Archives

Postcards: A Pint-Sized Geography Lesson

Discover faraway places by both sending and receiving postcards through Postcrossing. It’s free to sign up, you just pay for the postcard & postage.

Category: Hilltown Families Tags: Geography, postcard exchange, postcards, postcrossing, world geography

Annual Geography and Science Expo Invites Self-Directed Studies of World History, Culture, and Science

Where in western Massachusetts can families sample international cuisine, learn about world history and science, examine foreign landmarks, and collect passport stamps? The annual Geography and Science Expo offers all this and more – and now is the time to become a part of this unique educational celebration!

Category: Berkshire County, Hilltown Families, Suggested Activity Tags: Berkshire Athenaeum, Geography, Homeschool, Homeschooling in Western Massachusetts, The Berkshires

Geography Expo Invites Self-Directed Studies of World History and Culture

The 8th Annual Geography Expo is an intergenerational geography fair featuring the work of students from all school choices throughout Berkshire County and beyond. It’s free to participate and open to all, taking place on Thursday, May 5th, at the Berkshire Atheaneum in Pittsfield, MA.

Category: Berkshire County, Hilltown Families, Suggested Activity Tags: Geography

The Ripple: Setting our Watches to the Geological View of Time

Let the presence of frogs and ferns empower us! They have survived the test of time- having a lineage to the distant days when Mount Tom was a volcano! The question is…will we last as long? In “The Ripple” this month, Kurt challenges our view of nature and our rivers as we try to observe its mysterious movements in the context of our “busy lives.” As you read on, you’ll notice that Kurt always manages to take you into the hills and right into nature through his words…giving us pure gold!

Category: Contributing Writer, Ecology, Kurt Heidinger Tags: Ecology, Geography, Hilltowns, Massachusetts, Pioneer Valley, western massachusetts, Western Massachusetts River

License Plates Tell a Story & Inspire Learning in Kids

Taking a road trip? Watching for interesting license plates while on the road is a great way to keep kids entertained! With so many people traveling, the highways are filled with out-of-staters whose plates provide a great distraction from backseat boredom while learning about the 50 states! Discussing with kids the reasons behind each state’s license plate design can help them learn about geography, economics, and social studies, and can help them to develop their mental image of the differences in landscape around the country. They’ll learn to think critically about geographic locations by wondering why New England doesn’t produce citrus like the south does, and why the northwest coast of the country isn’t known for it’s lobster like the northeast coast is. Read on…

Category: Education, Travel Tags: Geography, License Plate Games, Road Trips, social studies, Travel

Family Geography Expo Open to All!

Discover the World! Family Geography Expo at the Berkshire Athenaeum on April 5th Learn about international cultures together as a family by participating in the annual Geography Expo, hosted at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield, MA, sponsored by the 4-H Earth Stars Club and the Berkshire County Homeschool Community. The event gives kids the chance to delve into learning about a country and then share what they’ve learned about the culture, customs,… Read More

Category: Berkshire County, Homeschooling, Pittsfield, Suggested Activity Tags: Berkshires, Geography, Geography Expo, social studies, western massachusetts, World Culture

GIS Day During National Geography Awareness Week at WSU

Westfield State University ‘Discovers the World’ through Geographic Information Systems Westfield State University will host GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Day free events on Wednesday, November 16th and Thursday, November 17th as part of National Geography Awareness Week, inviting high school students and teachers to attend. More than 10,000 organizations and 80 countries hold local events for GIS Day, which illustrates how GIS technology can be applied to our everyday lives. Global Positioning Systems (GPS),… Read More

All Invited to Participate in a Community Geography Expo

Participants Invited to Community Geography Expo Sunday, May 22nd, 2-4pm Stockbridge Library What is the expo? Coordinator Teresa O’Brient writes: It’s sort of like a science fair for geography. Students choose a country, study it on their own, (or whole families can do it together, or friends might do a country together…. any combination is fine), but usually a student will do it on their own. A table will be available at… Read More

Does Your Family Use Road Maps in the Car?

Diane Flynn Keith, author of Carschooling writes: I am working on a new edition of my book, Carschooling and updating some of the resources. It’s been fairly smooth going but I just got to Chapter 7 on Geography and am stumped. Here’s why… In 2002, when the book was originally published, people used road maps in the car – not Google Maps, Mapquest, and GPS devices. There are a number of learning… Read More