A Master Lesson Plan for the Geography Coloring Book with Mater Amabilis™

As I was wrapping up our Mater Amabilis™ Level 1A year and organizing the Level 2 plans for Second Son, my youngest, I realized that over the years I have assigned different maps for the same book and the same maps for different books in The Geography Coloring Book. Because I love things to be nice and orderly, I decided to spend a little time creating a coherent set of master plans for The Geography Coloring Book aligned with the geography books for Mater Amabilis™ in Level 1A Year 2 (third grade), Level 2 (fourth and fifth grades), and Level 3 (sixth and seventh grades).

Just a friendly reminder: The Geography Coloring Book is not an essential tool for studying geography. I might even argue it's not the best tool for studying geography within the Charlotte Mason method. It is, however, an easy resource. The student colors the assignments independently, then can show the map work while narrating. Something similar would be asking the child to trace the country borders, rivers, and seas, but I found my kids tended to skip that part if I wasn't sitting next to them. I also personally love coloring maps, so in the usual fashion, I like assigning my children work I enjoy.

Moment of truth: These plans will not be used with any of my children in their entirety. They are plans for a hypothetical child who would start 1A Year 2 next year. These plans would allow for a student to use the same coloring book for the five years without duplicating the maps. (A few years allow options for different books, so there may be one or two countries or activities that appear more than once, but I really tried to avoid duplication.) At the end of five years, there are still plenty of maps left to color if you have a student who enjoys it.

If you are interested in a nice neat printable version of these, I intend to share a link in the Mater Amabilis™ Facebook group.

Level 1A Year 2 Geography and Earth Studies: People & Places
Mapping Lessons for Asia

Post on the Books We Read

Level 1A Year 2 Geography and Earth Studies: Extreme Environments

Map Assignments (for 52 Days by Camel, Jungle Islands, and By Truck to the North)

Level 2 Years 1 and 2 Geography and Earth Studies: American Geography
Mapping Lessons for the Holling C. Holling books (Paddle-to-the-Sea, Seabird, Tree in the Trail, and Minn of the Mississippi)

Level 2 Year 1 Geography and Earth Studies: People and Places

Mapping Lesson for the Americas

Post on the Books for Second Son

Post on the Books for First Son

Level 2 Year 2 Geography and Earth Studies: People & Places

Mapping Lessons for Africa

Post on Some of the Africa Books

Level 3 Year 1 Geography and Earth Studies: Travel

Book of Marvels: The Occident

Level 3 Year 2 Geography and Earth Studies: Travel

Book of Marvels: The Orient

Please do not copy and share these elsewhere, but instead share by linking to this post or to the Facebook group.

Links to Bookshop are affiliate links. You can also find The Geography Coloring Book at Amazon (affiliate link).

An Update to Mapping Activities for the Americas (Level 2 Year 1, Fourth Grade)

This is a revised and expanded lesson plan for The Geography Coloring Book for the Mater Amabilis™ Level 2 Year 1 People and Places Americas studies. You can find the final mapping plans our family used in this post, along with some notes about the books we read.

Our plans were kind of all over the place through the years. If you use the plans in this post, you can follow the master lesson plan (which I'll link here after I've finished and posted it) without assigning the same maps in different years. In comparison to Level 1A, the new plans for Level 2 expand from individual countries more to the continent as a whole.

You would only choose three of these books.

Chúcaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa

Week 1

Forward and 1. Lasso

Geography Coloring Book: Argentina on p. 17

Week 2

2. Ombu

Geography Coloring Book: Paraguay on p. 17

Week 3

3. The Casita

Geography Coloring Book: Uruguay on p. 17

Week 4

4. Currycomb and 5. Tears

Geography Coloring Book: Bolivia on p. 17

Week 5

6. Gitana, the Gypsy and 7. Meat, Mate, Music

Geography Coloring Book: Chile on p. 17

Week 6

8. What the Mayordomo Didn't Know Was Not Worth Knowing

Geography Coloring Book: Ecuador on p. 17

Week 7

9. The Red Kerchief--A Mystery and 10. Something Is Brewing Again

Geography Coloring Book: Peru on p. 17

Week 8

11. The Vaquero Never Had a Chance

Geography Coloring Book: Colombia on p. 16

Week 9 

12. An Urgent Message

Geography Coloring Book: French Guiana on p. 16

Week 10

13. The Patron

Geography Coloring Book: Guyana and Suriname on p. 16

Week 11

14. Bolas and 15. The Match

Geography Coloring Book: Venezuela on p. 16

Week 12

16. Itchy Hooves and 17. To Iguazu

Geography Coloring Book: Brazil on p. 16

The Cay

Week 1

Chapter One

Geography Coloring Book: Netherlands Antilles on p. 13

Week 2

Chapter Two

Geography Coloring Book: Bahamas on p. 13

Week 3

Chapter Three

Geography Coloring Book: Dominican Republic on p. 13

Week 4

Chapter Four

Geography Coloring Book: Haiti on p. 13

Week 5

Chapters Five and Six

Geography Coloring Book: Puerto Rico on p. 13

Week 6

Chapter Seven and Eight

Geography Coloring Book: Jamaica on p. 13

Week 7

Chapters Nine and Ten

Geography Coloring Book: St. Kitts and Nevis on p. 13

Week 8

Chapter Eleven

Geography Coloring Book: Antigua and Barbuda on p. 13

Week 9

Chapters Twelve and Thirteen

Geography Coloring Book: French Territories on p. 13

Week 10

Chapters Fourteen and Fifteen

Geography Coloring Book: Dominica on p. 13

Week 11

Chapters Sixteen and Seventeen

Geography Coloring Book: St. Lucia on p. 13

Week 12

Chapters Eighteen and Nineteen

Geography Coloring Book: Trinidad & Tobago on p. 13

The Secret of the Andes

Week 1

Chapters 1-2

Geography Coloring Book: Peru on p. 14

Week 2

Chapters 3-4

Geography Coloring Book: Chile on p. 14

Week 3

Chapter 5

Geography Coloring Book: the Amazon and its Tributaries on p. 15

Week 4

Chapters 6-7

Geography Coloring Book: the Orinoco and its Tributaries on p. 15

Week 5

Chapter 8

Geography Coloring Book: the Rio de la Plata on p. 15

Week 6

Chapter 9

Geography Coloring Book: the Parana on p. 15

Week 7

Chapter 10

Geography Coloring Book: the Paraguay River on p. 15

Week 8

Chapters 11-12

Geography Coloring Book: the Uruguay River on p. 15

Week 9

Chapter 13

Geography Coloring Book: the other Rio de la Plata tributaries on p. 15

Week 10

Chapter 14

Geography Coloring Book: the Andes Mountains region on the small map on p. 15

Week 11

Chapter 15

Geography Coloring Book: the Guiana Highlands and Brazilian Highlands land regions on the small map on p. 15

Week 12

Chapters 16-17

Geography Coloring Book: the Central Plains land regions (Llanos, Selvas, Gran Chaco, Pampas, and Patagonia) on the small map on p. 15

Where the Flame Trees Bloom

Week 1

Introduction

Geography Coloring Book: Color Cuba on p. 12

Week 2

The Teacher

Geography Coloring Book: Mexico on p 12

Week 3

Choices

Geography Coloring Book: Belize on p 12

Week 4

The Surveyor

Geography Coloring Book: Costa Rica on p 12

Week 5

Lightning

Geography Coloring Book: El Salvador on p 12

Week 6

Samone

Geography Coloring Book: Guatemala on p 12

Week 7

The Legend

Geography Coloring Book: Honduras on p 12

Week 8

Canelo

Geography Coloring Book: Nicaragua on p 12

Week 9

The Rag Dolls

Geography Coloring Book: Panama on p 12

Week 10

Mathematics

Geography Coloring Book: Caribbean Sea on p 12

Week 11

The Ice Cream Man

Geography Coloring Book: Gulf of Mexico p. 12

Week 12

The Feast of San Juan

Geography Coloring Book: Jamaica on p. 12

Week 13

Epilogue

Geography Coloring Book: Cuba on p. 13

Maya Quest: Interactive Expedition

The mapping activities here are on the same map as those for Where the Flame Trees Bloom so a family would choose one or the other of these books or forgo the mapping activities for the second book selected.

