Global Interactive Learning

Geography is a part of everyone’s day all the time.  Weather determines what you will wear; time zone determines when you wake up; location determines your type of climate (desert, rainforest, lake effect, dryspell). 

While National Geographic states that around 68% of 18 – 24 year olds do not know geography well, parents today can change that by continuously teaching their children geography all the time. 

Below are some things that I do for my children ages 3 and 5.  Please read the list, try some ideas, and also submit your suggestions. 

Teaching geography:

1.  Hang a map in an easily accessible location.  Refer to it when discussing trips, events, settings of the stories you are reading.

2.  Have your children look at street signs while you drive or walk to learn the names of streets in your community.  If your child can’t read, point them out as you pass them.  They will get the hang of it.

3.  Talk about your family.  Where do they live?  Have they always lived there?  Where did they live before that?

4. When taking a road trip, bring a laminated map that they can hold.  Search for license plates and place tally marks in states using a dry erase marker.

5.  When taking a trip, map the journey so that children know where they are starting, where they are ending and what direction you will be taking to get there.

6.  Record their trips in a journal.  Discuss:  Where you went, what you saw, who you saw, how long did you stay, how was the weather, and how you spent your time. Make sure to have them list their favorite stops along the way.  Also list the things that made them happy or excited and also mad or sad.

7.  When relatives call from out of state, locate that state on a map. 

8.  Before taking a trip, have your child research that state (or if they are not old enough, research on the computer with them).  Discover what you can do and see once you get there and have them help you choose activities so they have something to look forward to.

9.  Explore http://www.earthcamforkids.com .  This site will help you discover more about where you are going.  Have them determine from what they see the types of clothes they should bring.

Please provide your suggestions on successful ways to teach your children geography!  We would love to post them!

This entry was posted on Friday, October 13th, 2006 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Learning Geography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.