Galloping the Globe

It's about time to begin recording this school year!

We have been using Galloping the Globe to study the continent of Asia. We'll also do Antarctica and Europe this year. We picked these specific continents because Jolanthe did an extraordinary job of recording her journey through them last year, so we are relying on her as a great resource.

As we travel through the countries, I am trying to remember that THIS IS EXTRA! My oldest child is only in first grade, so our core goals revolve around math, reading, and writing. Our History and Geography studies are often the fun in our days and we love them! But I am trying to remember that a working knowledge of Asian geography is not a requirement for first graders and kindergartners.

Because there are days that I must just let some things go and not stress me out.

That being said, our goals are:

1. A basic geographic knowledge of the continent and countries. We'll talk about the countries, prominent physical features, well-know cities, and some historical sites and people.

2. A basic understanding of the culture, religion, and people in various countries in Asia and Europe. We talk about things such as housing, clothes, school, money, and language as we study the various people groups.

3. A literary experience from other countries. This is a very important one for me because my children are so young. A curriculum based in literature is so important at these ages! We have absolutely loved reading books from various countries that we would NEVER come across otherwise. As you begin searching for literature from specific places, it is amazing what you find! We have read and enjoyed fairy tales, folk tales, non-fiction, biographies, and fiction stories from all over Asia so far. It has been a great opportunity to dive into literature and we are loving it!

Of course, I pray that as we learn, we will develop a heart for the people of God's Kingdom all around the globe. I try to remember that singing the names of the countries of Asia might sound impressive for a first grader, but without a heart for the people living there, the knowledge only "puffeth up".

It's easy to "puff up" our kids with knowledge, but I pray that this year God will use our knowledge to draw us closer to Him and lead us to have a heart for His people!

So that is where we are with our historical and geographical journey this year! It's been a blast so far and I can't wait to record some this week!