Week 1

pp. 2-11

Geography Coloring Book: Color Mexico on p. 12

Week 2

pp. 12-33

Geography Coloring Book: Belize on p 12

Week 3

pp. 24-33

Geography Coloring Book: Guatemala on p 12

Week 4

pp. 34-41

Geography Coloring Book: Costa Rica on p 12

Week 5

pp. 44-59

Geography Coloring Book: El Salvador on p 12

Week 6

pp. 60-73

Geography Coloring Book: Honduras on p 12

Week 7

pp. 74-87

Geography Coloring Book: Nicaragua on p 12

Week 8

pp. 88-99

Geography Coloring Book: Panama on p 12

Week 9

pp. 102-109

Geography Coloring Book: Caribbean Sea on p 12

Week 10

pp. 110-117

Geography Coloring Book: Gulf of Mexico on p 12

Week 11

pp. 118-125

Geography Coloring Book: Cuba on p. 12

Week 12

pp. 126-131

Geography Coloring Book: Jamaica on p. 12

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibottson

This is not one of the Mater Amabilis™ suggestions, but a book my family has enjoyed.

Week 1

Ch 1-2

Geography Coloring Book: Color Brazil on p 14

Week 2

Ch 3-4

Geography Coloring Book: French Guiana on p 14

Week 3

Ch 5-6

Geography Coloring Book: Color Suriname on p 14

Week 4

Ch 7-8 

Geography Coloring Book: Guyana on p 14

Week 5

Ch 9-10

Geography Coloring Book: Venezuela on p 14

Week 6

Ch 11-12

Geography Coloring Book: Colombia on p 14

Week 7

Ch 13-14

Geography Coloring Book: Argentina on p. 14

Week 8

Ch 15-16

Geography Coloring Book: Eucador on p 14

Week 9

Ch 17-18

Geography Coloring Book: Bolivia on p 14

Week 10

Ch 19-20

Geography Coloring Book: Paraguay on p 14 

Week 11

Ch 21-22

Geography Coloring Book: Uruguay on p 14

Week 12

Ch 23-24

Geography Coloring Book: Falkland Islands on p. 14

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links.

Third Grade People and Places: Asia (Lesson Plans)

[UPDATE April 2021: I just read a book that would work wonderfully in this study - Little Leap Forward.]

Second Son is finishing up third grade this month and, as I am wrap up the year, I realized I have never shared our actual plans for the recommended books for Mater Amabilis™ People and Places of Asia (Level 1A Year 2).

Because we use it in many of our other studies, I assigned some mapwork from The Geography Coloring Book for my younger children. My oldest just traced a map of the country (identifying some rivers and major cities, etc.) before his reading. The coloring book is really easy for me because it doesn't take any prep work and it's easy to confirm the student actually did something involving a map, but it's not necessarily better than the map exploration First Son did each week.

[UPDATE June 8, 2020: I created a new set of mapping activities for these books and the others suggested for this level. You can find the updated lesson plans here.]

Term 1: Russia

Sovietrek: A Journey by Bicycle across Russia by Dan Buettner

This is one of my favorite Mater Amabilis™ books so I'm surprised I haven't written about it before. Dan and two friends bike through Russia in 1990, when Russia was almost unknown to the average American. It's an adventure complete with mishaps and enduring generous hospitality from Russians who share what sounds like truly disgusting food (and some good things to eat, too). Some of the bike riding described is amazing.

Week 1
- Geography Coloring Book p. 18 - color Russia (Russian Federation, under "Eastern") and read the text.
- Sovietrek pp. 6-17. Narrate.

Week 2
- Geography Coloring Book p. 19 - Color these rivers: Dvina, Dnepr, Don, Volga, Ural.
- Sovietrek pp. 18-25. Narrate.

Week 3
- Geography Coloring Book p 19 - Color these bodies of water: Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Barents Sea, Baltic Sea.
- Sovietrek pp. 26-33. Narrate.

Week 4
- Geography Coloring Book p. 19 - Color these mountain ranges: Carpathians, Urals, Caucasus.
- Sovietrek pp. 34-43. Narrate.

Week 5
- Geography Coloring Book p 19 - Color the Principal Land Regions (smaller map on second page).
- Sovietrek pp. 44-51. Narrate.

