher brow reason than that.
Well, I dunno. I mean, I do want them to have a better sense of geography than I have. I just, I remember once way back in the day, I I’m trying to help my husband get somewhere and he looks over and the maps upside down and I’m trying to, you know, navigate where we’re going and I don’t even have the map in the right direction.
So there, I definitely want my kids to know how to use maps, but also I think geography, it leads us to praise God because he’s made all these things, all these places and he’s sustaining them. And I think it gives us a sense of our smallness and how big and great God is. And so I think that’s a really good thing. Humility is a good lesson to learn in geography is one of those ways. And then I think we learn to appreciate other cultures. We get to see the wonder and the beauty of this amazing world that God’s made. And so I just, it’s pretty awesome to learn about other parts of the world, especially those that we don’t always get to see. Yeah.
It just, it opens up our eyes and opens up our mind that it’s a lot bigger than just me and this little place I live in.
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Okay. So they’re gonna be some moms out there who are like, oh, I can’t believe they’re talking about like drawing maps and labeling them. That is so boring. I will just tell you that you are likely going to have one kid who just loves that, right. Who you’re gonna be amazed and surprised, but there’s gonna be like that one weird kid that just eats that stuff up. I have one of those kids. I was actually one of those kids, myself. I love geography and labeling maps.
My daughter is the same way. Not every kid is though. And sometimes we want, you know, there is more to geography than just the drawing and the labeling of the maps. So let’s talk about story and how we can study geography through some really great books. So what are some of your favorites?
Yeah, some of my favorites. So we mentioned the Holling’s books.
So if you have young children Tree in the Trail, we just finished this this week. It was last year’s book. So here’s the encouragement to all your moms who are like, oh no, I don’t get done in time. I don’t either. So we finished it in term one of the next year. So it was okay. So Tree in the Trail, she has Minn in the Mississippi. So you’re following down the Mississippi river. And along the way, you’re learning different states. I’m trying to think of Paddle to the Sea. You go through the different lakes of great Michigan, which is awesome. I love that book. So if you have young ones, definitely look up the Holling’s books.
If you have older children, what I try to do there is find stories of people or a place, and that really makes geography come alive. So my big boys in high school read Endurance, and I can’t remember the author. We’ll have to put it in the show notes. But that was a great story of courage and perseverance, but it also taught us a lot, about Antarctica that we didn’t know very much about and about the seas and learning the different oceans.
And so reading that book just, I kind of look at it as living geography. And that’s how I, I tend to think of it this year. My daughter is in, let’s see seventh grade and she’s reading Trailblazer of the Seas. And that is the same author that does Carry on Mr. Bowdich, which is a family favorite here.
And both of those are great geography books because they’re charting the oceans and you’re learning then different islands that they’re visiting. You’re learning the currents of the oceans, which I think is also geography, geography isn’t just a place. We also need to learn some of the terms we need to learn sense of direction when we’re studying geography. And so finding some of these books that are written in a story format are a great way to make geography come alive.
Yeah, I love it. You know, the land features are also part of these geographical studies. And so those are, are good things to talk about and to study with your kids. And so many of these geography books bring those to life. A book that I loved myself that I think would be perfect for a high schooler is Prisoners of Geography:10 maps that explain everything about the world. And that was just an excellent book that talked about, you know, why Russia is like it is and why Africa is like it is. And so much of there’s so much geopolitical stuff that goes into why this country is like it is. And you know, when you think about the United States, it’s the river system that is one of the things that makes so much abundance here. Whereas you look at some of the other countries and you look at like Africa, there’s not the same kind of river system that we have here. And so just some of the, you know, there’s so much richness and so much abundance in a lot of places, just simply because of the geo, the geography of that place. And it’s, it’s really fascinating to look at. And, you know, like as we’re recording this, there’s the fighting going on between Russia and the, and the Ukraine and the author of this book said this was coming because Russia needs that port that will not freeze in wintertime. And that is there at the Ukrainian end of Russia. And so, you know, there’s just so many really cool things that come out of that understanding of the geopolitical features as well.
I’m gonna have to write that one down. I don’t know that one. It was really cool. And there’s a young reader’s version too. Now I have not read that one myself, but there’s a young reader’s version and it’s really fascinating, really, really fascinating. That’s really neat. So you mentioned a few, just a few minutes ago, learning like geographical terms. And I have right in front of me, a really great it’s a picture book, but I’m telling you, Pam, I pull it down all the time.
I Think I have it.
I have no idea what this means. And it’s called Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary. Yes. So I feel like that’s like, you need that book on your shelf.
Yeah. Just a great reference, right?
It is. Last year I was teaching geography to six year olds at our co-op and I didn’t know what an Isthmus was.
I was like, I’m gonna have to go look that up. So it’s, it’s a great one. I think I try each term to pick a few geographical terms that we can learn and we can find on a map and just so that we can get familiar with some of those phrases and words that you’ll often hear. So that’s another good tip is you can throw in a few of those terms and try to make that part of your study as a group at your gathering time.
Yeah. What other supplies? So we’ve talked about paper pencils for the map drills. I always, when we were labeling maps, I always like to put those into page protectors and then use kind of like the wet erase fine tip dry erase markers or the fine tip dry erase markers with the erasers on the end.
Yep. Lots of maps. Collect atlases. Yes. I like to have maps that are not just current but old maps. So if you’re studying colonial America, get a map, get some maps from that time period. And then you can compare ’em how has Boston shifted? How has a state shifted in its boundaries? So that’s a lot of fun and you can pick those up, you know, not just online, but if you’re visiting a place, they often will have those kinds of resources. So lots maps get a globe. You know, that’s a great way to teach our children. You know, it’s a, our, our world is round and getting to see the size of the ocean. You know, the difference between the Pacific and the Atlantic ocean.
