Mike The Monkey & World Geography

Geography We've started a 2 year journey around the world. We made a little monkey out of felt as well as some clothing cut outs. I also made a cut out of different types of transportation (a car, bike, plane, boat).


Each month Mike the Monkey goes to a new location. First it's a continent. My youngest - who just turned 4, has to find whattype of transportation carried Mike from his last location to the new one around the globe. Then he needs to find out the climate of his new location and select the appropriate clothing.

Utilizing http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ we find worksheets and continent coloring books like
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/books/africancountries/instructions.shtmlg.com
To learn more about the location.

The next month. Mike travels to a country on that continent. We look on-line to find what type of animals live there and the climate. Then My youngest colors pages of those animals. My oldest learns more about the country - it's people, food, etc.

Another Great unit on Geography - http://www.trumbull.k12.oh.us/teachers/resources/Themes/geography.html

The above came from my Preschool Plans *found on my other webpade KickbuttHomeEducation

Older & Younger Learning Together -

--- I ended up changing this plan slightly - as I'm somewhat lazy and want the kids to learn together as much as possible..lol...so my youngest would spin the globe and select the continent/country. He would then 'pack' the luggage and 'book' the transportation. Then the two of them together would research and put together a lapbook on the country in the form of a brochure. My oldest - DJ - would find out information on the population, the language, the money, and government. My youngest - Xman - would find out about the animals, clothing, traditions and tourist sites  - they would put them together in a lapbook to tempt my husband when he got home from work. It would take anywhere from a week to a month for each country depending. Sometimes we'd find out about religious practices, sometimes historical events.
 
Our Lapbook/Brochure answers these questions:

• How long would it take to get there? And how would we do it?
• What is the climate like?
• Why do people travel to this area?
• What would we do if we were there?
• What type of money do they use, what is the difference between American money and their money?
• What language do they speak? (we would usually make a pocket for small index cards with translations of easy phrases).
• What do the people there look like?
• If I were raised there what would my life be like?
• What bodies of water are near by?
• What countries are near by?
• What major landmarks are found in this country?
• How long has this country been there, what is it's basic history?
• What is the traditional attire of the people like? (we would usually try to make costumes and take a pic of us in them)
• How do their beliefs differ from my own?
• What famous people/inventions/war/etc. came from there?

get creative. This is a very fun way to learn about the world!