Are you a Catholic homeschooler? Looking for a Catholic geography curriculum for your first through sixth graders? You’ve come to the right place! Today we are looking at Catholic Pilgrimage Geography: Florida – a complete U.S. Geography curriculum for grades 1-6 from a Catholic perspective!
Put a Catholic perspective into your next state geography study with Catholic Pilgrimage Press! I was thrilled when I got the opportunity to review this mini unit study on Florida. It was the perfect way to begin our study of the 50 states: with a bit of Catholic culture and inspiration. Whenever possible I try to add our Catholic faith into our homeschool program. A unit study like this one is hard to find so you can image how pleased I was to have the opportunity. We enjoyed it so much that I only wish there were more state units for us to dive into.
An Overview of Catholic Pilgrimage Geography: Florida
“Everything you need for a great Florida history and geography unit is right here. This Catholic Geography unit features interactive, informative text, full-color photos, simple map work and engaging review and extension activities. It can be used with a wide range of grades. It was originally intended for homeschooling parents to read through the lessons with their kids, so it’s written at about a 6th-7th grade reading level, but usable for K-8.”
This unit was a delightful way to teach my child more about Florida geography.
The study contains five lessons:
- Lesson 1: Introduction to the State-Basic info about Florida.
- Lessons 2 and 3: Geographical Features: rivers, lakes, swamps, beaches, etc.
- Lesson 4: Catholic History and Holy People- Information about people who helped spread the Faith in the state; Saints and/or
“Blesseds” associated with the state. - Lesson 5: Pilgrimage Sites – A sort of “virtual” pilgrimage to some sites of importance to Catholics.
The study was well put together and flowed in a way that made great sense. Starting with basic general information that I wanted my child to know about the state it progressed to more in depth information about the history, establishment, and important people and places of the state. Each lesson was presented in a conversational tone asking questions and presenting information to answer them. After each lesson an optional activity or writing suggestion is offered to reinforce the information presented.
How we used Catholic Pilgrimage Geography: Florida in our homeschool:
The lessons are concise and easy to follow. We were able to easily cover a lesson a day making this a week long unit study. I especially liked that the unit was easy to complete because it gave us a feeling of success and we finished with much more knowledge of Florida than when we began.
A Few More Things I loved about Catholic Pilgrimage Geography: Florida
- It’s easily adaptable for any age or ability.
- It emphasizes faith.
- It brings Florida geography to you.
- It tells you about Catholic places to visit in Florida.
- My son learned about a new saint.
It makes total sense to approach geography as a Catholic by taking a “pilgrimage” to the state. I hope that the author will continue to write units for each and every state. What a wonderful approach to Geography for Catholics: Missions in California, Jesuits on the Mississippi, and pioneer saints on the prairies! There would be no end to the beauty of this series.
More United States Geography Resources
Teaching Geography in Your Homeschool – Teaching geography at home can come in all sorts of ways from using a specific curriculum to including geography as part of your everyday studies. The authors here at The Curriculum Choice share their tried and true teaching methods for geography.
Stack The States Homeschool Geography App – The Stack the States Homeschool Geography App is a favorite in our house. Even our grown children enjoy playing with their nephew! It’s a fun and engaging way to learn things like the shapes of the states, where they are located on the map, state flags, and many more fun facts about each state.
Homeschool History with U.S. Geography Through Literature – This U.S Geography through Literature curriculum connects the stories of Native American tribes, intrepid explorers, hopeful pioneers, and determined individuals with the lands they built their lives upon. These stories introduce kids to the vast variety of landforms, biomes, and ecosystems that can be found in the United States.
This course is discussion and narration based with mapping, hands-on projects, and outings expanding upon ideas introduced in the stories. There are opportunities for more reading, for nature studies and journaling, culinary connections, mapping, videos, and so much more!
Trail Guide to U.S. Geography – “The Trail Guide to U.S. Geography is such a rich resource of ideas, even with two years in which to work through the text, I had to pick and choose which activities we would complete for our homeschool. There are just so many ideas in the text and geography is just one part of our school day.”
~ Originally published July 2013, written by Stephanie Harrington
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