Geography Facts in 5GRD

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With my dyslexic student, we have hit the wall over and over and over on the numerical geography facts in our curriculum.  So this year, I tried something new that REALLY paid off for us.  First, let me confess that I don’t really know why we memorize the exact heights of certain mountains and rivers; I’m sure it’s important for something, but I have one child that it’s JUST NOT HAPPENING.

So here’s something that generated great memory work, though not exactly as prescribed.  We did the ORDER of things instead of the exact numbers.  “Name the continents you’ve learned in order of size.”  “Name the continents you’ve learned in order of population.”  “Do it in reverse order of mountains.”

We have a world map on the wall.  “Show me the continents in order of population.”  “Point to the highest point on each continent.  What are the names?”

It went GREAT.  And, she knows the relationships between the continents better than my “good” number kid.

Unless someone can persuade me that ramming her head against the numbers over and over is desperately important, I’m sticking with this method.