Passport Club

​WHAT:A geography enrichment program
​WHEN:Once a month during lunch recess
WHERE:In the school lobby
NEXT CHECKPOINT:December 16th 2019

Overview

Are you interested in Geography? Would you like your children to learn the countries of the world? The Passport Club at Cherry Crest offers a multi-year introduction to world Geography. It starts gently, with just five countries a month for the youngest children and eventually builds to all countries by the fifth and final year.
 
Students study maps and, once a month, at a “Passport Checkpoint” during the school day, show off their new knowledge to parent volunteers and earn stamps for their passports!

Enrollment

If you are interested in having your children participate in the Passport Club, please send an email to passportclub@cherrycrest-ptsa.org with your child’s name, grade and the name of their teacher.

Students will receive a set of printed study maps when they first join the program. Students should keep the maps from year to year. Parents signed in to the PTSA website will be able to see and download the Passport Club materials under the Passport Club Materials section of this page below.

Purchasing an inexpensive large world wall map from stores like Staples or National Geographic also helps build enthusiasm.

Monthly Checkpoints

The monthly checkpoint day is usually the last Monday of the month, barring school holidays. The date is advertised in the Chatter newsletter and on the school calendar. Checkpoint takes place in the lobby during lunch recess.

On Checkpoint day, parent volunteers ask the students to locate the countries pertaining to their level for that month on a blank world map. Students will then receive stamps in their passports for those countries.

Volunteers

Passport Club is a parent-driven activity thus we count on your support to enrich students’ understanding of World Geography. We need volunteers to help with testing students during monthly Passport Check Points, cutting stamps at home, and pulling books for display in the library that are representative of this month’s countries to be traveled, to name a few. If you would like to volunteer, please contact passportclub@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.

Passport Club Background

The Passport Club, a nonprofit organization, is an individualized, sequential geography program for schools. Its main purpose is to help students learn some, or all of the world, countries over the course of a school year while promoting strong parent involvement in the school.

The program uses postage stamps as a valuable educational tool for teachers, and an interesting and enjoyable hobby for students.

The Passport Club at Cherry Crest has been running for several years, run solely by parent volunteers. This program is setting an atmosphere in our school of a generation of young people who are interested not only in our community but in the rest of the world. Most importantly, it is your support at home that makes this program work.

Students new to the program should start at level one, where they will learn forty countries and seven continents by the end of the school year.

As students advance to level five, they will learn all of the world countries plus forty capital cities, the continents, oceans seas, deserts and mountain ranges!

This program is intended to be a multi-year program to help students maintain a solid working knowledge of what they have learned and build upon it it year. The recommended participation level for students should match their current grade level. (i.e. a first grader should participate at the first grade level).

Explanation of Levels

Level 1: We encourage our Kindergartners and first graders to participate at this level, where they will focus on learning five levels a month, eventually memorizing forty countries.

Level 2: This level expands level one to eighty countries, plus the three great oceans.

Level 3: Level 3 adds lesser known countries and island groupings and includes the continents, plus four oceans, two seas, the equator and the prime meridian.

Level 4: At this very challenging expert level the student will learn all the world countries by end of the school year! Twenty-five countries are learned each month. In addition, they learn the continents, oceans, seas, bays, gulfs, Oceania, the equator and the prime meridian.

Level 5: This is the highest level. It is the level where they really start to explore what they have learned. Students learn the capitals of all the major countries learned in level one and also memorize deserts and mountain ranges.

Special Itinerary: Optional extra projects encourage students to dive deeper. These projects will vary from month to month, and are designed to keep the students interested in learning more about geography, beyond memorization of locations. Additional stamps are earned for these projects. If you would like to help with a Special Itinerary, please contact passportclub@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.

Countries highlighted by Special Itinerary:

Here are the countries highlighted for the school year:

September: No checkpoint scheduled

October: Democratic Republic of the Congo

November: Panama

December: Japan

January: China

February: India

March: Ireland

April: Mexico

May: Russian Federation

Festival of Cultures Family Night: Learn about other cultures, sample some food, enjoy some performances and celebrate our diverse community

CHECKPOINT DATES

October 28
November 25
December 16
January 13
February 24
March 30
April 27
May 18

VOLUNTEER

To volunteer for Checkpoint signup here.

MATERIALS

Study materials will be made available upon registration.

MATERIAL EXPLAINED

The Map Study Guides and Forms Maps are copyrighted material that the Cherry Crest PTSA Curriculum enhancement fund pays for. These materials are only visible to users of this site who have completed registration.

Materials should not be shared with others outside of Cherry Crest Elementary. If you would like to join Passport Club send an email with your student(s) name and teacher to passportclub@cherrycrest-ptsa.org.