Week 6
- Geography Coloring Book p 25 - Color the Former Soviet Baltic Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 52-57. Narrate.

Week 7
- Geography Coloring Book p 25 - Color the former Soviet Eastern European Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 58-67. Narrate.

Week 8
- Geography Coloring Book p 26 - Color Russia on the big map.
- Sovietrek pp. 68-75. Narrate.

Week 9
- Geography Coloring Book p 27 - Color the Former Soviet Caucasus Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 76-83. Narrate.

Week 10
- Geography Coloring Book p 27 - Color the Former Soviet Asian Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 84-93. Narrate.

Week 11
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color Russia and Middle East I countries.
- Sovietrek pp. 94-99. Narrate.

Week 12
- Finish Sovietrek. Narrate.

Term 2: China

The Children of China: An Artist's Journey by Song Nan Zhang

This book has beautiful pictures covering whole pages, painted by the author. They show families and children working or playing, but generally joyful. At one time we also owned A Little Tiger by the same author (also on the Mater Amabilis™ list), but I decided I preferred this one for our study. It covers a lot of different areas and people of China. If you're interested in something more personal, A Little Tiger would be a good choice.

Week 1

- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Eastern countries (starting with China).

- Children of China (own) pp. 5-7. Narrate.

Week 2
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Middle East II countries.
- Children of China pp. 8-9. Narrate.

Week 3
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Southern countries.
- Children of China pp. 10-11. Narrate.

Week 4
- Geography Coloring Book p 28 - Color the Southeastern Countries.
- Children of China pp. 12-13. Narrate.

Week 5
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Western countries.
- Children of China pp. 14-17. Narrate.

Week 6
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the principal rivers.
- Children of China pp. 18-19. Narrate.

Week 7
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the principal mountain ranges.
- Children of China pp. 20-23. Narrate.

Week 8
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the land regions (smaller map on the second page).
- Children of China pp. 24-27. Narrate.

Week 9
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the mountain peaks.
- Children of China pp. 28-30. Narrate.

Term 3: Vietnam (First Son and Second Son)

Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong is a gentle tale of a boy in Vietnam who loved his family, his village, his water buffalo and his life. It is an autobiographical account that gives a wonderful glimpse of his daily life, the joy he found in his home though the Vietnam War does touch his life violently near the end of the book.

Week 1

- Geography Coloring Book p. 33 - Color China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 1-10. Narrate.

Week 2

- Geography Coloring Book p 33 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 11-22. Narrate.

Week 3

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the countries.

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 23-30. Narrate.

Week 4

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the oceans and seas.
- Water Buffalo Days pp. 31-38. Narrate.

Week 5

- Geography Coloring Book p. 34 - Color the countries.
- Water Buffalo Days pp. 39-46. Narrate.

Week 6

- Geography Coloring Book p. 34 - Color the oceans and seas.
- Water Buffalo Days pp. 47-57. Narrate.

Week 7

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 58-71. Narrate.

Week 8

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 72-86. Narrate.

Week 9

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 87-101. Narrate.

Week 10

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 102-112. Narrate.

Week 11

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 113-117. Narrate.

Week 12

- Sacred River: The Ganges of India by Ted Lewin. Narrate. (for fun, because we own it)

Alternate Term 3: Japan (First Daughter and Second Daughter)

Water Buffalo Days is wonderful and certainly a good choice for girls as well as boys, but Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden is absolutely delightful. (I recommend finding an older copy of the book with the original illustrations.) It's quite a bit shorter than Water Buffalo Days, which might be good for the end of the year when everyone is ready to be outside playing instead of reading and narrating. (It does happen.)

Week 1

- Geography Coloring Book p. 33 - Color China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 1-23. Narrate.

Week 2

- Geography Coloring Book p. 33 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 24-36. Narrate.

Week 3

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the countries.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 37-54. Narrate.

Week 4

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 54-71. Narrate.

Week 5

- Geography Coloring Book p 34 - Color the countries.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 72-87. Narrate.

Week 6

- Geography Coloring Book p. 34 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 87-104. Narrate.

Week 7

- Sacred River: The Ganges of India by Ted Lewin. Narrate. (for fun, because we own it)

I have received nothing for this post. Links to Bookshop and Amazon are affiliate links.