How to Add a Computer-based Homeschooling Geography Course

Turning computer-based homeschooling students into world explorers can lead to exciting times in a classroom with borders that will cross the international date line several times while learning geography. With a computer as an interactive globe along with some additional resources everyone can go around the world in 80 days or less.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer with broadband Internet access
• Geographic map of the earth
• Globe

1. Get a globe, borrow one if necessary so that everyone can touch the wonderful blue ball as your computer-based homeschooling geography course begins to unfold before each students eyes. Making geography an exciting learning experience can be made easier by keeping your homeschooling classroom in an explorer type environment with maps, journals and any tools capable of transporting the imagination around the world.
2. Know that people and climate are hot topics today, in computer homeschooling geography the focus will be about living and adapting to various climates. Locate a newsgroup or message board of homeschoolers in another country, Canada for example, and ask basic questions about climate conditions and how they live or adapt to get more than a year's worth of learning material.
3. Understand that dirt is more than dirt in geography, it's soil and while it has a clean sounding name no one has to get their hands dirty learning this part of the course. Even while living in the city the educational resources available at the local cooperative extension office will be a welcome start before networking through other land offices in other countries.
4. Keep in mind that vegetation in geography covers the trees that give us shade, flowers or plants that freshen our environment, plants that feed us and grass that we have to mow too often. Local nurseries offer opportunities for field trips about local vegetation, while broadband Internet access gives the homeschooling classroom a chance to see someone else mowing their lawn--remember to keep the journals open and pencils sharpened.
5. While humans are on top of the food chain, animals are equally affected by vegetation, soil and climate making explorer's journals nearly full of exciting journals. Another field trip to the zoo can bring homeschoolers with exploration journals in tow to interactive geographical environments featuring animals from around the world or with a few clicks in a broadband connection visits can be made to a digital zoo.

Tips & Warnings

• Geography channels have programming useful for all ages to record and discuss any related subjects.
• Retired professionals can be a living resource for geographic explorations--think of archaeologists, cartographers, zoologists or related fields.