How To Make Continent Boxes

While creating a geography unit study, I stumbled across a blog post at LaPaz Home Learning talking about the Continent Boxes she had just completed. Finally, I knew what to do with all the "artifacts" we create during our studies of different countries.

Continent Boxes are sort of like treasure boxes- one for each continent- which contain maps, books, and artifacts from the countries on that continent. You can buy or create things specifically for your continent boxes, or you can do a "scavenger hunt" around the house to see what objects you can come up with. The boxes can be plain shoe boxes or plastic totes, or you can decorate them with maps, pictures, and flags from each continent.

Here are some ideas of what you can include:

Maps
If you're going to study geography, it is only sensible that your study should include maps. The physical geography of a country is important, not only because it tells us where a country is located, but also because it gives us a glimpse into the cultures of the area.

Cultures are influenced in many ways by the physical geography of the place where they live. An example of this is the Inuit people of the Arctic regions. As we were preparing to study them the other day, I asked my children if they knew where the Inuit lived. Two of my children answered "Mexico" and "South America." If you know anything about the Inuit, you can see how ridiculous these answers are. The cultures of the Arctic peoples are vastly different from those of Central and South America.

Each box ought to include a map of the continent and maps of individual countries on that continent. You might also want to include puzzles or games featuring the physical geography of that continent.

Pictures
A picture is worth a thousand words, so make sure you include several in each box. These pictures should include things like people, buildings, food, animals, plants, and landmarks.

Photos can be cut from old copies of National Geographic and pasted with a label onto cardstock or made into a collage. Travel brochures would also be a great addition. Or you could just include a few nice picture books. If you can find some copies of the local art, add those in too.

"Artifacts" and Souvenirs
The best things you can put in your boxes are real items from the countries you want to learn about. If you haven't been blessed with the ability to travel the world to collect your own souvenirs and don't know anyone who can do it for you, try looking around your house to see what "foreign" items may be hiding there.

Check out the ethnic food shelves at your local grocery store or go shopping at a store which specializes in selling exotic merchandise. There are also many online stores where you can purchase items from overseas.

You can also add all the projects your children complete as they study different countries. Or include craft items and instructions in your continent boxes so your children can complete these projects at another time.

Money
You can learn a lot about a country's history and what its people value by seeing what they put on their money. Kids especially love to examine foreign coins. Both coins and bank notes are available for sale on eBay. You might also ask your local bank if they can get them for you or ask friends and relatives to bring some back from their travels. If you can't get the real thing, you can still print off some pictures of foreign money to add to your continent boxes.

Stamps and Postcards
Stamps and postcards are like tiny windows through which we can glimpse small amounts of a country's culture. These can be collected through exchanges or from a friend who likes to travel. Sometimes you can find them in shops which sell collectibles. If you can't get them anywhere else, try looking on eBay.

Miniatures
Your boxes ought to contain as many real "treasures" as possible. But some items are obviously going to be too big to put in a box. This is where miniature replicas fit in. Miniatures can be things like toy animals, tiny models of famous landmarks, or dioramas of native landscapes.

Many items which are intended for dollhouses would be perfect for your continent boxes. Or, you could even get some modeling compound and have your children create some miniatures of their own.

Costumes
These would be the most fun if your child could wear them. But they could also be doll sized. If you are not handy at sewing, search the resale shops for likely items. We have also found lots of great costumes on the clearance racks after Halloween.

Flags
Small flags are another item which is easy to add to your boxes. These can be made using white cloth and fabric markers, or they can be purchased.

Music and Instruments
Your Continent Boxes include more than just things to touch or things to see. Try adding a CD with native music and national anthems or a few native instruments for the kids to play.

Additional Items to include:

• samples of writing/ alphabets
• spices, ethnic foods, or recipes
• textiles (such as a piece of silk for China, plaid for Scotland, etc.)
• children's books and folktales from or about each country
• paper dolls in native costumes.

