In my mother's (Donna Goff) Power of an Hour Program (Classic/KJV Bible Based Homeschool Curriculum), she advocates exposing your children to one state and one Country a week.  Show them a picture of the State/country, share with them where that State or Country is on a map. Then explore that state or country with your child with cool information, stories, and pictures.  

By only learning about just 1 state and 1 Country a week,  you make it easier for your child's mind to absorb the information and it gives you more time to go into as much depth as you want to with your children over the course of the week.

It is easy as parents to want to map out what we want to teach our children. This is especially true with home school parents. However, there is something to be said about kid directed studies. You get the structure by saying ok we will be studying Geography on these days at this time. Then you let the children tell you which state or country they want to learn about. If they are interested they are more likely to remember. If your kids, don't have a specific place they want to learn about make sure you have one planned as a backup.

If you have ever visited my parent's home you would see our dining table map. (a map under clear vinyl covering our family table. She has both a world map and a US map that she will occasionally switch out.  We often would play games of "Where is..." the first person to find the location on the map would then go next.

When we were learning about historical events or reading a book that took place at a specific location we would try to find it on our table map.  Click here for the Tutorial for setting up our own Dining Table Geography.

Kids love a good story. Introducing your children to new places through well-chosen books is a great way to spark their interest to want to learn more.

If you need ideas for books there are a lot available on Pinterest!

A great way to make geography fun is to immerse yourself in the location you are learning about. Find pictures and stories about the state or county. Play music native to that area. learn some recipes that originated from that area. Do they speak a different language? learn a few phrases in their language. Do you know anyone from that state or country that you could have come and speak to your children and share their love of that place?

One of my favorite online resources is a website called ShepphardSoftware.com. In addition to many other subjects, Shepphard Software has some awesome free interactive online games to help your children learn Capitals, Countries, and landscapes (from beginner games to help you be familiar to expert level games to help you really master your geography. (they also have US geography games) Seriously I used them in college when I had a week to memorize all the countries in the world (name, location).  I Highly recommend them. 

Last year my husband created these fun US Geography worksheets that our kids used as they researched various States in the US.

For each state we have 4 Worksheets. 2 with questions about each state (that we have our kids search online for the answers), 1 with an outline of the state for them to fill in  (topography, cities, cool places etc), a US map for them to color in the correct state, and the state flag for them to color in.

Not only did my kids enjoy filling in these worksheets, but when finished they were able to put them in their homeschool portfolio for records.