Best Homeschool High School Geography Curriculum

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If you are looking for a geography curriculum for your homeschooled high school student, there are a number of great options to choose from. You will want to consider both your student’s learning style and your own homeschooling philosophy as you explore the geography programs available out there.

In this article, we’ll tell you about some of our favorite homeschool geography curriculums. Whichever option you choose, make sure your student has a good student atlas. We also recommend a sturdy topographical globe, as it’s important for students to see the earth’s structures, topography, and political boundaries in a three-dimensional way. And consider some fun geography supplements, as well. We love this gorgeous Book of Nations by Beautiful Feet, the Trekking the World board game, and this Lego Art World Map. If you have younger kids, be sure to check out our other articles, Best Homeschool Geography Curriculum for Elementary and Best Homeschool Middle School Geography Curriculum.

Here are our top picks for the best homeschool high school geography curriculum:

Best Traditional Geography Curriculum

Geography III (Second Edition), Memoria Press


If your homeschooled high schooler enjoys traditional curriculums and appreciates opportunities for self-led projects, we recommend Memoria Press’s Geography III. The program consists of nine units (including an introduction), each based on a world region (e.g. “Eastern Europe” or “South & East Asia”). Students will be introduced to the climate, history, and culture of each region and gain a solid grounding in mapwork, even learning to freehand-draw the continents.

The materials consist of the Textbook, which includes maps and illustrations of famous architecture and landmarks; a consumable Student Workbook, containing short-answer questions about the accompanying unit and map-labeling assignments (for physical as well as political geographic delineations), as well as ideas for further projects in the appendix (great for self-motivated students); and a Teacher Guide, which gives answers to the accompanying Student Workbook assignments along with reproducible maps for practice, brief unit tests, and a final exam.

The schedule incorporates two lessons per week for 30 weeks; for most students, this will allow time for supplemental activities, projects, and field trips throughout the school year. The required materials consist of the Textbook, Student Workbook, and Teacher Guide. Students should also have the Rand McNally Classroom Atlas and Geography I- III Flashcards.

Geography III will provide a solid geography curriculum for high school students, but it is also suitable for middle schoolers. It is therefore an excellent option for younger teens or families with middle school and high school students working alongside one another. If you like Geography III and are teaching younger children, particularly through a classical education approach, you may be interested in Memoria Press’s other curriculums, Geography I and Geography II.

Best Hands-On Program

Living History of Our World: You Could End Up in Timbuktu, Angela O’Dell (link to color edition on Amazon)

If you’re looking for a wonderful, hands-on geography program, consider Living History of Our World: You Could End Up in Timbuktu. Created by Angela O’Dell, this program is one of our top picks because it just has it all! It’s well-organized, comprehensive, user-friendly, and FUN! Students will learn about many different facets of world geography, from ecology, topography, wildlife, and biomes to culture, religion, and history. The daily lesson plans are easy to follow and include lots of hands-on activities, such as cooking and art projects. 

This curriculum can be used for kids as young as third grade, so it’s an awesome option if you are homeschooling multiple children of different ages. The lessons incorporate assignments for older and younger kids, and high school students can easily help younger siblings complete hands-on projects. 

While this course incorporates a Christian worldview, the religious elements are relatively minor and can be omitted easily for those looking for a more secular approach.

High school students using this program will need the consumable You Could End Up in Timbuktu book (each student will need their own copy, so buy multiple if you are using this curriculum with multiple children). You’ll also need the following materials: a current world atlas such as the National Geographic Student World Atlas; Eat Your Way Around the World by Jamie Aramini; Geography Through Art by Sharon Jeffus and Jamie Aramini; a good quality tracing paper tablet; white cardstock paper; good-quality colored pencils; thin-line markers; a one-inch three-ring notebook and page protectors; a kneadable eraser; and at least 20 file folders.

