We learn about geography in many ways but the most simple thing we have done so far that has helped with all other understanding is studying the basic landforms of the earth.  To help us do this we use montessori landform sand tiles which go together with the montessori sand globe.  We used printed out 3 part cards to learn and match up  by labeling the different forms such as lakes and islands etc.  We then use the globe to identify these parts in the world and back it up with actual photographs of what an island really looks like and each landform.

Instead of purchasing the large Montessori maps that are available we have been trying out the montessori ipad version which gets the same idea across albeit not as attractive as a big puzzle you can manipulate.  The girls surprisingly have learned a lot from the apps as they are very simple and error proof.

We combined the above with books and read about the shifting of the continents so they understood why everything seems to be an opposite of eachother when it comes to landforms.  This opened conversation about the different sorts of animals there are and why they look different which lended itself to the apps on the ipad (montessori based also) where you identify where different animals are in parts of the world.  We learned about adaptation and environment with just a simple question of why a rabbit was white who lived in one place and the other who lived in another place was brown.  A great deal can be understood in just learning something as simple as the shape of the land you are standing on.