Creating a Geography Notebook

What Should You Include?
Have you ever wondered what to put in a geography notebook? While the *exact* contents are totally up to you, perhaps you'd enjoy taking a peek inside some notebooks created by another family. Here are some of item we have included in our notebooks. I've included some pictures, as well as links to printables we used or printables that could be used instead of what we used.  

Our binders are divided into eight sections, one for general geography information and one for each continent. This is what you'll find in that first section:

*This post contains affiliate links.

Maps, Globes, & Explorers

• World Explorer Biography Pages (If you are looking for info on explorers, you can find biographies of notable explorers at the Fact Monster website.)


• Geography Terms and Definitions: Our list was actually a page copied from a library book, but I think it would be much more educational to have the children create their own list. As my younger children study geography this year, I will have them use Geography Terms Notebook Pages to make their own glossary.


• Landforms Ready Reference: I picked up this card at Walmart during their back-to-school sales. I could probably have had the kids do some Landform Notebook Pages, but I liked this one-page handy reference guide. It looks nice, and it was inexpensive.


• Notebook Atlas: Also purchased at Walmart (for a lot less than the Amazon price). Although it is small and details are sometimes hard to see, it can be used for most things that need to be looked up.


• Compass Rose Worksheet


• Latitude & Longitude Worksheets


• Continents Map and List


• Oceans of the World Map and List


• World Map (drawn using Draw Right Now)


• Map showing Plant Life on our Planet (pg. 76 of Considering God's Creation by Susan Mortimer)


• Columbus pages (drawn using Draw Right Now)


• Notebook pages and lapbook from Amy Pak's New World Explorer's study

Maps, Globes, & Explorers Freebies on Other Sites

Notebooking Nook oFreebies

Scroll down to the geography section for Geography Terms Tab Books and Geography Terms Notebook pages with Primary Lines or Basic Lines. (There are also some State Study Notebooking Pages and Country Study pages.)

SuperTeacher: Landforms and Bodies of Water

Printable games and worksheets to teach students about landforms, such as plains, plateaus, mountains, and hills. There are two freebies, as well as many that come with membership to the site.

THE LEARNING ARK: Compass Rose

Montessori learning activity with free printable for learning about the compass rose. Includes cardinal points, half cardinal points, and false points.

Notgrass (Revised American History) Literature Selections In the Public Domain

In addition to revising their World History texts last year, the Notgrass company also revised their American History textbooks and brought them up to date. 

Even though the text has been updated, only one of the literature selections has been changed. This means, if you already own this program and decide to update, you will only need to buy one additional literature books in addition to the new textbooks. The new list substitutes Miracle In the Hills by Mary Sloop for Christy. 

1 new book and 1 removed

Exploring America, Updated Edition -- Curriculum Package By Ray Notgrass / Notgrass Company Updated Literature Titles:

The Scarlet Letter    EPUB   Audio Narrative of the Life of Davy Crockett   Kindle   EPUB  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass    EPUB   Audio Uncle Tom's Cabin   Kindle   EPUB   Audio Co. Aytch  Kindle   EPUB   Audio Little Women   EPUB   Audio Humorous Stories & Sketches (not available for free online) Up From Slavery    EPUB   Audio In His Steps   Kindle   EPUB   Audio Mama's Bank Account  (not available for free online) Miracle In the Hills (not available for free online) To Kill a Mockingbird  (not available for free online) The Giver (not available for free online)

*This post contains affiliate links.

Remember to check your local library for print or audio versions of the books not available in the public domain. You can also purchase used versions of the literature books through sites like Amazon, Ebay, or Thriftbooks. 

Shoebox Diorama Literature Project

9 year old's  Wizard of Oz diorama

10 year old's Wizard of Oz  diorama

Skip Counting Worksheets For 2's and 5's

Skip Counting By Two.pdf

Skip Counting By Five.pdf

Changing Focus

It seems that each year our homeschooling takes a particular focus. One year may be heavily influenced by our history studies. Another year everything revolves around what we are doing in geography. The next year we might do more science.  This year, our focus has been language arts.

