Best Homeschool Middle School Geography Curriculum

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Our picks for the best homeschool middle school geography curriculum:

Geography is an important part of a complete social studies education, and it is an especially fun subject to explore during the middle school years, as kids are beginning to grow more curious about life in different parts of the world. Luckily, there are many fantastic geography curriculum options to choose from. In this article, we’ll tell you about some of our favorites. Whichever one you choose, we recommend that you supplement it with a good-quality atlas (we like this one), a sturdy globe, and some fun geography games (our favorites are Trekking the World, Continent Race, and Guess in 10: Countries of the World. And if you’re also homeschooling older or younger kids, don’t forget to check out our related articles, Best Homeschool High School Geography Curriculum and Best Homeschool Geography Curriculum for Elementary. 

To learn more about our top picks for homeschool middle school geography curricula, keep reading!

Best Literature-Based Program

Beautiful Feet Geography Curriculum

If you are looking for a geography program that is literature-based, consider the wonderful curriculum options offered by Beautiful Feet Books. At the middle school level, two geography programs are available. The first is the U.S. Geography Through Literature Pack, designed for grades 4-6. Students learn about the physical and cultural geography of the United States through 11 wonderful literary selections. The accompanying teacher guide provides an easy-to-follow template through which to study these stories in the context of U.S. geography and gives lots of ideas for extension activities and further study. The U.S. Geography Through Literature program can be used once a week for a full school-year study.

The second option from Beautiful Feet is the Holling C. Holling Geography Pack, designed for kids in grades 4-7. Whereas the U.S. Geography Through Literature program is a more comprehensive study of U.S. geography, the Holling C. Holling program focuses on three main regions: the Great Lakes/Eastern Seaboard, the Mississippi River, and the Southwest. This program can be used once a week for a full school-year study or twice a week for a semester study.

Best for Visual or Struggling Learners

Trick Geography series, Patty Blackmer

If your middle schooler struggles with traditional learning methods, you might consider the Trick Geography series by Patty Blackmer. This series uses a unique method wherein shapes and simple images are combined with mnemonic “tricks” to help students remember the names of countries, capital cities, and landforms. For example, students learn a phrase about a “hairy bird” in order to remember “Harrisburg”, while a picture of maraca is overlaid with the country Morocco to remember that “Maraca=Morocco”. These mnemonic tricks make this curriculum a great option for visual learners and those who struggle with traditional approaches to memorization.

If you’re looking for a full-year course that will cover the entire world, you’ll want to get the Trick Geography: World course components, which include a Student Book, a Teacher Guide, and a Test Book. If you’re interested in a shorter, unit-study length course (five to nine weeks), you can try one of Trick Geography’s region-based curricula. These can also be used back-to-back over a couple of years for a complete world geography curriculum. The following region-based courses are available:

–Trick Geography: USA. You’ll need to purchase the Trick Geography: USA Student Book and Trick Geography: USA Teacher Guide. These are available as a set here.

–Trick Geography: Europe. You’ll need to purchase the Trick Geography: Europe Student Book and Trick Geography: Europe Teacher Guide. These are available as a set here.

–Trick Geography: Asia. You’ll need to purchase the Trick Geography: Asia Student Book and Trick Geography: Asia Teacher Guide. These are available as a set here.

–Trick Geography: Africa. You’ll need to purchase the Trick Geography: Africa Student Book and Trick Geography: Africa Teacher Guide. These are available as a set here.

–Trick Geography: Americas and Oceania. You’ll need to purchase the Trick Geography: Americas and Oceania Student Book and Trick Geography: Americas and Oceania Teacher Guide. These are available as a set here.

Best for Multiple Ages

Trail Guide to World Geography, Cindy Wiggers

Another great geography curriculum is Trail Guide to World Geography by Cindy Wiggers. This is an excellent program to use in a family setting, as it is designed for all age levels. It provides a wonderful template for your child to study world geography, learning about the ways culture, literature, art, and history are all relevant to geography. This program is structured around a 36-week schedule. Students approach the material in a variety of different ways, and plenty of hands-on activities are included. 

To begin this course, you’ll need the Trail Guide to World Geography: A Teacher’s Guide and Jules Verne’s classic Around the World in 80 Days. We also recommend purchasing The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide and the book Geography Through Art by Sharon Jeffus and Jamie Aramini, as these are used frequently in this program. In addition, you’ll need a good set of outline maps, such as those in Uncle Josh’s Outline Map Book. Alternatively, you could purchase the Trail Guide to World Geography Student Notebook CD-Rom, which includes appropriate printables. It is also recommended that you purchase a good age-appropriate atlas. We like the Rand McNally Jr. Classroom Atlas (for grades 4-6), the Rand McNally Classroom Atlas (for grades 7-9), and the Know Geography World Atlas Grades 4-9. 

If you’re interested in a course like this that focuses only on U.S. geography, check The Trail Guide to U.S. Geography. 

Best for Independent Learners

Around the World in 180 Days, Sherrie Payne

If your middle schooler is a self-motivated, independent learner, consider Sherrie Payne’s popular Around the World in 180 Days curriculum. This program is designed for use over a full school year and provides a comprehensive course on world geography, covering all the continents and exploring history, culture, religions, and physical geography. Mapwork is included, and each unit challenges students to answer a series of questions by performing their own research (the author provides book suggestions where the answers can be found). Through this process, kids develop important research skills. Like Trail Guide to World Geography, this program is designed for kids of all ages, so it can also work well in a family setting. 

