Teaching the concept of Geography to a 5 year old can be daunting. My little one still cannot quite grasp the concept of a state versus a country. Since we travel so often, I am not overly concerned at this point in time, but I have found ways to help help him begin to conceptualize the world in which he lives.
Placemats
I found one such tool while I was poking around a teaching supply store a few months ago; the Melissa and Doug placemat of the United States. I remembered reading in another Homeschool blog that they use placemats for learning (https://www.weedemandreap.com/homeschooling-hacks-tricks/). Why not give it a try.
I brought the placemat along on our recent trip through the Four Corners States. I like to have activities to keep my little one busy during dinner time, especially while he is waiting for his food to arrive. I figured the placemat would give me the opportunity to go over the printed route sheets I had created using Mapquest. For each day of the trip I created a map showing where we were going and placed it in his travel binder. Since these pages were only snippets of the entire trip, I figured a nightly review that placed them in a larger context would be helpful. Little did I know, this colorful map would be pulled out constantly while we traveled.
Coming into Colorado!
When we travel, I always call out when we enter a new state. Before it was always just an abstract concept. This trip things became a little more real for my son. As soon as I would call out a new state, he would begin to search for his placemat and then ask my husband to point out which state we had entered. He would then review the trip beginning with our home city up to that point. I was thrilled.
Towards the end of the trip, I changed the itinerary a bit and rerouted us to the Four Corners Monument. Corny, I know, but to be able to point at a specific spot on his map and then let him run through all four states was an opportunity I could not pass up. Any little thing that can help to solidify my little guy’s mental map of his world is worth the extra effort. As a bonus, we walked around the Native American market. He was able to watch an artisan while he was flint-knapping and we asked tons of questions about how arrows were made. Not a bad day of learning.
I have other methods that we are using to continue to reinforce these lessons, but those are for another time. Do you have a favorite way that you teach geography. Leave a note in the Comments section.