Geography

Teaching geography can be one of the most boring episodes of your life.  It is difficult to convey to a child that the picture on the map or globe represents a country.  Asking him to memorize the position of the countries is about as enjoyable as a root canal.

One physical education teacher wanted to help the academic teachers.  He named different zones in the gym as continents and hung a picture to represent each. Then when sending the students to a zone, he would announce the continent.  Instead of saying "Go to the back left corner," he said, "Go to Africa."  The students not only learned the names of the continents, but also the shape of each.  

How can you use this in your classroom or homeschool?   What if you renamed different rooms in your house and placed a cut-out of a continent, country, or state on the door?   If you sent your son or daughter to New York instead of their room, they would soon associate the name of the state with the shape.  Try starting with the continents, then move to countries on that continent.  Be sure to couple the geography with the culture of the country.  For young children, learn games the children of the country play.  For all children learn about the food of the nation.  It is possible to combine geography, social studies, cultural studies, and science (cooking) into these lessons.  Most of all, make sure the children have a good time.