Elementary Geography: Full Illustrations & Study Guides!

by Charlotte M. Mason

This little book is confined to very simple “reading lessons upon the Form and Motions of the Earth, the Points of the Compass, the Meaning of a Definitions.” The shape and motions of the earth are fundamental ideas—however difficult to grasp. Geography should be learned chiefly from maps, and the child should begin the study by learning “the meaning of map,” and how to use it. These subjects are well fitted to form an attractive introduction to the study of some of them should awaken the delightful interest which attaches in a child’s mind to that which is wonderful—incomprehensible. The Map lessons should lead to mechanical efforts, equally delightful. It is only when presented to the child for the first time in the form of stale knowledge and foregone conclusions that the facts taught in these lessons appear dry and repulsive to him. An effort is made in the following pages to treat the subject with the sort of sympathetic interest and freshness which attracts children to a new study. A short summary of the chief points in each reading lesson is given in the form of questions and answers. Easy verses, illustrative of the various subjects, are introduced, in order that the children may connect pleasant poetic fancies with the phenomena upon which “Geography” so much depends. It is hoped that these reading lessons may afford intelligent teaching, even in the hands of a young teacher. The first ideas of Geography—the lessons on “Place”—which should make the child observant of local geography, of the features of his own neighbourhood, its heights and hollows and level lands, its streams and ponds—should be conveyed viva voce. At this stage, a class-book cannot take the place of an intelligent teacher. Children should go through the book twice, and should, after the second reading, be able to answer any of the questions from memory.

Genres: Geography, Nonfiction, Education, Childrens, Science

107 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1925

About the author

Charlotte Mason, a renowned British educator, lived during the turn of the 20th century. She turned the idea of education being something of utilitarian necessity into an approach based upon living ideas. She believed that education is "an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and a "science of relations." Her methods are embraced around the world today, especially among the homeschool community.

Reviews

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple, clear, and useful geography book for a first/second/third grader. A few England-oriented things to tweak if you're reading as an American. Mason was a great communicator, which is shown in how well a child one hundred years later can still understand her perfectly as she talks of maps, seas, mountains, etc. The bits of the book that reveal it was written pre-GPS are somewhat amusing to a smartphone generation ("imagine you were a bird and could look down and see the land from above"), but they help children to see how recent a thing tools like Google maps really are. This book and a map or globe make a great basic geography curriculum.

[Amy Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This classic geography book, by the beloved Charlotte Mason, is also on the Ambleside Online booklist. (I'm a partner in Blue Sky Daisies, which publishes this reprint--we think it's a very nice paperback. Be sure to look for the Blue Sky Daisies edition.) Elementary Geography is a collection of very brief lessons, or chapters, that are perfect for reading aloud. One chapter can probably be read in about 10-15 minutes or less. Charlotte Mason writes in a very conversational way about the geography of Earth, the solar systems and the seasons, the compass and navigation (latitude and longitude), and the topographical features of our world. I recommend it for elementary kids, either to read independently or as a read-aloud with an adult.

[Laura Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

We used this book as part of our geography with AmblesideOnline homeschool curriculum, and it’s used in first through fourth grade. It’s a small book, so I remember when I first got it for our kids. I thought we would fly through it. I’m really glad we took our time going through it and exploring the concepts while out and about. Charlotte Mason writes the lessons in a very approachable way, with some activities to do occasionally. For example, using a ball and a light source to show the rotation of the earth creating day and night. This book also lends itself really well to narrating with Play-Doh, or sand, or drawing out what was read. My son especially loved drawing a picture of a river, and then adding to it over several months as we read more about the different parts of a river. If you’re reading this as a mom or dad, I would encourage looking for small examples of the geography she mentions went out and about with your kids on nature walks.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I myself learned a lot!

[Tiffany Valdez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Charlotte Mason, but I do wonder if there is a more modern Geography primer that still delivers in the way Mason does. It was clearly outdated (and I get that as CM educator) - but sometimes it detracts from connecting with the material.

[Amy Bodkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done revision!!

[Ardyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used the first half of this book as a Geography lessons guide during our COVID homeschooling term (P1 aka 1st grade aka Form 1B). It was very helpful to me at that time, although not sufficient in itself -- we did some hands-on geography and some basic mapwork, too.

