Maps can be considered doorways to the cultures of the world. When students learn to read land and water features on maps and globes, they learn to interpret human activities occurring on the earth. They can assess a country's major industry, climate, natural obstacles, and political borders, for example. They can journey to different lands, learning about the indigenous life there and its culture.
Montessori students gain an appreciation of the beauty of our world and the interdependence of all living things that inhabit the earth, through the study of physical and cultural geography.
Ms. Mayte's Primary class at Del Valle is studying the continents, and made their own maps-- tracing and then punching them out in a careful process. They look great!
A Continent Down Under
The cutest question raised, and I say cutest because of what followed, is when a student asked about what language the Australians speak. After Mr. Cody explained the historical connection to England, and the Queen's English, he said that Australians speak English with an accent. Living in El Paso, our wonderful, bilingual city, the children were intrigued. "What kind of accent?", they wanted to know. Mr. Cody commenced to speak with an Australian accent (which was pretty accurate) for the next ten minutes! The children were charmed, of course, and it was a great ending to a wonderful presentation.