Knowledge Quest (Blogging Through the Alphabet)

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Homeschool Coffee Break helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you!

After so many years of homeschooling, I've had plenty of opportunities to try curriculum and explore all kinds of resources, so during this Blogging Through the Alphabet tour, I'm highlighting some of the many homeschooling resources that have been stand-outs. Sometimes it will be a walk down memory lane as I share something we enjoyed many years ago, and sometimes it will be something we're using currently. Sometimes I'll focus on a specific curriculum, and sometimes on a subject area. And I imagine I'll have to be a bit creative with a couple letters of the alphabet! This week I thought of a resource that we've used for a number of years, and that I've already featured in a previous Blogging Through the Alphabet series - Map Trek from Knowledge Quest.





I first discovered Knowledge Quest many years ago when I purchased a set of Blackline Maps of World History on CD-ROM. I made great use of those printable maps as we studied history, so when we got a chance to review a newer version of Map Trek through the Homeschool Review Crew in 2012 (which seems like a long time ago now!) I was super excited! This is a great resource, and is so versatile! You really can use it for all grade levels, on its own or as a supplement to any number of history studies.

Map Trek is a gorgeous book of historical maps, from the ancient to the modern. and comes with a CD-ROM of all the maps in easy-to-print pdf files. When I say the book is gorgeous, I mean that it is a hard-cover book with glossy pages, and wouldn't look at all out of place as a coffee table book, in my opinion. The book is a combination of atlas and historical maps, and lesson plans thrown in for good measure. For each map, there is a set of instructions to guide the student in labeling, coloring, and doing research; and there are two or three levels of difficulty, depending on the grade level - or really, on how much time you need to spend with a particular map. The maps are presented in chronological order, so it's easy to find what you need.

It's even easier to find the maps you need and be able to include them with your history study when you make use a great free resource available on the Knowledge Quest website. The downloadable Curriculum Integration Guides show you exactly which maps line up with which lessons in a selection of history curricula, including The Story of the World, Veritas Press, TruthQuest, Mystery of History, Ambleside Online, and others. And our favorite too - Notgrass! So as we're studying Exploring World History, I have a handy guide letting me know which maps to print and include with the lessons, so that Kennady can have a good visual guide of where the events took place and relevant geographical information. I don't require her to spend much time with the maps, just look over them and be somewhat familiar with the area referenced in the lesson. But if we wanted to, we could spend extra time studying the maps and researching so she could do all the labels herself.

An example of a complete map from the set.

An example of a blank map that the student can label.

We've previously used Map Trek maps along with unit studies and with another Notgrass curriculum, America the Beautiful. Like I said, so versatile it can be used with almost any course of study! Knowledge Quest has many other wonderful geography resources, as well as timelines, and some books as well.

You may want to take a look at my original Map Trek review (although it's missing some graphics now, and I need to update it): Map Trek {Schoolhouse Review Crew} or my previous Blogging Through the Alphabet post: K is for Knowledge Quest.

Blogging Through the Alphabet again? Yes, I'm taking the challenge, along with several other Crew members, including our three co-hosts for this round - Amanda at Hopkins Homeschool, DaLynn at Biblical Womanhood, and Kirsten at DoodleMom's Homeschooling Life. The link is open from Thursday to Wednesday each week, so join in if you'd like!

This post is linked at Blogging Through the Alphabet for Week 11, Letter K.

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to Homeschool Coffee Break by Email!

 ©2006-2018 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.