Customer Reviews

Trail Guide To U.S. Geography

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a previous reviewer stated, this book is merely a starting point for the study of United States geography. It is only a teacher's manual, not a gepgraphy course as many homeschool sites state in their recommendations for it. So while the lesson plans and outlines are very useful to a homeschooler, it is not until you've purchased the book and begun to read the Introduction and Overview that you learn you need to outlay another twenty-eight dollars to the author, via their own website, for the student notebook used with the course. You also need to purchase additional books both a current edition of The World Almanac and, depending on the grade level of the student you are teaching, one of three Rand McNally World Atlases. So, while I will use this book to teach geography, I am not pleased to discover that this is solely a Teacher's Manual and not a complete course as the title initially suggests.

I actually found this program because it was listed as an additional resource for a different geography program. I like this one much better than the first one. It gives ideas for different level students. You really do need the additional atlas and almanac resources suggested to get the most out of this program. We tried without the suggested atlas and almanac and found it difficult to find some of the landmarks.

I purchased this curriculum last summer and started using it in September. I was very pleased with the product until we reached the second section which covers the Mid-Atlantic region. During the first section which covers the New England region I liked how the daily questions pertained to that particular state. When we started the Mid-Atlantic section I noticed that the questions no longer pertained to the states that were being covered that week. While studying N.Y. one of the questions was "What is the capital of West Virginia?" While covering N.J. a question was "What state has Annapolis for its capital city?" While studying Pennsylvania one of the questions was "What river flows through Washington, D.C.?" Not only is this not pertinent, Washington, D.C. is not even covered in the Atlas that was suggested for this curriculum. I, as well as my second grader, find this very frustrating. I could understand if those states had already been covered and a little review was being thrown in but that is not the case. My excitement over this curriculum turned to disappointment. I now spend time before each state rewriting the questions so they pertain to that state.

have read/heard lots of reviews on this curriculum. have homeschooled a LOT of years and taught a LOT of unit studies and was disappointed in this one and the amount of support materials needed that aren't mentioned in the description. Be prepared to do a lot of looking on line for maps/support materials or buy several other books.

My 4th grader and I are working through the Trail Guide to U.S. Geography and we LOVE it! Yes, you need to purchase some other items to help cut down on the amount of work, YOU, the teacher needs to prep for each lesson but it's all worth it! Can you make copies of the daily questions, Illustrated dictionary pages, and other helpful notebooking sheets from this book? Sure! However, that's a lot of copying that I don't want to spend my time doing, so the student notebook CD (which spans all ages), is entirely worth the money! It has the maps, notebooking pages, and some other fun activities to add to your geography notebook!

I love this Geography curriculum! This book plus the CD-rom (and an atlas) is all you need to help your child have a strong knowledge of U.S. geography!

A great unit study book on the geography of the US. It is very easy to use and guide me in instructing my children about the geography of the United States. There are three levels to choose from; easy to challenging.