Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
For the last several weeks, I have had the opportunity to experience Let’s Go Geography Year 2 with my boys.
Let’s Go Geography is a 32 week-long program designed to give students in grades K-4 a peek into countries and regions all over the world. There are two years (each 32 weeks) available, with a third year currently in production.
The program is a digital one, and as such, you can download individual weeks as you need them. You also only have to print the individual activity pages for your students-not the whole curriculum.
I was able to read directly from the screen, and click on the embedded links as we went. This was a cost savings in ink for me, as well as a very convenient way to show the information to my boys.
Each week contains information about a specific country or region, as well as videos, links to regional music, and photo galleries that describe important places within that area. There are also map activities, writing assignments, crafts, and art projects that fit with each week’s theme.
We were also able to create a master Travel Journal to house all of the projects, making a fun reference tool for each of the boys in the future. They are so proud of those journals!
How we have used Let’s Go Geography Year 2 so far: We spent at average of 1 1/2 hours completing the lesson for each week-usually split into two separate sessions. This did not include the art project listed at the end of the lesson. We are currently finishing up lesson five on Mexico, and will continue on to Honduras after that.
As this is a digital curriculum with tons of links, I highly recommend using the lessons with a large screen-in order to get the full effect of all the videos.
My Thoughts: My kids have loved going through this program. I have purchased several other geography workbooks in the past, and my kids were-let’s face it-bored.
I love how this curriculum showcases music and videos that really bring the countries and regions to life for my kids. In fact, even my seventh grader stops what she is doing to watch the videos with us.
The program is so much more interactive than a workbook could ever be, and that makes it easier for the boys to retain the information when they can SEE these areas, rather than a standard curriculum where they would just try to regurgitate facts.
I was even fascinated with the videos and music and found myself learning right alongside my kids (one of my favorite benefits of homeschooling, by the way!) The old folk songs, the videos of lumber mills in action, learning about making hats in caves in Mexico, and beautiful drone videos of mountains, lakes and ancient architecture-all gave such an up close and personal view of the world we live in and how people live and work in different places.
This curriculum made for a great jumping off place for us too-allowing me to add to the topics with little facts and tidbits I knew-things I might not have thought to share. Things like how their grandparents used to live in the Pacific Northwest, and things they experienced while living there. I told them about different places I have been too-like the pictures of me straddling the equator as a seventeen year old.
It is one thing to hear about places, but when you can see them as well, it really opens up a world of possibilities for kids who haven’t traveled too far yet.
If I had one negative to say, it would be that I really wish the curriculum stayed in one part of the world until it was completely covered. For instance, Year 2 began with an overview of the oceans and continents as a review, which I really appreciated. Then, it covered a basic overview of three continents. Then, we moved into three regions of the United States, and then on to Mexico.
To me, it would have made more sense to cover a basic overview of one continent, and then cover all of the countries and regions on that continent before moving on to the next.
I do understand that it can be nice to get just a taste of different regions and areas so that you can cover more ground in a single year, but my linear/goal-oriented brain wanted to just camp in North America and cover the whole thing before moving on.
Anyway, overall, this curriculum is highly enjoyable. My boys finally are remembering all of the oceans and continents (thanks to some catchy songs in the first lesson), and they look forward to it-which is wonderful.
I did ask the boys what their favorite parts of Let’s Go Geography Year 2 were, and here is what they said:
“I liked the coloring and the videos, because the videos are interesting and because there is all sorts of building stuff and I like building.” Andrew, age 6
“I liked the folk songs-they were quite fascinating.” Alex age 9
And if you can’t tell from this review, I liked the videos best. I also thought the mapping activities were really well done.
We will be continuing to use this curriculum, and look forward to digging in to more of the lessons as we wrap up our school year. It is definitely a favorite in this homeschool, and we appreciate the opportunity to use it.
Today I am sharing a card I made for my brother’s birthday.
I am trying to work on my coloring skills, and I am really proud of how the car turned out. I don’t have enough Spectrum Noir markers to have done the bear too, but at least I am improving with what I have.
I also used an action wobble underneath the car. I love all the action it adds!
Slow Down, Enjoy, and Create 