A compass is another thing that I think is really great teaching our children to orient themselves. Okay, here’s north here’s south, you know, here’s the lines of longitude and latitude. And so a compass is, we always start there when we’re making our map, we make a little compass rose down in the corner, and then we try to talk like that.
So tell me, you know, is Georgia north or south from Ohio? And you know, is this ocean, which direction is it? So that’s a really helpful tip for kids. Oh, and I have one more thing. One. Yeah. You really wanna get ambitious. This might really scare moms, but it’s not scary. Kinetic sand. Everybody’s like AHH!!
I love kinetic sand.
Okay, Good. Sometimes I say that. And moms are like, that sounds scary, but you put it in a box with a lid and then it stays there when you’re not using it. And you put it high away from toddlers, but you can also use kinetic sand to form different areas on the map that you’re talking about.
So use the sand and form Africa, and then the children, not only are they drawing, but they’re able to shape it into the correct shape. And so it’s a lot of fun, even big kids get into it. They won’t, they won’t wanna admit it, but even my big kids enjoy using the sand to make landforms.
Oh, I love it. I love it. Okay. So something else, we’ve always enjoyed games, like any kind of like game, even if we just make it ourselves where we do like a memory game or a matching game where we’re matching like the names of capitals to the shape of a state or something like that. We also had a, oh, it was a little board game about the states. And I’m trying to think of the name of it now. And we played it so much when the kids were little and they absolutely loved it. It was the one that had the silly book that went along with it, but they also loved, oh, it’s not how the shapes got their state or how the states got their shape, because that was the documentary.
Okay. Scrambled states. That was it. It was Scrambled States of America. And it had this kind of goofy little picture book. And I think there was even a sequel called the Scrambled States Talent Show, but there was a board game that went along with it and my kids love to play that board game. And so we played that. And then another thing that we often enjoy doing, and this was not so much in gathering time, but we would, I would put it on my kids’ list for later in the day was using the shepherd software where they would actually do the little online quizzes or the stack, the state’s app on the, the phone. That was something else that they really enjoyed doing as well.
Yeah. And we have lap boards, white boards that are a blank American map. And so then they can quickly fill in the state abbreviations or the capitals. And I’ve seen those also with the continents. And so that’s a quick, easy way to do it cuz you can just quickly erase it and then it’s there for the next time.
I love it. So what would you say to moms to encourage them if they feel like, eh, I’m not sure about this geography thing because I don’t have any idea about it.
Right. Just get started. You know, I think often the fear of the unknown keeps us or we’re afraid of not doing it right. There’s no wrong place to get started. I, you know, local geography is fun because it often gives you a place to visit. But if you have somewhere that you love, find a book and read about it and it’s, I think it’s less intimidating once we start doing it. Yeah. Find a book that’s living its story format I think is, is more than dry facts because it’ll keep the kids attention and then find a, you know, a blank map that you can draw and you can fill in, get a few Atlases and just, just jump in.
Yeah. Don’t be afraid to learn right along beside your kids, which you know, gathering time is great for that. And one of the books, if you, if you’re not finding fiction books about an area, a lot of times there are non-fiction travel books. And so you’re not looking for the travel guide necessarily, but books where people have visited that area and have written about their travels. And so they might be nonfiction, but they’re going to be that living book that Heather’s talking about, where they’re telling you about the place, but it’s wrapped up in this wonderful trip that they’re taking.
Oh, and so many travel documentaries as well. I mean, we were watching, I was watching this with a teen and my husband, so I’m not sure. I, I would not insinuate that it was child friendly, but like James May and Italy, not too long ago. And so, but you will find some that are definitely completely family friendly. These kind of travel shows, especially unlike the food network and things like that, that are a lot of fun as well.
Yeah. We often watch a documentary. We’ll also go to the library and look for a cookbook from a certain place. So last year we studied South America and so we made some dishes from South America and that was a lot of fun. Right? Yeah. Like it was just, it made, it does make it more living and more enjoyable.
And obviously, you know, you can’t make the food at gathering time, but we picked out what we were gonna do. We looked at the cookbook and then we did watch some different clips about South America right there at our gathering time. So the library often has also, if you’re old school, you’re an old mom, you can go get a DVD at the library or you can try YouTube, but it’s, I love the library because I can go to that section and, you know, in the children’s section and look and see what they have. And so it helps sometimes to not just hear it in a book form, but to be able to see it and Book of Marvels, which we both love. There is a website that has videos linked for each chapter.
And we that’s great. We’ll have to put that in the show notes. Yep. Highly recommend book of marvels that has been a family favorite. Yep. Well, so many great resources and just thank you so much, Heather, for coming on and chatting with us about geography. I think we’ve given moms a lot of great resources to help them get started with some geography studies and I really appreciate you doing it.
Yeah. Sounds great. I, I would love to hear, maybe people can share in your forum if they have other geography resources, because it’s a lot of fun to add into your gathering time and then give some resources to your other kids to do on their own. Yeah. And that’s the great thing about it is like it, it’s almost one of those subjects where it seems like the fabulous resources are limitless.
And so anytime you start the conversation, you just find two or three other things that you never even knew were out there, but now you want to use them and study them. So. Awesome.
Yeah. Sounds good.
And there you have it. Now, if you would like links to any of the games, resources, and all the books that Heather and I chatted about on today’s episode of the podcast, including our own book, Gather: Exploring the Wonder, Wisdom and Worship of Learning at Home. You can find them on the show notes for this episode. That’s at Pambarnhill.com/ymb123. And I will be back again in a couple of weeks.
Next podcast, I’m gonna be interviewing two good friends of mine, Jessica Waldock from the Waldock Way. And Amy Milcic from Rock Your Homeschool. And we had this great three-way conversation about what Morning Time can look like for people using any different philosophy of homeschooling. You know, there’s all these different methods of homeschooling out there. And Morning Time can work with any of them. And that’s what that conversation’s about. So join us next time for that one until then keep seeking truth, goodness and beauty in your homeschool day.

