People are scattered all over the earth. The study of geography includes learning about the patterns of movement of people, products, and information. Here are some ways you can help your children learn more about geography right at home:

  • Give your children opportunities to travel by car, bus, bicycle, or on foot. When it's possible, try to take another form of transportation—airplanes, trains, ferries, or even riding a horse.

  • Watch travel programs on television.

  • Go through your house and talk about where things came from. Look for labels to see where articles were made. A calculator may have come from Taiwan. A box of cereal may have a Battle Creek, Mich., address or have come from White Plains, N.Y. Locate them on a map.

  • Talk about where the wheat for your bread came from. Where was the cotton for your blue jeans grown? How did these products get from the field to your house?

  • Tell your children where your ancestors came from. Find these places on a map. If possible, learn about the routes your ancestors traveled when they came to this country. Where do your relatives live now? Again, check the map.

  • Have your children ask older relatives or friends about what the world was like when they were young. They can ask questions about transportation, food, schools, and clothes. Look at old pictures. How have things changed?

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