Introduction to Geography-Montessori
Introduction to Geography
The world is getting smaller, we now live in a global village due to our enlarged technical skills. It is today as easy to fly from eg. Dublin to Rome as it was to travel from Dublin to Cork 150 years ago, Not to mention flights to the moon & back. Geography has turned out to be the study of man in space. Between mass media and frequent travel the child is bombarded with impressions about the planet he lives on. In today’s world the child hears random words, names of countries with upheavels and wars & they get scared. They really need to know where they are, even on a larger scale. It is better to understand that a lot of things happen far away and not in my neighbourhood. This will give them some sense of security. Geography is a science of earth annd its life- it includes a description of land, water and air. The roots of word geography are greek and it means description of the earth. When we talk about geography with 3-6 years it means planting some seeds of interest and it is not meant that we should teach so why do we have it? A child has his human tendencies for orientation; exploration and order. We also give child names, which responds to the child’s human tendencies for communication and sensitive period for language.
However, the other sensitive periods also play a part and to top it all off the child also has an absorbent mind. Geography is presented as an extension of the language programme in our rooms, because it contains aural written 7 read parts. Maria Montessori called her small geography set-up “an introduction to the world’. It has an holistic approach, starting with the whole and ending in details (start with the globe, then continents…eventually to the place where they live).
The purpose with geography is 2 fold. First you must provide the child with activities, which help him to order impressions and information. Secondly in elementary you must introduce the child to his place in the cosmos(Universe). This
The world is getting smaller, we now live in a global village due to our enlarged technical skills. It is today as easy to fly from eg. Dublin to Rome as it was to travel from Dublin to Cork 150 years ago, Not to mention flights to the moon & back. Geography has turned out to be the study of man in space. Between mass media and frequent travel the child is bombarded with impressions about the planet he lives on. In today’s world the child hears random words, names of countries with upheavels and wars & they get scared. They really need to know where they are, even on a larger scale. It is better to understand that a lot of things happen far away and not in my neighbourhood. This will give them some sense of security. Geography is a science of earth annd its life- it includes a description of land, water and air. The roots of word geography are greek and it means description of the earth. When we talk about geography with 3-6 years it means planting some seeds of interest and it is not meant that we should teach so why do we have it? A child has his human tendencies for orientation; exploration and order. We also give child names, which responds to the child’s human tendencies for communication and sensitive period for language.
However, the other sensitive periods also play a part and to top it all off the child also has an absorbent mind. Geography is presented as an extension of the language programme in our rooms, because it contains aural written 7 read parts. Maria Montessori called her small geography set-up “an introduction to the world’. It has an holistic approach, starting with the whole and ending in details (start with the globe, then continents…eventually to the place where they live).
The purpose with geography is 2 fold. First you must provide the child with activities, which help him to order impressions and information. Secondly in elementary you must introduce the child to his place in the cosmos(Universe). This