How To Use Let’s Go Geography with Multiple Grades

Let's Go Geography is a flexible curriculum that can adapt to a variety of age levels.  

Watch the Video or Read the Article to see how you can use 1 Geography Curriculum with Grades K-5 all at the same time, saving you time & money!

Choose the Let's Go Geography activities based on the grade levels of the children you are teaching in your homeschool.

For a classroom, the same principles apply.  You adapt the activities to the grade or grades in the room.

How does all this work?

Let's Go Geography curriculum

Geography for Grades K-2

First, this geography curriculum can be used for grades K-2 as is without any adjustments or companion products.

The few tweaks to these grade levels are the things you may NOT want to do. Like the Notebooking (journaling), or the extra reading, or additional maps.

But let’s get specific so you get the full picture.

Suggested Schedule:  Grades K-2

Here’s what a weekly lesson for Grades K-2 might look like:

You will need approximately 1 hour a week with early elementary geography students.  And this is what that hour holds:

  • First, find the country on a map and color it.  You may find & color other things on the same map, too, depending on the lesson.

  • Then look at the flag, and color yours to match.  These can be glued on the corresponding Flag page or in a supplemental Geography Passport. The Passport is an optional resource that is really appealing for the younger ages.

  • Then take 10-15 minutes to explore, watching the video clips & maybe using the optional library books or recommended atlas. You will be talking about everything you see.  The curriculum does not discuss politics, wars, or any topic that would be upsetting to a child. You will want to focus on how people live, animals in the country, the country’s biggest attractions (both in nature and man-made), and that sort of thing.

Lets Go Geography Crafts are a fun part of the geography curriculum

  • Save the best for last!! Lastly, comes a geography craft project based on something unique about that country.  Too stressed for time? Just offer the themed coloring page. Some kids want to do both.  Always write the name of the country on your projects to reinforce the big idea of the day.

That’s really all it is. 

And little by little, week by week, kids become more and more confident about their knowledge of the world. It really is that easy.

Geography for Grades 3-5+

But what about the same geography curriculum for older students?

The curriculum has been used very successfully for grades 3-5 in homeschool settings with just a few minor tweaks.

Before I get to specifics, here is a link to a homeschooler using Let’s Go Geography for one child in 5th grade. Her comments are helpful!

And here’s more comments from a mom using Let’s Go with her 6th grader!

First of all, coloring the flags is fine, but older kids may want to use colored pencils, not crayons, and glue them on the “Flags of [Continent]” page included in the curriculum, rather than the supplemental Passport.

Get Outline Continent Maps with & without labels from Let's Go Geography. Every inhabited continent PLUS extras. Share this with friends! #letsgogeography #outlinemaps #printableoutlinemaps #printablemaps
Labeled Continent Maps
are included

in the Curriculum.

Secondly, older students will find the country on the continent map included in the curriculum, just like the smaller kids, but they have the option of exploring even further.

If you choose to add Country Maps as well for older kids, these are provided in your Account if you have subscribed to any Let’s Go Geography year. 

As they learn about the week’s country, students find key places and points of interest as they are discussed.

For instance, if you mention the Serengeti National Park in your discussion of Tanzania, you then pinpoint its location on the Tanzania map to label it.

Discovery PacksKids love to write about geography with Notebooking Pages that complement each lesson from Let's Go Geography. The Discovery Pack also comes with a Printable Glossary page and list of all geography terms for every lesson. Grades 3-5. #letsgogeography #geographyforkids #homeschoolgeography

For the final hands-on project of each lesson, most older students won’t want to color or do many of the cut-and-color geography projects that the young ones love so much. Those need to be traded for activities that match their age level.

Rather than a craft, kids in Grades 3-5 complete a Writing or Journaling project at the end of  each lesson.  That’s where the Let’s Go Geography Discovery Packs come in. 

The companion Discovery Packs provide several activities for students in Grades 3-5.

Notebooking/JournalingKids love to write about geography with Notebooking Pages that complement each lesson from Let's Go Geography. The Discovery Pack also comes with a Printable Glossary page and list of all geography terms for every lesson. Grades 3-5; 97 pages. #letsgogeography #geographyforkids #homeschoolgeography

Discovery Packs have a 2-page spread of notebooking pages to coordinate with each Let’s Go lesson.  There are decorated blocks for specific information on each country, with Writing Helps and a Teacher Key in the back.

