Homeschool Geography for All Ages: World, States, Parks and Beyond
What if you could visit more than 60 countries, or all 50 states, or 60 National Parks without ever leaving home? That’s exactly what happens when you choose one of our homeschool geography unit studies.
Our Traveling the World unit studies and our Traveling the States study are consistent bestsellers, and it’s easy to see why. They’re filled with videos, activities, books, and games that will show you everything there is to learn about amazing places all over the world.
You’ll get to stamp the included passport from your living room as you visit each location! Whether you’ve dreamed of traveling to Italy, Egypt, or all 50 states, there’s lots to learn for everyone through interactive map work, flag studies, curated videos, folklore, animal profiles, recipes, traditional games, and more.
If you’re new here or just deciding where to start, we want to walk you through all the geography options we offer. We’ll talk about which ages these studies are best for and how you can combine them depending on your child’s interests. It’s a roadmap for the biggest trip you’ll ever take from home!
Teaching Geography in Your Homeschool
Sometimes geography gets treated like an afterthought, tucked into a paragraph of a history lesson or reduced to memorizing capitals and the names of rivers. With our unit studies, geography becomes the doorway to history, culture, science, and literature.
When you travel to a place, you come face to face with its people, wildlife, food, and story. That’s why we have designed these unit studies with plenty of hands-on experiences, so you’ll feel like you’ve actually been there without leaving the kitchen table.
Ultimately, kids remember what they build, taste, color, and play, far more than what they fill in on a worksheet. We wanted to be able to come back to Traveling the World and Traveling the States again and again, so we made it flexible for all ages. A kindergartner and a middle schooler can both walk away having learned something new and exciting about geography.
Traveling the World Geography Unit Study
Traveling the World is the geography unit study that started it all for us, and it’s still one of our most popular homeschool unit studies. In this study, you’ll travel through 30 countries spread across six different continents.
Instead of dry facts and memorization, you’ll dive into each location with books, videos, games, folklore, animal profiles, and recipes unique to that country. Don’t forget to get your passport stamped!
I know a paper passport seems like something trivial and cheesy, but it’s no small thing when your first grader proudly flips through it to show grandma all the places they traveled this year. You might even be surprised by a middle schooler insisting they need to stamp their page to mark their latest lesson.
After visiting 30 countries in Traveling the World, we knew we weren’t finished. We were hooked! That’s why Traveling the World II picks up right where the original unit study stops.
Traveling the World II adds 30 more countries to explore with the same mix of map work, flag studies, curated videos, and hands-on culture. Together, these unit studies cover 60 countries.
Your family could realistically spend a couple of years traveling the world without ever repeating a destination. That’s why these resources are more than just geography lessons. They transform learning about the world into a fun family journey you’ll never forget.
If you still want more resources for traveling the world from home, don’t miss our tips for Exploring the World Through Read-Alouds. Then, see how we’re learning and touring the world with Universal Yums, a subscription box with snacks from all over the world.
Traveling the States US Geography Unit Study
If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing all 50 states, this is the unit study for you. It’s also the perfect way to teach your kids all about the places and people that make up the United States of America in your homeschool.
Traveling the States will walk your family through all fifty states in any order you choose. Some families go alphabetically, some follow the order of statehood, and some start with their home state. We know roadschooling families that start with whatever state they’re driving through that week. However you approach it, you’ll have a lot of fun with this unit study.
Each state section includes mapwork, a state profile, flag history, a nature profile covering the state bird, flower, and tree, a coloring page, and three built-in games. There’s even a recipe representing that region.
You’ll also get postcards your kids can decorate and mail to share what they’re learning about with family and friends. There are landmark building cards you can use with your favorite blocks, brochure templates for project-based learning, and a template you can use to report on a famous person from the state to keep the learning going as you visit all 50 states.
Want to go deeper? Don’t miss our individual state studies. As much as families loved traveling to all fifty states, we started hearing the same request over and over: “Can we spend more time in just one?” So we began building standalone state studies for families who want to dig in to the history and geography unique to each state.
Traveling the Parks Unit Study
Finally, get wild with our national park unit study covering 60 National Parks. Somewhere between traveling the states and traveling the world, we fell in love with National Parks, and we know you will too.
Traveling the Parks takes your family through America’s National Parks using the Lonely Planet Kids book as its spine, along with a Teacher’s Manual, animal profiles for every park, a hands-on game pack, and QR codes linking to virtual tours so kids can experience each landscape as if they were there.
We love the flexibility of this unit study. It’s the one we have taken on the road the most. We have used it as we traveled through Texas, the Great Smoky Mountains, and beyond. It really makes a difference in how much information your kids retain about each location.
Just like our Traveling the States study, you don’t have to go in order. You can choose the park that most interests your kids and dive right in.
Another tip we have is to grab a Junior Ranger booklet from the parks and a Trailblazer patch from America’s National Parks store. This nonprofit reinvests park purchases into education and preservation, so it’s a nice way to extend the lesson and protect our parks.
So which of these geography unit studies should you start with? There’s no wrong answer. Every one of these studies was designed to be flexible for kids of all ages.
Want more help with geography in your homeschool? Don’t miss Homeschool Geography for All Ages. It’s filled with tips and resources to help make the world come to life in your homeschool. Then, be sure to share which resources you’re using to teach geography this year. We can’t wait to check them out!
Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching Geography in Your Homeschool
How can I teach geography without relying on memorization?
Geography can be so much more than memorizing states, capitals, countries, and rivers. Explore the people, food, wildlife, landmarks, history, and culture of each place through books, videos, maps, games, and hands-on activities. When kids actually experience a place through their learning, they’re much more likely to remember it.
Can I teach geography to multiple ages at the same time?
Absolutely! Geography is one of my favorite subjects for family-style learning because everyone can explore the same place at their own level. A younger child might color a flag or learn about an animal while an older child dives deeper into the history, culture, or geography of the same location.
Which Waldock Way geography unit study should I start with?
Start with whatever your child is most excited to explore. Traveling the World is perfect for exploring countries and cultures, Traveling the States takes you through all 50 states, and Traveling the Parks lets you discover 60 National Parks. If your child wants to dive deeply into one state, our individual state studies are a great place to begin.