To begin Around the World in 180 Days, you’ll need to purchase the Around the World in 180 Days Teacher’s Guide and the Around the World in 180 Days Student Workbook. As with any good geography program, we recommend you supplement this one with a good age-appropriate atlas. We like the Rand-McNally Know Geography World Atlas Grades 4-9. 

Best Christian Program

Lifepac History & Geography, Alpha Omega Publishing

If you are looking for a curriculum that will teach geography within a Christian worldview, we recommend Lifepac’s History & Geography middle school courses. Produced by Alpha Omega Publishing, a longtime leader in Christian homeschool curriculum, the Lifepac series is great for families that want well-organized, easy-to-follow courses that students can work through largely on their own. Every course consists of 10 consumable worktexts, each corresponding to a different unit of study. A teacher’s guide and answer key make it easy for parents to ensure their kids are understanding the material. 

Lifepac’s social studies courses teach geography in combination with history, offering a fantastic comprehensive social studies curriculum. The amount of geography, therefore, varies from year to year in the middle school grades – there is a heavy geography focus in Grade 6, for example, whereas Grade 8 focuses almost entirely on American history. Students who complete all three middle school courses consecutively are certain to get a solid and comprehensive education in both geography and history. 

The Grade 6 set includes the following units: World Geography, The Cradle of Civilization, Greece and Rome, The Middle Ages, Six South American Countries, Other South American Countries, Africa, Modern Western Europe, Modern Eastern Europe, and the Development of Our World. The Grade 7 course covers these units: What is History?, What is Geography?, U.S. History & Geography, Anthropology, Sociology, U.S. Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, State Economics & Politics, and Social Sciences Review. Grade 8 explores these units: Europe Comes to America, British America, the American Revolution, A Firm Foundation, A Growing Nation, The Civil War, Gilded Age to Progressive Era, A World in Conflict, Cold War America, and Recent America & Review. 

Best Classical Program

Memoria Press Middle School Geography Programs

If you’re looking for a solid, comprehensive geography program for your middle school student, consider the geography curricula options from Memoria Press. In line with Memoria Press’s classical approach to education, these programs feature plenty of historical information and provide opportunities for kids to learn the material in different ways. 

Memoria Press provides different geography programs for kids in the middle school years. If you’d like your child to focus specifically on U.S. geography, its States and Capitals program is excellent. It provides a simple framework based around 30 weeks of lessons, in which students learn the basic geography of the 50 states, including their locations, capitals, nicknames, postal abbreviations, and other fun facts. Quizzes and a final test ensure that kids remember the material they’re learning. For this program, you’ll need the States and Capitals Teacher Guide, the consumable States and Capitals Student Workbook, and the book Don’t Know Much About the 50 States. Also recommended are the States and Capitals flashcard set and the States and Capitals Lesson Plans (note that the lesson plans are not included in the States and Capitals set on Memoria Press, but they can be purchased individually at both Memoria Press and Christian Book). 

Memoria Press also offers an excellent world geography program for middle school students. Geography I and Geography II are designed for kids in grades 4-7. Each will take a full school year to complete, and for the most comprehensive experience, students should plan to complete both. Each focuses on a different area of the world: Geography I explores the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe; while Geography II examines Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Geography I also includes a review of U.S. geography. To begin Geography I, you’ll need to purchase the Geography I Text, the Geography I Student Workbook, the Geography I Teacher Guide, the United States Review Student Workbook, the United States Review Teacher Guide, and the Geography Flashcards. A helpful supplement is the Geography I Lesson Plans, available separately.

If you want a program that will cover an entire world geography in one school year, and your student is in grade seven or above, we recommend Geography III. Students learn mapping skills as they study the culture, climate, religions, and recent history of every continent. You’ll need to purchase the Geography III Textbook, the Geography III Student Workbook, the Geography III Teacher Guide, and the Rand McNally Classroom Atlas. You’ll also want the same flashcards used in Geography I and Geography II. The Geography III Lesson Plans is a helpful supplement.

Best Mapping Program

ArtK12 Draw the World series, Kristin J. Draeger

If you’d like your middle schooler to learn how to draw detailed, accurate maps of the world, consider the wonderful ArtK12 Draw the World series. This program consists of a series of books, each based on a different region of the world, that teaches kids to draw countries, bodies of water, political borders, geographical features, and more using a careful, step-by-step approach. Students follow the instructions page-by-page, repeating the process as many times as needed until they are able to make a complete map of that region from memory. 

This series is an excellent program to use in conjunction with any other geography program or on its own. It can be incorporated into your homeschool schedule in whatever way you choose – as part of a morning basket, as a quiet activity for your student to do while you are working with other kids, or as a regular part of your formal geography studies. It can be completed at whatever pace you choose and is a great independent activity for kids of all ages. Some parents even choose to provide their child with a small reward once they are able to completely draw the map, with all of its correct components, without looking at the book. 

This series includes the following nine volumes, which can be used in any order:

Conclusion

There are many excellent options for teaching geography to middle school students in the homeschool setting. If you have older or younger kids, be sure to check out our related articles, Best Homeschool Geography Curriculum for Elementary and Best Homeschool High School Geography Curriculum.