Directions

Directions


To help young children learn location, make sure they know
the color and style of the building in which they live, the
name of their town, and their street address. Then, when you
talk about other places, they have something of their own with
which to compare.

* Children need to understand positional words. Teach
children words like "above" and "below" in a natural way
when you talk with them or give them directions. When
picking up toys to put away, say, "Please put your toy
into the basket on the right" or, "Put the green washcloth
into the drawer." Right and left are as much directional
terms as north, south, east, and west. Other words that
describe such features as color, size, and shape are also
important.



* Show your children north, south, east, and west by using
your home as a reference point. Perhaps you can see the
sun rising in the morning through a bedroom window that
faces east and setting at night through the westerly
kitchen window:

* Reinforce their knowledge by playing games. Once children
have their directional bearings, you can hide an object,
for example, then give them directions to its location:
"two steps to the north, three steps west ...."

* Use pictures from books and magazines to help your
children associate words with visual images. A picture of
a desert can stimulate conversation about the features of
a desert--arid and barren. Work with your children to
develop more complex descriptions of different natural and
cultural features.