Links and Resources from Today’s Show

Gather: Exploring the Wonder, Wisdom and Worship of Learning at HomePinGather: Exploring the Wonder, Wisdom and Worship of Learning at HomeRichard Halliburton's Book of Marvels: the OccidentPinRichard Halliburton’s Book of Marvels: the OccidentComplete Book Of MarvelsPinComplete Book Of MarvelsDraw the WorldPinDraw the WorldDraw EuropePinDraw EuropeDraw the USAPinDraw the USADraw Asia: Volume IPinDraw Asia: Volume IDraw Asia: Volume IIPinDraw Asia: Volume IITree in the TrailPinTree in the TrailMinn of the MississippiPinMinn of the MississippiPaddle-to-the-SeaPinPaddle-to-the-SeaEndurancePinEnduranceTrail Blazer of the SeasPinTrail Blazer of the SeasCarry On, Mr. BowditchPinCarry On, Mr. BowditchPrisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the WorldPinPrisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the WorldGeography from A to Z: A Picture GlossaryPinGeography from A to Z: A Picture GlossaryThe Scrambled States of AmericaPinThe Scrambled States of AmericaThe Scrambled States of America Talent ShowPinThe Scrambled States of America Talent Show

 

Key Ideas about Geography in Morning Time

  • Geography is a great subject that can stand alone and can span other subjects in your curriculum.
  • Having maps on hand for the various places that will come up in a book is a great way to include geography in other subjects like history or Bible.
  • Studying world cultures is also an important part of the study of geography.
  • Labeling maps is a great way to have kids learn geography, but learning to draw maps can be an even more effective tool.
  • Learning geography through story is an engaging way to discover the culture and the features of a particular place. Using stories is especially helpful for teaching younger students.

Find What you Want to Hear

  • 2:17 meet Heather Tully
  • 4:06 geography in Heather’s homeschool
  • 9:00 doing map drills
  • 14:11 why geography matters
  • 16:07 studying geography through story
  • 22:25 must have supplies
  • 26:50 encouragement for moms who are unsure where to start
Pin

Leave a Rating or Review

Doing so helps me get the word out about the podcast. iTunes bases their search results on positive ratings, so it really is a blessing — and it’s easy!

  1. Click on this link to go to the podcast main page.
  2. Click on Listen on Apple Podcasts under the podcast name.
  3. Once your iTunes has launched and you are on the podcast page, click on Ratings and Review under the podcast name. There you can leave either or both! 

Thanks for Your Reviews