Wednesday, August 9, 2017

National Geographic Back to School Must Haves

Each year as kids get older their "must haves" for back to school get more sophisticated.  If this will be you grandchild's first year in middle school, it can be an even bigger leap.  Besides a totally different social scene, older and more kids, there are new subjects to learn, new types of homework projects, changing classes and more teachers.

National Geographic Kids has two products that truly impressed me and can help a middle school child deal with all these new realities and responsibilities.


The National Geographic Kids Weird but True Daily Planner
One of the most important new skills needed when kids get to middle school is organization.  It can be overwhelming and definitely not fun.  Just as the cover says, this planner is filled with 365 days of school, sports, friends and fun.  Each 2 page spread has space for everything you need to know about 4 days - homework, activity schedules, fun and seasonal graphics and some doodle space.


The back has excellent homework help pages with a world atlas, a basic report structure outline, preparing oral report tips, conversion and multiplication tables, and more.

The National Geographic Kids United States Atlas


When I think of an atlas I think of maps only.  But this atlas is so much more.  It provides an excellent learning experience about each state and can be an excellent resource for the all important reports.  The book is organized by region begin with regional maps.  Each state has a 2 page spread featuring a state fact box, pictures, charts and graphs, a detailed map with economy symbols overlaid throughout the map.   I live in New Jersey so I chose NJ to highlight as an example of what you see for each state.

The NJ State Fact Box

There is lots to learn on the series of full United States maps in the front of the book  The back of the book has more US Facts and Figures and an excellent detailed index.  This Atlas can start to be used in middle school and stay on your shelf for many years to come.

I highly recommend these books for kids in middle school.  They are beautiful, high quality and full of information useful for success in school.

Both of these books are reasonably priced and available at Amazon  Click below:



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