How to Use the Asia Unit Study Bundle: A Quick Start Guide

How to Use the Asia Unit Study Curriculum Bundle: A Quick Start Guide

Whether you’re a homeschooler, a classroom educator, or a family exploring world geography together, this guide will help you get started with the Asia Unit Study Bundle. Our literature-based homeschool geography curriculum is filled with printable and digital tools, hands-on activities, and flexible, family-style lessons.

Step 1: Choose a Country

Simply pick a country that fits your child’s interests, a book you’re reading, or tie your chosen country to a cultural celebration or holiday. Or, perhaps you’d like to turn it into a game and simply pull a random country from a jar!

The beauty of the Global Explorers Club is its flexibility. Whether you’re planning a full unit or just sprinkling in a few activities throughout your week, each country study is self-contained and ready to go. Just pick one and start your journey!

Step 2: Print What You Need

Each unit study is organized by country and includes clearly labeled sections:

Country unit study overview sheet
Lesson plans (PDF) with embedded links
Print Resources:
- Geography & Culture (Global Explorers Journal, mapwork activity, Bingo challenge, cookbook page)
- Language Arts (The Writing Revolution exercises and activities)
- Math & Games (elapsed time task cards, printable traditional game boards)
- Science (notebooking activity sheets)

Print what fits your schedule. Save or skip the rest. Our curriculum is designed to be flexible and family-friendly.

Prefer Digital Planning?

Use the Notion Curriculum Planner to map out your week.

Here’s a peek at the Notion Curriculum Planner. Each country has its own lesson hub, making it easy to stay organized. — Here’s a peek at our Notion Curriculum Planner. Each country has its own lesson hub, making it easy to stay organized.

Each unit includes a Prep List so you can easily check off what to print and gather your resources with ease.

Each country unit study in the Global Explorers geography homeschool curriculum includes a quick Prep List in Notion so you can print and gather what you need at a glance. — Each country includes a quick Prep List in Notion so you can print and gather what you need at a glance.

Step 3: Begin with a Story or a Map

Read a Picture Book or Folk Tale

I usually check out a stack of books from the library and ask my kids to choose a couple to read on our first day. Just follow their curiosity. It’ll never lead us wrong!

Both Lonely Planet Kids’ This Is My World: Meet 84 Kids From Around the Globe and DK’s Children Just Like Me: A Celebration of Children Around the World are great “first impression” reads before diving deeper into a specific country, too.

Look at a Map Together

Begin by finding the country on a world map. I like to use Seterra to print out free continent and world maps.

After locating the country on a world map, I recommend grabbing a picture atlas to take a closer look. I highly recommend DK’s Countries of the World for colorful, easy-to-read reference pages, but any children’s atlas will do!

Next, pull up the country on Google Earth and give your child time to zoom in and explore the natural features, cities, and terrain. You can even “drop in” with Street View to see what daily life might look like.

South Korea Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including the Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, mapwork and notebooking, Linda Sue Park and Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo, traditional games, and more

Journal First Impressions

Encourage your children to jot down what stands out, what they wonder, or what they already know.

You can use the “Our Wondrous World: Wonder Wall” sheet (found in the Extras folder) to help them record their questions or just have them free-write or sketch in a notebook.

Step 4: Pick One Hands-On Activity Per Day

Since Global Explorers is designed to encourage children to simply fall in love with learning about new places and exploring new things, there’s no rush and no pressure. You can choose to move slowly or dive in deeply. Whatever works best for your family!

Whether you’re using Global Explorers as a full curriculum or just sprinkling in a few cultural activities for fun throughout the year, the goal is the same: follow curiosity, embrace the adventure, and don’t be afraid to chase a few rabbit trails along the way.

Need a little inspiration?
Here are two sample weeks to help you see how you might structure your Global Explorers lessons. Mix and match activities to fit your schedule. There’s no “right” way to do it!

Throughout the week, continue reading books related to the country you’re studying. You can use the ones suggested in the lesson plans, revisit old favorites, or explore new finds from your local library. Stories are a great way to connect more deeply with the people, history, and culture of each place you explore.

Step 5: Mix, Match, and Make It Yours

Each Asia unit study includes both printable PDF lessons and a digital Notion planner so you can pick the format that works best for your family.

Use the PDF to quickly access lessons as needed, or use the Notion curriculum database to map out your week, add videos or links, and track your progress.

