Geography Songs Review

For discount Geography Songs– see what is available today…

This Geography Songs Review consists of:

1. A basic description States & Capitals Songs Kit and Geography Songs Kit with a sample lesson plan.

2. Our personal experiences using this product

A basic description of Geography Songs Kits

1. The Geography Songs Kit(Geography Songs – Sing Around The World CD)

includes 33 songs; a workbook with maps, lyrics, illustrations and tests; and a 25″ x 36″ world map. 33 songs teach the names and locations of the continents, oceans planets and 225 countries.

It includes famous landmarks and maps to label and color.The maps are numbered in the same order that they are sung in the songs making it easy to locate the countries while you are singing. Some songs are about just one country, others are about a whole continent.

Song list: British Isles, Western Europe, Former USSR, Scandinavia, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Equatorial Africa, Northern Africa, East Africa, Northern Central Africa, Horn of Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South America, Central America, Mexico, West Indies, US Southern Border, Northern Border, Eastern Border, Middle, Pacific States, Canada, Greenland, Continents & Oceans, and Solar System.

This retails for $19.95 for the tape set  or $22.95 for CD set

Sample  Lesson Plan for Learning the Countries in Europe

This sample lesson plan is from the  homesite for Audio Memory.

2.  States & Capitals Songs Kit:

-a large 25″x 36″ map of the USA with 172 items to label. Students can color the map while they listen to the songs. The lyrics of the songs are on the map. Students point to the states on the map while they sing. Each state is adjacent (geographically connected)  to the next state.

-Sound track with 9 songs and 4 test songs. The USA is divided into 5 sections, each with its own song:

* The northern border
* The southern border- After students learn the southern border, from California to Florida, they learn the capitals in the same order.
* The eastern border
* The middle
* The Pacific states.

The test on the tape requires children to remember the name of the state and the capital that comes next as they go from west to east. These materials are appropriate for all ages, but are especially enjoyed by children under high school.  At the time of this post, the cost was $9.95 for tape kit / $12.95 for CD kit

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Our Personal Experiences with Geography Songs

We (the Simmons Family) used the United States & Capitals songs  and the Countries of the World in our homeschool years ago.  Though the voices of the singers for the Geography Songs CDs are not what I would call talented or refined. The pitch is right and the songs memorable which is the most important factor for memory work such as this. The songs can get stuck in your head which in the end is a good thing, since you are more likely to remember the names of the places. As an adult, I would be annoyed by the songs if I was listening to them for any other reason, but because they really do help my children (and myself) remember the geography facts, I am a ready audience. I am so happy to find tools like this that help us learn things quickly and easily.

I think that the best way to use the Geography Songs is to listen to one song twice every day  until all have learned it well. This might only take 5 – 10 minutes per day. This is the way that our family used it.  We were able to learn and remember the states & their capitals and we actually had fun doing it.

I highly recommend coordinating this memory with what ever you are studying in history. For example, if you are studying US history, then learn the states and capitals  the same year. If you are studying the Middle Ages in Europe, learn the countries of Europe and their capitals that year.

For further retention we also played some Geography drill games to practice the knowledge from the songs in another context.  We made a game out of asking each other, “What’s the capital of ___________.” while we waited for food at a restaurant, while riding in the car, or anytime we had spare minutes in between doing things.

Please note that this is not a  comprehensive geography course, but is especially useful for helping children memorize the names and locations of the key countries, states, capitals, etc. The Geography Songs do an excellent job of this!

The included map shows all the places that are learned from the songs. Children color and label the  map. I always pointed to the locations on the map as we sang along with the CD.  The workbook is reproducible, so one set is all you need for the whole family.

Remember, check for Geography Songs on our site, Best Homeschool Buys.

I hope you will take time to watch the next video. This is such terrific illustration of what a great tool the Geography Songs by Audio Memory is to help young (and older) children learn geography basics. Just be sure to point to the map places as you sing with your children so they will associate the names with the places. This is so much fun! It brings back happy memories of when my children were younger and learning together this way.

For more information on the Geography Songs or other memory by songs products, see the homesite for Audio Memory.

See Cathy Duffy’s review of this product.