Do you plan your own homeschool curriculum? If so, you’ll realize very quickly how useful having a unit study can be; especially for something like geography since learning the geography of the country that your kids live in is incredibly important. It not only sets the tone for any geography classes they take throughout their school years, but it helps them to become familiar with the area around them. Putting together a United States Geography unit study can be hard though. There are so many resources out there that it can easily overwhelm you if you’re not careful. That’s okay though. I’ve done the work for you with this awesome (if I do say so myself), homeschool unit study!
When you’re putting together a homeschool unit study for your kids, you want to look for a mix of items and lessons. If you only go with worksheets, they’ll get bored. If you only go with games or crafts, they may not learn anything. Finding that balance is important. When my daughter studied US Geography we used this United States Geography unit study with most of the items below. She learned quickly, she had fun and even better? Two years later, she still remembers what I taught her. As a homeschooling Mom, having her actually retain what she has been taught is gold and lets you know you did something right. This homeschool unit study is geared toward 3rd or 4th grade, but it could very easily be modified for younger students.
Homeschool Unit Study – United States Geography Unit Study
This homeschool unit study can be used with all of the resources below together or you can pick and choose. As long as you touch on each part of US Geography, your kids will learn. As homeschooling parents, we can be so hard on ourselves if we feel we aren’t doing a great job. Take a breath, relax and trust that your kids are learning what they need to. After all, you’re here looking for homeschooling resources, aren’t you?
24×36 United States Wall Map –
No homeschool unit study that teaches geography is complete without a wall map. We still have our map hanging on the wall in our homeschool room and once we launch full-time in our RV, we will downsize to a smaller one.
Side Note: Looking to learn how to homeschool on a budget? Check out how I homeschool for FREE using any curriculum right HERE.
United States Geography: Grades 3-5 –
This PDF packet includes a ton of activities and worksheets that teach everything from US regions to time zones. It was intended to be used as a year long study, however I broke it up and only used what I wanted out of it. I especially recommend it if you are going to be studying Geography all year long. This was the meat and bones of our unit study with the items below being used to supplement.
Sequence States and Capitals –
Remember the math game Sequence? They have a states and capitals version and it’s a blast! If you add this to your unit study, your kids will learn their states and the capitals to go with them! Even better is that when your child uses one, they are immediately corrected if they get an answer incorrect due to the design of the wrap-up. This helps them to learn correctly and quickly making things much easier on Mom.
States and Capitals Learning Wrap-Up –
Learning Wrap-Ups are a fantastic way for your child to learn in a hands on way. The Usborne Books States and Capital Learning Wrap-Up teaches the states and their capitals very quickly and without too many headaches!
United States of America Word Search –
This one is exactly what it says. A printable word search that focuses on the US. My daughter thought it was fun and even better, she was asking questions about what some of the words on it are.
How the States Got Their Shape –
Fancy a show? How the States Got Their Shape is a lot more fun and interesting than you might think! We actually watched all of the episodes that we could because my daughter enjoyed it so much! She was asking questions, searching out the answers and more! You can stream both Season 1 and Season 2 as well so its perfect for homeschooling on the road! If you’re a History Vault member on Amazon, you can even watch them for free! If you’re not a member, Amazon offers a free 30 day trial to Amazon Prime right HERE with a possible free 7 day trial to the History Vault too.
3D Salt Dough United States Map –
My daughter and I had so much fun with this! Who knew that making a salt dough map could be a blast! We did ours a bit more in depth than the tutorial I linked you to and included rivers, mountain ranges and so on.
The United States of America: A State By State Guide –
This book was amazing! It doesn’t have any worksheets or anything, but the sheer amount of facts in it was great! Each page focuses on one state and provides information on everything from the state flag, state bird, state flower and so much more!
National Geographic United States Atlas for Kids –
Another one that no United States geography unit study should be without! We kept ours in the car so that our daughter could follow along when we were on road trips! Now that she’s older, we’ll be buying her an adult atlas once we launch so she can follow along!
Side Note: Looking for more homeschool curriculum? Be sure to check out my HUGE list of FREE Homeschool Curriculum right HERE.
Who says learning has to be boring because this board game makes it fun! Answer trivia questions, locate state capitals and more! We actually gave this game to our daughter for Christmas, but it fits in perfectly with this unit study so I wanted to mention it.
The 50 States: Explore the U.S.A with 50 Fun Filled Maps –
Another great map book, this one is filled with a ton of fun facts for each state! We used it alongside of the state by state guide above and it made teaching her so easy!
Regions of the United States Cootie Catcher –
Do you remember these from when you were a kid? Now your kids can have fun with them and learn at the same time! This particular one focuses on all of the regions of the US and is a PDF file that you will print at home.
Four words: This game is awesome! Our daughter studied geography two years ago and she still occasionally plays it!
Help your kids learn the major landmarks of the US by adding these printables to your homeschool unit study. They’re quick, easy and fun to do which means there won’t be any fighting to get them completed.
States & Capitals Pocket Flash Cards –
Flash cards are always a great way to teach so be sure that you pick up a set for your unit study. You can quiz your kids or play a variation of “Go Fish” with them if you want to make quizzing even more fun.
Regions of the United States accordion booklet –
Finally, this was a huge help when my daughter studied US geography. This isn’t the exact one that we used, but it is pretty close. Your kids will make their own accordion booklet that focuses on the different regions of the US. These types of supplements are great for cementing the lessons your kids learn with their main curriculum.
Usborne Geography Encyclopedia –
This amazing book teaches all about landforms, rivers, and more. Not only for the United States, but also globally. It is a fantastic resource to have and one that will be used many times over.
Studying the 4th of July soon too and have littles? Be sure to grab our FREE printable 4th of July unit study! It’s perfect for preschool and kindergarten students! Simply fill out the form below to grab yours!
Stacy Ott
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I’m Stacy, CEO extraordinaire and 1/4 of the Six Dollar Family. I'm on a journey to become a six figure family and I would love if you came along with me! We'll kick off our shoes, sip sweet tea, eat loads of goodies, save some money and maybe even learn a thing or two along the way!
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