July 9, 2009 8:16 AM
Teaching kids about maps and their place in the world
While I can't see who places orders through my Amazon link - and thank you to all of you who remember to support MommyLife in this way! - I do have access to a report of products ordered.
This has proven to be a rich resource as I come across books or products that I know would be great for everyone out there.
I LOVE this book, which someone ordered a few days ago:
Written at a 1.7 grade reading level, this book begins where a child would begin - in the place where she lives - and expands from there, bridging the gap between the child's concrete understanding and the abstract thinking involved in understanding maps.
From the School Library Journal:
Beginning with simple crayon drawings of the floor plans of the girl's room and house, the book expands the mapping concept to her street, her town, her state, her country, and finally to the world. Colorful illustrations show a composite of the entire area that is being charted on the facing page.On each successive page, the child points out her street, hometown, state, and country, and the world. The process then reverses as she finds the U.S. on a world map and works back down the scale to her own room again, ending: "...everybody has their own special place on the map."
This is the kind of thing that can sometimes be overlooked in a child's early education - making it more difficult to learn later on. As Montessori taught, the child who is given this type of exposure in the very early years will not struggle so much later on with learning.
This is truly a brilliant introduction to maps for children. Putting it on my Wish List now.
And btw, it is eligible for Amazon's current 4-for3 promotion
Posted in Books, Homeschooling | Permalink
Comments
Hi Barbara- Our family really likes a book called: " There's a map on my lap" It is part of the cat in the hat learning library, which goes waaaaaaay beyond green eggs and ham. I love the series. Much of it is science, or just an excellent introduction ( and more) to topics that kids enjoy.
Posted by: lisa | July 9, 2009 11:32 AM
I did just order it- might've been me. After that book, Maps & Globes by Jack Knowlton is a really excellent next step for introducing more about the topic.
Posted by: Marian | July 9, 2009 4:08 PM
We love this book! It is perfect for my kids (preschool-2nd) and we have even followed in the little girl's footsteps and made our own maps (room, house, neighborhood, etc...) There are actually quite a few books in this series that we enjoy using:
Me and My Family Tree
Me Counting Time
Me and the Measure of Things
Me and My Amazing Body
Me and My Senses
Me and My Place in Space
Posted by: Nicki | July 9, 2009 9:31 PM
I wonder if my 11 year old would like this? I am so lost as to her education. I have followed the schools advice and all it's many programs and also Sylvan and it's advice and hundreds of dollars. We have done homework for hours every night for years never seeming to have any time or energy or patience for "real" education. So now I have an 11 year old starting 5th grade who cannot read well above first grade level and who hates reading and school. And who just told me that Alaska is located South West of Mexico..........
Posted by: karen | July 10, 2009 3:08 AM
Karen-
If you are out there... I hope you don't mind me commenting on your post......I remember spending hours on homework each night, and basically failing out of my math classes because I fell behind. I hated much of my school experience...I just lived to see my friends there.
Would you consider homeschooling? I wish my mom would have homeschooled me in Jr. High... I had a terrible Jr. High experience, and even though my mom and I had a terrible relationship back then, I think it would have been good for me. When I was in public school, I was treated like dirt. In private school, all I did was fall behind in math and spent my whole life doing homework.
I am so GRATEFUL for the right to homeschool my children...It is such a blessing, and most homeschoolers actually like being homeschooled.
I could write you an essay on all the blessings of homeschooling....anyway-I'd just encourage you to check it out and spend some serious time in prayer... The research on homeschoolers is overwhelmingly good.
God bless you,
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa | July 10, 2009 7:16 PM
Dear Karen,
I clicked back here today just to quickly see if anyone had posted more book ideas of this sort. I hope you click back for some reason,too.
I have the same suggestion about homeschooling. I also have no idea about your situation beyond what you wrote, but it's obvious that you're a mom with a heart to help her child learn.
Just from what I've seen in our local special needs homeschoolers group, I'd say that kids with special needs-- or kids who are just simply struggling to learn in a regular setting-- are probably one of the fastest growing segments of new homeschoolers. Typical school is essentially one-size-fits-most; anyone outside of "most" too often becomes just collateral damage, no matter what the law mandates.
You can work to advocate more for your child within the school, and you may have success. But you may end up unsuccessful with a child in even worse shape, especially emotionally.
(After homeschooling my special needs son for a few years, we're having to enter the public schools as he has some issues that have revved up to a degree that make homeschooling him unsustainable for the sake of the rest of our family. There's a gap in services in the public schools so that there is NO place for him to be served appropriately-- they seem to want to just dump him where it's convenient. We're in a battle. It seems very likely that we'll be employing a lawyer soon in anticipation of hearings. "Free and Appropriate Public Education" is the law, but that doesn't mean it always happens, especially without a fight.)
The beauty of homeschooling is that you find a style and routine and pace that works for YOUR child-- and it may not look anything like what you think of as "school" (desks, tests, etc) in the end! To be sure, it can take some trial and error to discover these things, and can be hard work for you at times. (But subtract the stress of whatever walls you're banging your head against now before you add up the cost of the new work!) Parents CAN teach their own children. You don't need to know every esoteric ivory tower theory about education in every subject, or how to teach to the middle-- you just need to figure out how to teach YOUR child the things SHE needs to learn.
I could write endlessly. I just encourage you to open your heart and mind, and give it all some thought and prayer. If you want to know more about your state's laws, you can search that out at HSLDA.org.
with love from one mom to another,
Marian
Posted by: Marian | July 11, 2009 1:05 PM