Best Literature-Based

World Geography and Ecology, Beautiful Feet Books

If you’re looking for a geography curriculum that will immerse your student in good literature, consider the World Geography and Ecology program by Beautiful Feet Books. Although this curriculum is designed for students in grades 7-9, older kids could certainly get a lot out of it, as well. What makes this program unique is its focus on world geography in combination with world ecology: students learn about biomes, ecosystem structure, nature cycles, and much more, all while reading high-quality stories. Hands-on extension projects (such as recipes) and lots of reading “rabbit holes” allow students to delve deeper into the topics they find most fascinating. They’ll also learn cartographic skills, filling in a world map that includes every country on the planet!

Like Beautiful Feet’s other curriculums, this one includes a beautiful (yes, it really is!) teacher guide, a map, and all the required books for the course. High schoolers should be able to work through this program independently, but it’s also a great option if you’re looking for a family-style curriculum that can be completed with younger siblings. 

Best Geography Curriculum for Struggling and Visual Learners

Trick Geography, Patty Blackmer


As its name implies, this program uses language and visual “tricks” to help students learn geography in a clever way. Teaching states, countries, capitals, and physical geography features, Trick Geography uses simple shapes and imagery along with mnemonics to help students learn in a unique way. A sentence about a “Hairy bird”, for example, helps students to remember the city “Harrisburg”, while the shape of Morocco is interposed with an image of a maraca –“Maraca=Morocco”. These elements make Trick Geography a great choice for visual learners as well as those who struggle with traditional memorization techniques.

Trick Geography offers both a world course and individual unit courses based on region. The world course is designed to take a year to complete, making it an excellent choice for students wishing to undertake a comprehensive geography study that will last throughout the school year. The individual courses take five to nine weeks and can be supplemented with other materials. Depending on your student’s interests and your homeschool style, you may want to use the region-based unit courses (such as the U.S. geography course) rather than the world course. Trick Geography is for third grade and up, so this is another great program option for families with children of multiple ages working side by side.

The Trick Geography world course requires the Trick Geography: World—Student Book, the Trick Geography: World—Teacher Guide, and the Trick Geography: World—Test Book. These are also sold as a set. The following unit courses are also available:

USA: You will need Trick Geography: USA—Student Book and Trick Geography: USA Teacher Guide. Alternatively, you can purchase both as a set.
AFRICA: You will need Trick Geography: Africa—Student Book and Trick Geography: Africa—Teacher Guide. Alternatively, you can purchase both as a set.
AMERICAS AND OCEANIA: You will need Trick Geography: Americas and
Oceania—Student Book and Trick Geography: Americas and Oceania—Teacher Guide. Alternatively, you can purchase both as a set.
ASIA: You will need Trick Geography: Asia—Student Book and Trick Geography:
Asia—Teacher Guide. Alternatively, you can purchase both as a set.
EUROPE: You will need Trick Geography: Europe—Student Book and Trick
Geography: Europe—Teacher Guide. Alternatively, you can purchase both as a set.

Best Charlotte-Mason Style Geography Curriculum

Trail Guide to World Geography, Cindy Wiggers

For the family that loves incorporating great literature and art into every facet of their homeschool, we can’t recommend Trail Guide to World Geography enough. Using this curriculum, students will see that geography doesn’t mean looking at a bunch of maps in a vacuum. Rather, Charlotte Mason-style learners will be able to incorporate literature and culture more broadly into their geography studies. The program follows a 36-week schedule, with each week offering opportunities for students to approach the material in different ways and allowing self-led learners to do further research on the topics that interest them.

Required materials for this program are the Trail Guide to World Geography: A
Teacher’s Guide and Jules Verne’s classic Around the World in 80 Days. Your student will also frequently need to use The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide, Geography Through Art by Sharon Jeffus and Jamie Aramini, and a solid set of outline maps such as those included in Uncle Josh’s Outline Map Book. As an alternative to the Uncle Josh maps, you could purchase the Trail Guide to World Geography Student Notebook CD-Rom, which provides similar printables. Also recommended are a good student atlas and almanac. For an atlas, we recommend either the Rand McNally Atlas of World Geography or the Rand McNally Know Geography World Atlas Grades 9-12. For an almanac, we like The World Almanac Book of Facts 2021.

