RE: A LOT OF COLORING...Who could dream up this stuff?
During first few grades, coloring maps would be fun and productive. We would all enjoy it.
A few hours here, a few hours there, even in fifth and sixth grades, might be good. You could teach geography, history, current events, art.
For 7th graders, it’s clearly not meant to be fun or productive. Eight weeks? No, this is meant to be torture so you’ll always hate geography.
That is one of the reasons I am Homeschooling my youngest in Social Studies (also English but for another reason). In 7th grade the Junior High start out studying about ancient civilizations and end with the Roman empire - the study just ends. No fall of Rome, no Middle Ages, no Renaissance, no Reformation, , no Elizabethan England, and no Sun King. They sort of pick up the Age of Exploration, Enlightenment, and so forth with American History in 8th grade, but it is with a American centric viewpoint. The school takes 2 years for American History - 1/2 year in 8th, a full year in 9th and a 1/2 year in 10th). The World History is nothing like the World History I took in Junior High. In addition you may never return to World History as it is only a semester elective in High School (you could take another Human Geography course for example instead of Western Civilizations).
The school takes a full semester plus on Geography in 7th grade (the map coloring etc). I am having my daughter place locations on blank maps but no further. I have found several very interesting geography games that I am going to have her play to reinforce her location sense. She will know how to look up locations by coordinates and establish coordinates for locations. That should be sufficient. I am having my daughter write lots of essays about history and human geography. She is probably doing 9th-10th grade work. I am integrating the Social Studies and English curriculum for 7th grade (for example her readings are from derivative books of the Iliad and Odyssey and I am going to have her read Oedipus Rex, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar etc.