Where in the world am I? This is an important question, whether visiting a new place on vacation, studying an event in history, or watching the evening news. Veritas Press’ Legends and Leagues curriculum gives children a thorough overview of geography, equipping them with knowledge about each part of our world.
We believe a sound grasp of geography is crucial for the academic success of a student and will pay dividends in their adult years. Many aspects of this wide and varied discipline lend themselves to memorization, so we’ve positioned our curriculum where it fits best, in the grammar years, when memorization is fun and easy for students.
You might think of some of the obvious benefits of geography, like reading a map or following a GPS. But there are advantages beyond locating yourself on the globe, and it’s not limited to knowing which cities your favorite sports teams are from. Knowing where events took place in history helps fix them in our minds and gives insights beyond a simple locale. Other ways we explore our world is through literature, and a full grasp of geography enriches our reading comprehension. And on another level, geography aids in our understanding of other cultures, languages, religions, politics, and world affairs.
Students in 1st grade meet Mr. Longitude and Mr. Latitude, cheery fellows who introduce foundational concepts in geography. These fun characters also guide the student in the Legends and Leagues material in subsequent grades. The storybook is an engrossing way for the student to learn about maps, the points of a compass, the continents and oceans, and more. The reproducible workbook reviews and expands their learning.
Here is our recommended order of study for Geography:
Grade | Curriculum |
---|---|
1st | Legends & Leagues |
2nd | Legends & Leagues South |
3rd | Legends & Leagues East |
4th | Legends & Leagues North |
5th | Legends & Leagues West |
The stories and workbooks covering South, East, North, and West may be used in any grade, 2nd – 5th. The order we chose is based loosely on the region in the world that is studied each year in our Veritas Press History Series, but the correspondence is not a strong one, so feel free to study them in a different order.
The full-color workbooks include attractive regional maps, study questions, vocabulary, and tear-out quizzes and tests. Other optional worksheets include Sightseeing, Local Flavor, and Souvenirs to help imaginations soar. The children will also be learning songs from the Geography Songs CD (and States & Capitals Songs CD in the West series). This harnesses the classical method for children to effectively learn the names and places on the map through drill and memorization.