What about younger writers who want to participate?

Students in Grades 1-2 who enjoy writing can complete just the 1st page.  This usually asks for the basic facts and location (map) information that can be adapted to their grade level.

Geography Glossaries

Discovery Packs also include resources for students to make a Geography Glossary.  Kids love to write about geography with Notebooking Pages that complement each lesson from Let's Go Geography. The Discovery Pack also comes with a Printable Glossary page and list of all geography terms for every lesson. Grades 3-5; 97 pages. #letsgogeography #geographyforkids #homeschoolgeography

Creating a Glossary starts with introducing a new geography term weekly that relates to the theme country. For instance, “glacier” for Alaska, “fjord” for Norway, “archipelago” for Denmark, or “geyser” for Iceland.

Glossary terms corresponding with each lesson are provided in Discovery Pack 1 (for Year 1) and Discovery Pack 2 (for Year 2)and Discovery Pack 3 (for Year 3).

To make a Geography Glossary, students write a definition of the word, draw or glue a picture to illustrate the word, and list specific places on the globe where the term is located.

For instance, if the term was the Northern Lights, the student would list several places in the world where the Northern Lights can be viewed.

Discovery Packs give coordinating terms for each lesson, resource links to find term definitions, and a printable page to use for all of it.

Optional Atlas

Although simply reviewing the highlights in each lesson will give kids enough to write about on their Discovery Pack pages, outside resources (like a book, website, or atlas) give greater detail and may allow older kids to look at topics that the little ones skip, such as government, politics, war, and history. 

What outside resources can you use?

An atlas is a very good option.  Look for an atlas that lists individual countries, grouped by their continents, similar to what Let’s Go Geography does.

The curriculum gives the pages to read from DK's Geography of the World, although any atlas that features individual countries, similar to what Let's Go Geography does, will work well. Read reviews for many of these under the corresponding atlas on our More Products page.

A second option is to use the website link in the curriculum, or another geography website for kids, to investigate further.  Generally speaking, typing the name of the country with the added words “for kids” in the Search Bar usually will give you several child-appropriate sites to visit.

And a third choice is to read from the suggested library books listed in the curriculum or similar books.

Suggested Schedule: Grade 3-5

If you plan to use this geography curriculum in a co-op or other small classroom, here is the outline of a suggested schedule.  Detailed helps and a printable form are included in the Teachers Guide available with any Let's Go Geography Year subscription.

Suggested Schedule for 55-minute class, Grades 3-5*

 5 minutes -- Return Homework

5 minutes -- Glossary Activities

5 minutes -- Map Activities

5 minutes -- Flag Activities

5 minutes -- Review Discovery Pack's Page 1 (watch National Anthem video)

25 minutes -- Explore the week's country with photos, video, and outside research (students share the research they did for homework).  Students finish Discovery Pack's page 2.

5 minutes -- Wrap up.  Students turn in assignments.  Teacher hands out new homework.

You can find other classroom ideas on the Schools & Co-ops page!

Classroom Tip:  While including 3-5th graders with younger siblings has been successful in a homeschool setting, the coloring and crafts are not generally age-appropriate for an entire classroom of 3-5th graders.

Get the best homeschool Geography Curriculum for K-5th grades! Kids learn a new country every week with hands-on activities for every learning style. The companion Discovery Pack has decorated Notebooking for every Lesson! Share with friends! #homeschoolgeographyelementary #homeschoolgeographycurriculum #homeschoolgeographylessonplans #homeschoolgeographychildren #homeschoolgeography #makinggeographyfun #letsgogeography

How To Get the Let's Go Geography Curriculum

To purchase the Let's Go Geography curriculum, visit the SHOP page.

The Curriculum & Discovery Packs are available for Home Use, which includes home schools.  A Teacher's License should be purchased for Classroom Use.  

The Let's Go Geography Years do not build on each other and can be done in any order.

About the Author

Carol Henderson is the author of the Let's Go Geography curriculum. She previously homeschooled all 5 of her now-grown kids, and currently teaches several history and geography classes at a large homeschool co-op. After creating and then using her own geography curriculum for several years, she has published it here to share with you!

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    1. Hi Latorria! Thanks for your question. Year 3 is currently available. Please click the SHOP button in the Navigation Bar. The companion Discovery Pack will be released in a few weeks, and will also be listed on the SHOP page when it is available.

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