Sorry, but this is too cute.
I was in my home office this evening surfing the 'net when my almost four year-old son came in with his Jello and sat down next to me. He looked at the world map I have on my wall and asked where we live. I got up and pointed to a spot just southwest of Lake Michigan. He then stood on his chair, pointed to Canada, and asked if that was the driveway.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I've got a 2½ year old, and it's been fascinating watching him learn stuff. I don't think he's ready for the concept of maps, though.
One thing you might try doing is running Google Earth, zooming in as tight as possible on your house, and showing your son that. If they've got good aerial photography of your place, he will probably be able to see your driveway, as well as your cars parked in the driveway.
Then, slowly zoom out until you can see the entire continent. That would give him a better sense of scale.
Just a thought. Or you could just say, "Yep, we call our driveway Canada. The neighbors live in Europe."
Wally,
That’s a great idea, using Google Earth. It might give him a better perspective. I’m not sure where he picked up on what maps are about. I suspect it was Dora the Explorer. Or maybe they get into it at daycare or preschool. As much as I love maps, I hadn’t really considered that he might be ready to learn about them.
Following up on the post, my son continued to ask me about the map after his driveway comment. He would point to various places (Greenland, Australia, Siberia) and ask what it was and if we had been there. He also drew a driving route with his finger that would get us to Brazil through Central America. It’s definitely time to teach him a little more.
Post a Comment