Geography has never been my strong suit. Drilling states, capitals, and countries always seems to fall to the bottom of my to-do list. However, that was before I learned about Geography I Set by Memoria Press.

Geography I Set, which covers The Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, makes learning geography both interesting and fun. The complete set costs $65. This set includes five soft cover books and a pack of durable flashcards.

Geared towards grades 4-7, Geography I Set includes:

• Geography I: The Middle East, North Africa, & Europe Student Text
• Geography I: The Middle East, North Africa, & Europe Workbook
• Geography I: The Middle East, North Africa, & Europe Teacher Guide
• The United States Student Workbook - States and Capitals Review
• The United States Teacher Key, Quizzes, & Tests - States and Capitals Review
• Geography Flashcards

This program assumes that users have completed States & Capitals Set by Memoria Press, for grades 3-6, so they’ve included in this package The United States Student Workbook and The United States Teacher Key, Quizzes, and Tests, to help students retain what they’ve learned.

Implementing this program is a breeze when following the teaching guidelines outlined at the beginning of the teacher’s guide. The main goal of this curriculum is for students to be able to identify countries on a map and be able to name their capitals. In order to achieve this goal, the program recommends students study 2-3 countries a week.

Starting with The Middle East, I began each lesson by reading aloud to my child the informational page about the country we were studying from the student text. Each country has a two page spread. The first page features the country’s flag, information about the country’s origin or history, a graphic or two relating to the informational reading, what the country is like today, as well as some “Fast Facts”, such as the country’s capital, major cities, languages, population, etc. The second page features a clear and detailed full page map of the country and the surrounding area.

After reading the student text, my child would fill out the student workbook page for the country we were studying by filling out the country’s name, ancient name, and capital, along with some fun facts that he learned from reading the text. My child really enjoyed the second part of the workbook page where he got to label the map with capitals, countries, rivers, seas, and much more! Completing the detailed map work really helped solidify in my child’s mind the country’s location and important landmarks. The workbook is consumable so you’ll need more copies if using it with more than one child.

The geography flashcards show a map of the country and surrounding area along with the name of the country’s capital on one side, and the country’s name and image of their flag on the other. My child especially enjoyed coloring in the flags on the flashcards using the full color guide at the back of the student text. The flashcards have been an invaluable resource for reviewing countries and capitals as we have moved through the curriculum.

Quizzes, tests, and final tests are located in the teacher’s guide and can be reproduced for review as students move on to different continents. The teacher’s guide also contains the answers to all the student workbook pages and maps. 

Lessons were easy to squeeze into our schedule, since they only take about 15 minutes to complete. Sometimes lessons took longer if we were incorporating review, but overall it was easy to complete a lesson two to three times a week. I liked that the lessons were short enough to keep my child’s attention.

Geography I Set is very teacher friendly. No preparation or research is required and the curriculum is very “open and go”. Students who are reading well could easily complete lessons independently. Teachers would only need to administer the quizzes and tests.

My child and I are really enjoying working through Geography I Set. We have been learning interesting facts about many countries, and I especially like how the lessons tie in biblical history as it relates to a country. Engaging, simple to use, and clearly laid out, Geography I Set is an excellent choice for anyone seeking a quality world geography course for their homeschool.

 -Product review by Leah S., The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September, 2016