Here’s a peek at the Notion Curriculum Planner included with our geography homeschool curriculum unit studies. Each country has its own lesson hub, making it easy to stay organized. The calendar view allows you to drag-and-drop the included lessons on the days that work best for you, and move them around as needed, ensuring the ultimately planning flexibility for your family. — The Notion calendar view lets you drag, drop, and customize your schedule. In this example, I’ve planned our South Korea unit over two weeks. I can easily make changes if needed, though. Some lessons, like *Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo* are scheduled over the course of the two weeks, as we’ll read a few of the poems every day.

Toggle between lessons with ease! Each country’s unit study comes fully loaded in the Notion Curriculum Planner—just open the week’s plan, expand the lesson you want, and go. Everything is organized and editable, giving you the structure you need with the flexibility you want. — Toggle between lessons with ease! Each country’s unit study comes fully loaded in the Notion Curriculum Planner. Just open the country’s folder, expand the lesson you want, and go. Everything is organized and editable, giving you the structure you need with the flexibility you want.

If you come across a cool resource, you can easily enhance your lessons by embedding links or videos directly into your digital planner.

Each unit is designed to be flexible, so feel free to skip, adapt, or rearrange lessons based on your child’s interests, schedule, or age. Whether you follow a structured routine or take a more relaxed approach, you’re doing it right. You got this!

Tips

Go at your own pace. One country could last a week or a month. There’s no wrong way to use our country studies.
Mix and match. It’s okay to skip activities or combine them with other resources you love.
Adapt for different ages. Younger children can draw while older ones research or write in more detail.
Make it a family experience. Most of all, have fun together. Laugh, learn, and make memories! Play traditional games, try cooking new foods, listen to music, or get creative with our suggested hands-on projects. These shared moments of curiosity and connection are what make Global Explorers so special.

have questions?

I’m here to help! Feel free to send me an email or reach out through our contact page. I’d love to hear from you!

contact me

Ready to Start Your Own Adventure?

If you haven’t yet joined the Global Explorers Club, it’s easy to get started! The Asia Unit Study Bundle includes everything you need to explore more than a dozen countries through stories, mapwork, cultural projects, science, writing, and hands-on learning.

learn more

buy now

Mongolia Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, global games like Jarmo, The Writing Revolution resources, and more

China Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, featuring The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, Grace Lin's The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon, and more

Japan Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, mapwork and notebooking, traditional games and recipes, and more.

Philippines Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with hands-on learning and cultural activities for kids

Indonesia Unit Study, a literature-based geography curriculum for kids featuring hands-on activities, The Writing Revolution resources, mapwork & notebooking, and more

Singapore Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including the Writing Revolution resources, Sherlock Sam, a detective case file, traditional games and recipes, and more.

Vietnam Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids

Thailand Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with hands-on learning and cultural activities for kids, featuring The Writing Revolution resources, mapwork and notebooking, plus Tua and the Elephant by R.P. Harris

Vietnam Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including the Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, mapwork and notebooking, and more

Bangladesh Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, plus middle-grade novels Rickshaw Girl and Tiger Boy, written by Mitali Perkins

Nepal Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including the Writing Revolution resources, Eric Dinerstein's What Elephants Know, traditional games and recipes, mapwork, notebooking, and more

India Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, mapwork and notebooking, traditional games and recipes, and more.

Pakistan Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, mapwork and notebooking, traditional games and recipes, and more.

Afghanistan Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, The Breadwinner, mapwork and notebooking, and more

Oman Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, the Turtle of Oman, mapwork and notebooking, traditional games, and more

Iraq Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, mapwork and geography, and books like The Librarian of Basra and Building Zaha: The Story of Architect Zaha Hadid

Turkey Unit Study, part of the Global Explorers Club's literature-based geography curriculum with cultural activities for kids, including The Writing Revolution resources, Circle Round folk tales, mapwork and notebooking, and more

Want to Start with Just One Country?

Not sure if you’re ready for the full continent study? No problem! You can start small by choosing a single country that fits your child’s interests. Each one is a complete, self-contained unit study that’s perfect for getting a feel for the Global Explorers approach.

the global explorers club

Where Will You Explore First?

Explore our complete collection of literature-based geography and culture unit studies. From hands-on art projects to global games and recipes, our curriculum makes learning an adventure for all ages.

browse our resources

Stay in the Loop

Want ideas for hands-on activities, book lists, cultural recipes, and new country study releases delivered straight to your inbox? Join the Global Explorers newsletter and get inspired each week with family-style learning tips, freebies, and exclusive updates.