Day 49 / 103 - Mastering Geography (with color)

 

I'll be honest.  If you do not utilize Classical Conversations material, this post will probably not make much sense to you.  However, if you are a CCer, and you are working with your child(ren) to become a Memory Master, I thought I'd share one of our trusty, yet incredibly simple, tips for mastering Geography.

I make a few copies of the maps and the Geography memory work from the Foundations Guide.  Then we assign a color for each week.  We mark that color on the landmarks on the map and the Geography memory work page.  We also mark whether it was on map #1 (world map) or map # 2 (European map).  To label all 24 weeks takes a little bit of time, but it's time well-invested.  Plus parents, if you take the time to make a map for yourself also, I guarantee you will master the Geography in no time.

But, the simplicity and the usefulness of this color-coded map comes when you begin to drill with it.  I use this map to now prompt with the Geography title and the color.  For instance I would say, "European Rivers in pink", or "European Mountains in orange".  My daughter can easily locate the features on the map that she's colored.  After drilling this way for a few weeks, my children can comfortably transition to a map without color.

We have successfully drilled for Memory Master all three cycles using this technique.