Today, I read the second half, which is mostly okay, but Mason's British superiority comes through more. I also take some issue with her definition of what makes a person "English" -- this is a recurring problem in most geography books, I am finding, even the one our son uses at his Portuguese school in Macao misrepresents citizenship and cultural heritage as deeply intertwined. I get that it's complicated, it *always* has been complicated even back to the people we today call "ancient Greeks" -- which is why it should be taught as a complicated, additive matter.

In both halves of the book, some content which is no longer applicable and/or accurate -- e.g. mountains nobody has ever climbed; England having a global empire. A fair bit of talk about trains in the first half, as I recall.

We are not Christian, so I omitted references to God and skipped the poetry.

Overall a good book, good structure for 6yo/7yo ranges, super helpful to a parent who really doesn't have the energy (or time) to map out yet another subject in detail... just needs some updating. I'd recommend looking at Marjorie Lang's Living Geography for the Primary Grades which I haven't read -- it released near the end of our COVID term -- but I know is an update of Mason's geo reader for 2020s children. Details on that here:

https://www.juniperpines.com/living-g...

[Khadijah Hayley]

Uff. That sums up my thoughts. Initially, I adored this book. Should it be renamed? Absolutely. A lot of the information is not relevant to children in the UK right now. But it is interesting to read. It does NOT work as even a brief introduction to Geography, because by the time the child is old enough to understand the weighted language, the geographical knowledge they need is more advanced than this book provides.

But can we talk about Lesson 38? The loaded, ignorant racism made my chest ache. It was shocking and disgusting. The footnote explaining its inclusion seemed to both address its severity and justify it all at the same time. It was a lukewarm condemnation that wasn’t worth the paper space.

I’m all for including the reality of Victorian perceptions, and it created a valid and interesting discussion with my elder children - about CM being a victim of her society and how cut off the Victorians were from other societies.

But as an editor, I would have taken that entire passage and put it in an Appendix with a DETAILED examination and explanation for those who wanted it, NOT include it as a legitimate lesson for elementary children.

I really wish these CM texts, which have so much value, would be edited properly and not rushed to reprint and held on pedestals.

No rating.

[Rebecca Sim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yuck

Sometimes people seem to like things just because it’s “old”. Old doesn’t mean “classic”. This one is antique in the worse sense of the word. Decrepit, “twaddle” now, though I suspect it was “twaddle” even when first written. How come so many people can’t recognize that they are often committing the worse educational “sin” they accuse others of?

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

We used this as a supplement for geography lessons. This was a revised edition based on Charlotte Mason's teachings. While I love Charlotte Mason, I was not a huge fan of this since it is written in the point of view of a British student living in England over a 100 years ago. Some parts were not interesting or made no sense to my children living in the middle of the United States.

[Jessica Perteet]

Read this a chapter a week to Jacob. It’s written from the perspective of a British child from the early 1900’s so some things were confusing or I had to add some information. Also some imperialism from Charlotte Mason.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a complete geography book, but one that should be used with several others, as is common with the Charlotte Mason Method. The illustrations should also be re-done in color and the reprint typed in new font to make the book quality more rich.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource and I am a huge if the Living Book Press editions.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished in first term Ellie Y5 Jacob Y6...krb 10/12/18

[forthefamilyssake Hailey White · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really enjoyed the short chapters that served as an introduction to the subject. I do think this has more appeal to the early elementary.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Jean Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic book of geography. The chapters are short, straightforward and yet have a conversational tone.

[Gina Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my 3rd and 4th graders and they both enjoyed it. Short, very general, geography lessons.

[Viola Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how much my kids would understand from narratives about the earth and landscape and maps, etc. But they loved it! I was surprised when they grabbed onto a concept from an excellent description of it. This was a good introduction and a broad overview of general geographical ideas.

See this review on Substack: https://momsmusings.substack.com/i/13...

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

We didn't enjoy this geography book as much as last year's--it felt a little too young for most of them. It's a solid geographical overview, but perhaps best for early elementary students.

[Timilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

short lessons
good introduction to geography and terms

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second reading: read this with my fourth grader and we definitely profited more from it this time around. Some of the end-of-chapter quiz questions were worded strangely or were based on information not in the text, so I’m docking one star.

First reading: My kindergartner and I listened to this on audiobook as part of her homeschooling this semester. We enjoyed the lessons but obviously would have gotten more out of it if we had a hard copy with maps included. The content is interesting enough to revisit again in the future and I, a lifelong geography lover, learned some new things along the way.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not in love with the quality of this re-print. The material is good Charlotte Mason style geography, but I wish more time had been taken to color pictures and create a more quality book.

[Hisham]

I want to know more about it