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Elementary U.S. Geography and Social Studies is a social studies course we used in fifth grade. In this one year social studies course, your student will get and overview of all 50 states and Washington D.C. U.S. Geography and Social Studies is meant to be a standalone course, but the short lessons can also complement a U.S. History course.
The Elementary U.S. Geography and Social Studies curriculum pack includes the following:
Teacher Guide
If you are not familiar with Master Books, it’s important to note that their teacher guides are where you will find student activities and worksheets. You will also find a convenient course schedule, complete with check boxes and a place for grades, as well as recipes and quizzes. If you are planning to use this course with more than one student, you will need to either purchase a teacher guide for each student, or plan to copy/print the worksheets. I find it’s easier just to buy an extra teacher guide.
Children’s Atlas of the U.S.A
The Children’s Atlas of the USA is where you will find the important factual type information about each state. This book is where you will find the important factual information about each state including the preamble, state capital, state flower and state bird. There are also historical facts spread throughout the two page layout for each state. This book is full color and I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of this book.
Passport to America
Passport to America is a little bit lighter and more fun than the Children’s Atlas, but still contains good information. Passport to America is very colorful and includes pictures of a special regional food for each state, the origin and meaning of the state’s name, plus some fun facts. The book comes with a passport and state stickers that your student can use to track each state that they’ve “traveled” to. If you are planning to use this course with more than one student, you can purchase additional passports and stickers separately for each student.
Grade Level
Master Books recommends this course for 4th through 6th grades. While I agree that this is an ideal age range for this course, I think a third grader or even a mature second grader would enjoy it. The Children’s Atlas is an engaging resource that could definitely be used as a reference book by an older student, but I think overall the course is more appropriate for 6th grade and under.
Homeschool Style
Elementary U.S. Geography and Social Studies is a traditional style homeschool course. You read from a text and apply your knowledge in a worksheet. Some of the activities include word searches, crossword puzzles, true/false, and fill in the blanks. There are also recipes for each state.
Worldview
Master Books is a Christian company with a strong young-earth creationism stance. These views are woven into every Master Books subject. This course is no different and everything centers on a Christian perspective. I haven’t personally come across any young-earth perspectives in this particular course, but since it is from Master Books it wouldn’t surprise me if it was in there somewhere.
Things to Consider
The first thing to consider is that there is a lack of map work, which is surprising since it’s a geography course. I would say this is more cultural geography than physical geography. There are maps in the books, but there is no real emphasis on mapping. I would add some hands-on mapping resources if I were to do this over again.
The next thing to consider is that this course is very light. This is not a problem for me since I consider geography a content subject and not a skills subject, but if you’re expecting a really jam-packed in-depth course, this is not that.
How I Use Elementary U.S. Geography and Social Studies
I am currently using this with my fifth grader. He actually does this independently and this is his full social studies curriculum. He loves the worksheets, which are mainly things like word searches, crossword puzzles and word scrambles. The recipes are also a big hit with the favorites being Sugar Cream Pie from Indiana and Berger Cookies from Maryland.
The schedule suggests covering one state every three days, but we do a state every two days. I actually think you could cover a state in one day without it being overwhelming.
Summary
Elementary U.S. Geography and Social Studies from Master Books is an eclectic style social studies course that can be adapted for use across many grade levels. This is a lighter course that includes fun activity sheets and recipes. The included books are colorful and the Atlas is a truly beautiful resource. While there is a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to homeschool style, the Christian worldview is obvious throughout this course. This is a very affordable program and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the books at such a low price point.
My impression of this course is that it is engaging, colorful and fun. While it is a bit light, my fifth grader is learning and that is what matters. He LOVES this course. This is the first thing he does every day and the books are often missing from our homeschool shelf because he takes them to his room to read during his free time. Anytime a school book doubles as pleasure reading, I consider that a win. If you are looking for an engaging Social Studies course for your family, I highly recommend Elementary U.S. Geography and Social Studies from Master Books.
Hello,
I am wondering if you were able to find any nice resources for mapping that would go along with this curriculum.
Hi Michele! Thanks for your question. My son that used this curriculum really didn’t need any mapwork. He has great visual memory and has the entire world map pretty much memorized. That being said, I really like the markable maps offered through Sonlight or BookShark and those would be easy to incorporate into the curriculum. If you want a curriculum that really focuses on mapwork, then I really like the Simply Charlotte Mason “Visits To” series for that.