Trail Guide to World Geography is suitable for pre-K through high school and includes different questions for students in various grade levels. It is therefore an excellent choice for families with children of multiple ages who wish to work side-by-side. If you are using Trail Guide to World Geography for younger kids, you should purchase an age- appropriate atlas, as well (we like Rand McNally’s Classroom Atlas for grades 7-9 and Jr. Classroom Atlas for grades 4-6; or, the Know Geography World Atlas Grades 4-9. For those interested in a similar program focused just only on U.S. geography, we recommend Trail Guide to U.S. Geography.

Best for Independent Learners

Around the World in 180 Days, Sherrie Payne

If your high school student enjoys independent learning, consider Around the World in 180 Days by Sherrie Payne. While this program goes into less depth than some others, it provides a nice framework for students who enjoy independent reading and research to learn about world geography. The program is divided into seven units, each corresponding to one of the seven continents. In each unit, students learn about the geography, history, religion, culture, and current events of that continent. The structure of the program is largely question-based, with students given questions to which they must find the answers using other resources (atlases, books, web sources). Mapwork is also a large component of this curriculum, and by the end of the year students will have a solid foundation in the world’s physical geography.

Around the World in 180 Days is also a good option if you’d like your high schooler to work alongside younger siblings. Although the program is advertised as being appropriate for kids as young as kindergarten, in reality a kindergartener would have a hard time managing it without a good amount of assistance. Older elementary students and middle school students could certainly complete many of the questions and gain valuable research and writing skills in the process. 

To use this program, you’ll need the teacher’s guide, and each student will need a student workbook. Make sure to have a good student atlas on hand, as well.

Best Interdisciplinary Program

Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide, Maggie Hogan and Cindy Wiggers

If you’re looking for a solid geography program that explores connections between geography and other disciplines like math, literature, and science, consider the Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide. This program uses a unit study approach to explore different facets of world geography and how they relate to other subjects. The first unit introduces geography basics, helping students understand the different types of geography and basic geographical tools, such as maps and compasses. Unit Two is called “Making Geography Come Alive” and considers all kinds of fun aspects of cultural geography, from currency and postage stamps to food and sports. The third unit looks at how geography intersects with different disciplines, including literature, science, math, and history. The fourth unit includes more traditional geography instruction, leading students through the world continent by continent and incorporating mapwork. The final unit explores how timelines can be useful in studying geography. 

Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide can be used by all grades, so this is an excellent option if you’d like your high schooler to use the same program as younger siblings. Along with the textbook, you’ll need a copy of Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates, as one chapter focuses on that book. 

Best Christian Geography Curriculum

North Star Geography, Tyler H. Hogan/Bright Ideas Press

For Christian homeschoolers who want to see their faith incorporated deeply into a geography curriculum, we recommend North Star Geography. Considering geography from a Christian perspective, the program includes geography skills (understanding maps and navigation), physical geography (earth structure, biosphere, etc.), and human geography (human culture and heritage, etc.). The scripture used in this textbook is from the NKJV and ESV.

The program is geared toward junior high and high schoolers but can also be modified for younger students, making this another good pick for families who want to use the same program for children in multiple grades. It is designed as a one-year course but can be modified for 16, 32, or 64 weeks. The course materials consist of one textbook, which includes a download access code to the digital companion guide. This companion guide download includes projects and activities for hands-on learning; mapwork and research questions; quizzes and a final exam, a grading rubric, and answer key; and reproducible maps. Parents love the simplicity of only needing one textbook and being able to print everything else with the digital companion!

Conclusion

High school is a great time to study geography! Students in high school are naturally curious about the world around them, and many are excited to begin traveling on their own after high school. Finding a geography curriculum that suits your student’s learning style and your own homeschool philosophy is very important. There are many great curriculum options to explore. You can also find creative ways to incorporate geography into your students’ other subjects– history, science, and language arts especially. If you have younger kids, be sure to check out our other articles, Best Homeschool Geography Curriculum for Elementary and Best Homeschool Middle School Geography Curriculum.