When my three oldest children began their formal studies, their first year was spent solely in the study of phonics and reading.  The next two started out by sitting in on their older brothers and sister's lessons.  They got a great background in science, history, and such, but there never seemed to be much time to practice their phonics skills. At ages seven and eight, they were still sounding out every word and struggling with that. Meanwhile, my four-year-old had also begun learning her letter sounds and was anxious to start reading. I knew this year had to be different.

At the same time, I realized I needed to start focusing more on what the younger children were learning, I also began to realize that the older ones were needing a change. They had mostly outgrown the need for hands-on activities and were wanting to exercise more control over their own schedules.  The timing was perfect! 

I am pleased to report that my seven 1/2 and eight (almost nine) year old are now reading fluently, with little sister hot on their heels. Their older siblings have enjoyed having the ability to finish an entire week's worth of work by Tuesday, if they so desire, and not being tied to MY schedule. They also have learned what happens when they waste time and don't get their work done. Lots of great learning taking place!

Maybe next year we can focus on something a little more exciting . . . like math.

Hands-On Homeschooling

There is an ongoing debate in the homeschool community as to the value of projects to the learning process. Some feel these types of activities should be viewed as extras which can be done if their is time after the "regular" lessons are finished. Others view them as time and money wasters, to be avoided at all costs. And still others, such as myself, view them as absolutely indispensable for teaching important life skills and for cementing knowledge in young minds. This quote by Richard Maybury, author of the Uncle Eric Series, does an excellent job of summarizing my beliefs as to why hands-on education is so important:

Experience creates models automatically . . .This is why classroom instruction via lecture is the least effective way to teach and hands-on learning by doing is the most effective. We are made in such a way that we build models automatically by doing. Typically, classroom instruction is like teaching someone to play Monopoly just by making him memorize the rules and then giving him a test on those rules. . . Unfortunately, some models are impossible to learn using hands-on process, so one method humans use to substitute for real world experience is telling stories. Stories are used to demonstrate and illustrate ideas.

Book knowledge is necessary, but it is useless if a child cannot remember it or has not been taught how to apply it. Hands-on activities can be used to enhance lessons, but some hands-on activities ARE the lessons. Stories are a good substitute when we can't experience something for ourselves, but we really learn best by doing. Hands-on projects turn abstract facts into learning that is relevant to your child. Details of a particular project are usually remembered much longer than details learned through rote memorization because the child has something concrete to attach the facts to, a memory of an EVENT that they personally participated in. 

Hands-on projects not only reinforce lessons, but they also teach a child skills which can be used in other areas. Hands-on learning accesses a different area of the brain than classroom lectures, making it possible to teach things that otherwise might not be learned. Studies done on memory disorder patient Henry Molaison provide an interesting insight into the way that our brain stores different types of learning. For instance, though Molaison was unable to retain any short term memory or convert those experiences to long term memories, he was able to retain and improve upon motor skills he had practiced, even though he couldn't remember having practiced them. Hands-on learning takes advantage of the full learning capabilities of our wonderful brains and gives equal opportunity to students who are gifted in other types of learning.

Rediscovering Our Creative Sides
The idea of adding hands-on projects to our normal educational routines can sometimes seem overwhelming, especially for those who have convinced themselves that they aren't "creative." But humans were made in the image of a creative God, and each one of us reflects that creativity in a unique way. Hands-on education is just a matter of rediscovering our own personal form of creativity, while also allowing our children to express their own creativity. The most effective form of learning will be one that feels natural and is painless to implement. This doesn't mean that it won't be messy or time consuming, but the satisfaction we receive from it will be worth the sacrifice.

Creating is good theology.  In the beginning God created. ~Ann Voskamp

All these projects are a lot of work, but the kids remember and enjoy them so much more than all the book work. And in the words of Edith Schaffer, "time can be made to have double value by recognizing that what is done today will be tomorrow's memory." and "Many times you are not choosing what to do with the two or three hours for the immediate results, but you are choosing a memory (or not to have that memory) for a lifetime." (from What Is A Family)

How hands-on is you homeschool?

Please share your ideas, or feel free to ask questions.